My Snow Blue

OMG. Is that a (bad) picture of a knitted item? Me? Knit!? It's hard to remember a time when I was truly knitting. It's been soooo long since I've finished anything. But even longer than that, I haven't done anything fairisle since these hats over a year and a half ago!

Is it a coincidence that this was also made as a gift? (Prolly not, if you know me.)

One of the nicest girls ever, who I've played soccer with for the past two years, is moving to a place more North than Ottawa. (She's an amazing soccer player too. I'm very much going to miss having her on the team!!) I think the direct quote from her is, "It's a good thing I like winter!" Yes. Good thing. But another hat can't hurt right?

I made one slight modification to the pattern. Instead of having the contrast grey colour along the decreases on top of the hat, I kept it in the main colour.

I was worried I was going to run out of the grey. But I also thought that the hat would look better with blue along the ridge. Either way, I think it turned out pretty good. Hopefully it keeps her head warm.

To whom

To whom it may concern,

(i.e. any blog readers I do have...)
I will be going on a short vacation. A blog-cation? A blog-batical? What I mean to say is that while I'm not physically going somewhere, things will seem quiet aroundhere for the next month, or maybe two. So if you don't see another post before July, don't worry. I am okay.It's just that blogging takes time, because knitting takes time and writing takes time and heaven knows that me getting a halfway decent picture takes time! And while I will still be crafting over the next few months, I foresee a dramatic drop in the time I can spend on it. Why? Because my favourite season has officially begun! Outdoor soccer season. During which I spend 3 to 4 nights a week out kicking a ball around, often times getting rained on, running until my legs feel like they'll fall off. No really. It's fun! What's not to love? Exercise. Good friends. Laughter. And rain.And since I know something's gonna have to give in my schedule, I decided that something is blogging.
Thus, I wish you the best of springs, and will see you come summer! (At which point in time I hope to have a few cute knits and crafts saved up to blog about...)

Before I go, I will leave you with one final picture. Me in my latest hat (pattern) in my pretty freakingly cool new Warby Parker glasses! (hat comments below.)

I am, sincerely (and knittingly) yours,

Hat comments:

I like the hat. I don't love it. But I like it.

I like the construction of knitting the brim straight and then picking up stitches to knit it in a round. It's cute. But also a little boring. But cute and different. The double yarn over the ear will be nice once it's winter again. (not that I'm longing for winter or anything. yay spring!) I didn't do the i-cord at the top of the hat. I wasn't so into that. So I just finished it off round.

So this hat will get put away until next winter. Good enough.

Poppy

I have a pretty freaking fantastic nephew. He's fun and smart. And he's definitely not afraid to say: "Hey! I like that. Can I have it?" In fact, I've lost these hats to him saying just that! I mean... he's so cute. How could anyone say no??

But it is time for my niece to get a hat too. She's two and although she's as smart as a whip, doesn't talk so much...

It's a pretty cool design. (I downloaded the pattern from Ravelry, but anyone can get it here.)

Years ago, I made a similar hat. You make it using short rows. That makes the curved top. No decreasing needed! Once that is long enough, you pick up all the stitches along the edge and knit the brim.

And now I'm supposed to add an accent. My niece already has a hat from her grandma (SIL's mom) with a crocheted flower, so I was thinking buttons.

These are the ones I've got. I'm not in love with any of them. But I do sort of love the multitude on there. Add a few? Add them all? Go buy new ones?? Don't add buttons at all?

Any opinions?

Attention Defi... Oooh! What's that?

I definitely, without a doubt, no question have ADD when it comes to knitting. They're are patterns I've been meaning to knit, would love to knit, would love to have the finished object. I've had these projects bookmarked/queued for months and in some case years and yet I never get to them.

But then there are other patterns that I see and Oh! I just have to make that right now! I don't know what the difference is. Do I have to be in some sort of a lull and need something new? Does the patten have to be amazing? Some combination?

