1.31.2007

who needs hats?

I've been on a headband kick lately. First I made all those pantas as Christmas gifts. Then I decided I needed to try some new headband patterns. I made this purple one that Big Sister is modeling (goes with the purple ribbon on her dress). It's the Nakiska pattern from knitty.com. Cables, cables, cables. Now that I've actually knit cables, I can say that they're technically simple, but still a PITA. Not sure if they're worth the decorative effort on such a small project.

I love the way the headband turned out, but it took me ages. I knit it from the same JaggerSpun Zephyr DK (color Elderberry) that I used on Baby's hoodie (same previous post coincidentally). I knit the Adult S/M size (cast on 90) and it fits me perfectly. The yarn I used is almost an exact gauge match to the recommended yarn, so I knit on the recommended size 5 needles.

Since I've dedided that cables aren't fun, it was then time to try yet another headband pattern. I went for the Calorimetry pattern on knitty.com. This is my favourite by far. Here's a picture I took of myself with my spiffy new webcam that came with my spiffy new laptop. The yarn is Noro Big Kureyon color #7. I've been knitting with handpainted yarn so much recently, it's a nice change to have the gradual color gradation of the Big Kureyon. I love the way the color stripes go in my Calorimetry.

Again, the yarn I used was almost an exact match for the pattern. I used the recommended size 8 needles. But having read on a few other blogs how big it turns out, I followed this knitter's alterations. I only cast on 80 stitches, and I only repeated row 5 eleven times, instead of the fifteen it says. It fits me perfectly, but I'm starting another one and I'm casting on 88 stitches instead, since it's a gift, and I'd hate for it to be too small. This thing would be HUGE if knit to pattern. Good thing I thought to Google it first. :)

1.29.2007

diaper knitting

I've been knitting for cloth diapering a bunch lately. For those not in the know, wool makes very effective diaper covers - aka soakers. When they're pants, they're called longies. In the past few weeks I've done quite a bit of knitting for clother diapering. Here's a pair of longies and two soakers I've just finished. The blue one is for my new baby nephew Thomas!

The longies and the orange soaker are knit from handpainted merino wool. I used the Wooly Wonderpants pattern for the longies (with the curly purly pleated waistband). I embroidered the star on with double stitch afterwards, based on a chart for the Baby's First tattoo cardigan in stitch 'n bitch Nation. This book has a lot of cute patterns. I wish I had had time to actually knit something from it before needing to return it to the library. I'll definitely be taking this one out again, though.

I used the Warm Heart Woolies Trim Soaker pattern for the orange soaker. I really like this pattern, it knits up super quick. I kinda modified a pleated waistband for it (I don't like using drawstrings for newborn soakers and longies).


The blue soaker is another curly purly soaker, knit from bulky handpainted merino wool. This yarn is yummy, so soft, and so fast to knit. Having finished all these diapering projects, it's time to move on now, and get ready for my upcoming three week vacation to New Zealand!

1.17.2007

not much knitting

So for ages I thought the reason I was so busy was because of the year end holidays. But for some reason I'm even more busy now in January than I was in December. Makes no sense, but that's why I haven't had much time for knitting.

I did finish this lovely man scarf for my friend's birthday. He's a man, hence the man scarf. Man scarves are hard, they've gotta be kind of boring so they don't get girly. This one is just a simple 2 x 2 rib, in color-grown Henry's Attic Inca Organic Cotton, color Ecru. Cast on 48 stitches on size 8 needles. k2 p2 each row for 6 feet. I got the idea from here.

My current project is purple newborn longies, and I'm almost done with them. Very exciting, since they'll be worn by a baby who is due in just a few weeks!