I'm not sure. It just happens. Like this hat Quinn was wearing on this week's episode of Glee. The second I saw it, I knew it would be my next knit.

Sure I have like 4 other things on the go. And 3 things waiting to be started. Projects that need to get completed. Doesn't matter. This has my attention now!

So... it didn't turn out exactly as I would have wanted. The end is a little too pointy.

But all in all, for wiping it up in two days, I like it! I'll definitely wear it!

And now I can return to my regularly scheduled knitting queue. Well... that is until I see the next .... Oh! What's that? ...

Gifting

'Tis better to gift than to receive. Or at least, I think so! Hence this hat:

A gifting opportunity came up out of the blue, so I found a quick crochet pattern, grabbed some yarn from my stash and whipped it up. I like the stripes! I think I need more stripes in my life.

Unfortunately, I didn't get a better picture. But I did get it in the mail. That's the important part. Hopefully it is liked.

Frugal or cheap or just crafty?

They say you learn something everyday. Well, while I'm not sure that's true about today, I did learn something back in December. Did you know that they have 50% off days at the Goodwill?

Okay, so that's nothing special or exciting, but it does have to do with this post. Because when I was in the Goodwill just a week before Christmas to look through the kids books and shoes (man, does my niece ever love shoes!) I ended up coming away with this:

You are probably wondering what this ugly XL sweater has to do with anything. Sure I got for the low, low price for $3. But who in her right mind would buy it?? If you aren't wondering that, you should be!

Well, I didn't buy it to wear it. I bought it for the cheap wool. Does that make me cheap? Or frugal? Or just plain crafty? I'm going to go for the third. That's the one that makes me feel the best at least.

Out of the unraveled wool I was able to make a hat, mittens and the biggest scarf/cowl thing in the world.

Here's the hat!

As you can probably tell, it's my own random design. A random cable thrown in for fun. And even more fun: another pompom!

The best part about this pompom is that because I made it with previously used wool, the strands don't stick straight out, but curl. I think that's pretty freaking cute.

Pretty ugly

Do you remember being 6? or 4? (It's hard being 4 as I'm learning via my nephew...) When someone would say something, "Yeah. She's pretty. ... pretty ugly!" (Or it's hard being 22. ) and then think they were the coolest person in the world for figuring out that put down? I remember that one.

Well, in this post when I talk about pretty ugly, I'm not really referring to that. More like, when something is so ugly, or so different that you think it shouldn't work and then it just DOES!

So awhile back I was chatting with steph, who send me the pic below and said: "... look at the hat attached. ... It's so super ugly but it's to the point of being freakin cool."

(Picture from... Well, actually, I don't know where Steph got it from... but somewhere. I didn't take is.)

Well, I immediately knew that I *had* to try to make her one that was just as cool. So I raided my mismatching yarn leftover from old projects. I put it all together. Made a random pompom (I used to hate pompom, but I think I'm coming around after this hat!). And voila!

My ugly version of the hat!!

Um... yeah. It's ugly isn't it? When I finished this hat... I almost didn't send it. It sat on my desk for a week+ and I kept thinking, I just didn't get the so ugly it's pretty thing right. The colours are TOO different to work.

And then it started to grow on me. Look at it for a moment. The weirdo combinations will start to grow on you too. I promise!

Although maybe it's about the girl in the hat looking like she likes it. Because the review: "you know it really isn't that ugly :) " and "You are so right about it growing on you, when I first saw it I was like wow that's pretty ugly and the more I looked at it I was like that is fun!!!"

So yay for being able to use scrap yarn and make something ugly into something... well, still sorta ugly, but more importantly is fun! You know, I like it so much, I might just try doing this again.

YVR hat

Well, I'm back in Ottawa, (brrr! it is cold here! COLD. Like, I've been contemplating BUYING mittens. BUYING. How wrong is that?? I guess I know what I'm knitting myself next. Let's just hope I can hold out until after Christmas!) but I have another Vancouver knit to brag about. Look!

I saw something similar to this when I was walking the streets of Vancouver (only in white) and I decided to make it. This blue was the only yarn I had with me, so this is what I used. & I like it!

If I were to make it again I'd probably only do one cable and I'd make it bigger. 10 or 12 stitches wide rather than 8 stitches.

But all in all, pretty good for a random pattern completely made up. (We all know, I've had some disasters!) Now I just actually have to finish my other Christmas projects! It's looking unlikely that it's going to happen! But I still am hopeful.

Vancouver!

I love vacations. Sure. Who doesn't, right? It's a great time to get out and see new things and do things you wouldn't otherwise do. It is also a chance to do MORE of the things you already do. Just in a different location.

I've been in Vancouver/Seattle for the past week and have been having a freaking fabulous time! I think in the past week I've centupled (initupled?) my coffee intake. When in the Northwest and all... And thus I've learned that, yes, I still don't like coffee. Lattes, sure. As long as they have good flavour to them.

But I do still love chocolate. On Monday we went on the Theo Chocolate tour and it was SOOO worth the $6. I'm sure I ate at least that much, if not more in the samples.

And the chocolate was sooo good. So good in fact that that I think I bought like $50 worth of chocolate. (Christmas gifts. ... really... they're Christmas gifts.)

Plus, the tour was educational as well! If you are in Seattle, you have to go on this tour!

And although it has been a little rainy... I don't mind too much. It is Vancouver after all. That's why I brought a rain jacket!

Okay. But onto the point of this blog. This vacation has also given me the chance to finish a few knitting projects. Like my Hermione hat! (you know... the hat she's wearing in the graveyard scene) It didn't turn out great... but I like it.

This is another pattern that came from my head. Here's what I did:

CO 80 sitches.

Join and K1, P1 for 1 inch

Then repeat Row1-4 until it measures 6 inches. (Or longer if you want a longer hat)

R1: K1, P1 to end

R2: K to end

R3: P1, K1 to end

R4: K to end

Then... I wouldn't follow my decreasing method. It was very random. Just decrease as you normally would for a hat.

Being me, I'll probably make a better one. One that will hopefully look better once it's done. But for now it is my go to hat. (Every time I wear it I want to go see the movie again. What's better than that!?)

nanowri...snow?

Yup. It's happened. I'm not ready... but it happened.

This morning I woke up to SNOW. It's cold, it's wet and (in a way) it's beautiful. But it's still snow! And it's only October!! I mean, I knew when I moved to Ottawa that I wasn't going to have Bay Area weather anymore... but I'm not sure I realized just how EARLY I'd be dealing with snow. I haven't even unpacked my boots yet. I still have to find full on mittens. I only have my fingerless ones unpacked! Ahh.

But at least I have hats. An abundance of them it seems. Like this new one that came in useful this morning.

So this is a totally weird hat. I made it with more free yarn from my grandma. Thus... I didn't have enough for what I originally planned. I got more than halfway through and then ran out. So I frogged it back and made up the rest.

As you can see, it's a mixture of knit and crochet. Normally crochet sucks up yarn, but with the huge holes it actually worked out pretty well. Once I was just about out of yarn I switched back to knitting for decreasing along the top.

So there's my new it's snowing hat. Just in time for November and all of the snow that is forecast for this week. (Cause we are supposed to get MORE?!)

Speaking of November... It just happens to normally be one of my favourite months of the year! How could it not be when I'm in the middle of doing this awesome event? Seriously - if you've never tried it, you don't know what you are missing. This year will be even more super awesome because this fun lady and I are collaborating! I have a feeling it is going to be hilariously amazing.

I'm still going to post at points throughout the month. I have a few project that are near completion and I hope to get one up every Friday. (Or for some of you firday.) But based on recent history we'll see how that goes!

(And what do you think of the new banner? I love it. I didn't make it, but I still love it. And I'm still working on trying to make a better layout for the blog. Give me time. I am not good at artsy stuff... although I try.)

Halloween in Norway

When I saw the hat pattern for From Norway with Love, it's totally understandable why I wanted to make it. What isn't understandable is why I decided to make it with orange.

What is up with that? Isn't this the most obnoxious hat you ever did see?

So I will be keeping this one. I don't know who else would wear this! And to be fair, there are some good things about the ridiculous colour combinations. 1) Cars will be able to see me when I go running. 2) No one's going to steal it. 3) I have an orange hat just in time for Halloween.

But I liked the pattern enough that one day I just might make another one.

Autumn!

Is anyone else out there wondering what happened to summer? I swear, two weeks ago I was wearing tank tops and shorts. Now? Today I had to look through my sweaters to figure out which one I wanted to wear! And last weekend it was so cold that I wore a toque on my run. (Seriously. I did. But maybe that's just cause 6 years in Cali made me a wimp...)

But I can't say I mind the cooler temperatures. I'm looking forward to fall! I haven't had a real fall in sooo long! I'm looking forward to the changing of the leaves. And fall veggies! (I already made pumpkin muffins this weekend!)

And! I'm looking forward to fall/winter wearing my wardrobe. Including new hats!

Like this one I crocheted over the weekend. I got the pattern from here. I've made a few of her hats. Not surprisingly this one was just as well written and understandable. I just had to make them into an adult size!

Those mods?

1) I did double crochets rather than half double crochets. (This was more by accident than on purpose, but I think it helped.)

2) I did an extra row of increasing for the crown of the hat.

3) I did 10 repeats of the shell pattern

(Another great thing about fall? I feel like I can spend all day curled up with a good book.)

All in all, I'm pretty happy with this hat. Now I just need it to drop one or two more degrees and I'll be wearing it all of the time.

Just Cause

Do you ever find yourself doing something... and you don't know why? Like playing hours upon hours of free cell? Or what is that other game called? Bejeweled? I'd like to say I'm one of those people who cleans the kitchen when it's already clean. I'm not. But sometimes I do do things just cause... Mainly knitting. Like this!

But what is up with this hat? It's kinda ugly... Why did I make it? I don't know. I don't need another hat. Especially not in these colours.

In this case, the only reason I made this hat was because I wanted to be knitting. My fingers wanted to do the action, my mind wanted the getaway that knitting (when I don't have to follow a pattern) provides. So randomly looking through my stash I saw this lone ball of yarn and somehow it just made sense to make a simple hat. The pattern, yo and all, came from my head and what I remembered from the multitude of other hats I've made.
Simple!

What am I going to do with it? Probably not wear it... Or at least I won't wear it that often. But that's okay... Sometimes you just do something, to do it.

So long. Farewell. Auf Weidersehen

The other day my roomy called me over to look at a few things that she found on etsy that she liked. Man. There's some great stuff on etsy! Well, one of the things she liked was a newsboys hat. She told me that she loved it so much that she was going to buy it, to which I said: "Hells no. I'm going to make it for you!!"

Honestly, does she not see me knitting/crocheting every day?? Does she have so little faith in my knitting ability? Does she not know that I *love* making things for people?

The hardest part was to decide which pattern to make! In the end I used this one and made this:

I don't love the result, but the roomy seems to like it well enough. And I'm glad! Because it makes for a great farewell gift.

Yup. That's right. I'm moving. Only 3 days until I have to be packed and out of the apartment and on a plane back to the cold white north! I can't believe it. It's scary and exciting and scary! But hopefully, mostly exciting. (There will be a whole post about this soon...)

But back to the hat. I've actually made three now. One of my other friends saw it and said she liked it, so it was a no-brainer to make another one. They are so fast to crochet up! It's a fun, simple pattern, and I wanted to do a better job on the 2nd one. Not sure if I accomplished that... but I hope I did.

Plus. These days I'm loving things with button.