Christmas Beanies ~ Knit Pattern

I decided to share with you my Christmas beanies. I looked and looked and looked for a pattern that spoke to me and was something that I really wanted to make over and over and over again. I never found one, so I made up my own pattern.

My original idea was just to have something to share as gifts with my cousins kids because they had invited us to go over for Christmas Eve and I didn't want to walk in empty handed. Well, the idea grew. There will be a total of 10 teenagers (including family and girlfriends), an 8 year old and a new born there...all of them cousins (except the girlfriends, of course). So, I decided to make a beanie for ALL of the kids. I finished the last one yesterday. I loved making every single one of them because they were all a blank canvas for my creativity. Endless possibilities for color combinations and stripes. lol. BUT...I was so very glad when the last one was complete.

This is the biggest group of kids. We have an 18 yo w/a gf, 16 yo w/a gf, a 14 yo and an 8 yo. The 8 yo's hat turned out a little larger because I went by rows instead of measurements on a couple of hats. I figured out what went wrong and corrected myself for the rest of them, but hers is a little longer than the rest.

Used: hat 1: Wool Ease, hat 2: RH Soft & HL Love, hat 3: Wool Ease, hat 4: LB Jiffy & HL Love, hat 5: Wool Ease & HL Love, hat 6: RHSS

This is a brother/sister duo. Blue/gray is his, purple/black is hers. I was struggling with what colors to make for them, so I asked their mom. They were the only ones besides my kids that actually got to choose colors.

Used: hat 1: L&T Impeccable & RHSS, hat 2: RHSS & HL Love

These are for my kids. I am actually going to wrap them up and hand them out with the other kids' hats, even though my daughter has modeled hers a few times. I always have to snatch it back and say "you can't have that now!"

Used: hat 1: L&T Impeccable & RHSS, hat 2: Wool Ease & Caron SS

Last, but not least, we have the last set of brothers. The oldest was born 8 hours after my daughter and the youngest was born 2 days ago. I just couldn't leave the baby out, so I modified the pattern by a few stitches and rows and went to town. I actually love both of these hats. :)

Used: hat 1: RHSS, hat 2: TLC Amore

I am going to share with you the very basic pattern. Soooooper simple. And I'll share my "straight lines" method for my color changes.

Christmas Beanies (very stretchy, great for scraps)

by Elizabeth Mareno 2011

Materials:

About 2 ozs Main color, less for Contrast color, Worsted Weight!! :)

(Yarns Used: LB Wool-Ease, LB Jiffy, RHSS, HL I Love This Yarn, Caron Simply Soft, RH Soft, TLC Amore (discontinued?)& Loops n Threads-Impeccable)

size 8 dpns or circular needles

place marker (optional)

end stoppers (optional)

large eye needle for tucking ends in

ADULT SIZE: fits an average head up to 23".

co 85 stitches. I cast on 30-needle 1, 30-needle 2, 25-needle 3. I also used end stoppers to keep my stitches from sliding off. Join without twisting to make a circle, if you need a place marker, put it at the beginning of the join.

k3, p2 around.
You may stripe whenever you like, the pattern stays the same until you reach 6" in length from the beginning. When I stripe, I will slip the first stitch purlwise when I am beginning my second row of that color, this helps to pull the row "up" and hide the color change. If you are doing single rows, I am still a novice at that, so this method may not work if you are striping single rows.

I, also, do not cut my yarns between row changes, I just carry the yarn up the inside of the hat. Makes for less work in the finishing process. If you do this, remember not to pull too tight when you are bringing your yarn up for a color change or you will cause the hat to "crinkle".

top decrease rows: After you have completed 6", knit 1 row around.

next row: k5, k2tog,(repeat around) k1

next : knit

next : k4, k2tog,(repeat around) k1

next : knit

next : k3, k2tog, (repeat around) k1

next : k2, k2tog, (repeat) k1

next : k1, k2tog, (repeat) k1

next : k2tog

next: k2tog (you should have 7 loops remaining. if not, don't worry, just use what you have and close it up.)

Cut, leaving a long end for closing the top. Weave needle through the remaining loops and pull tight. I usually weave them through one more time for security, then weave your end in to make sure the top doesn't come undone and finish off.

Weave in the remaining and you are done!

NEW BORN/INFANT VERSION:

CO 55, work pattern for 4 inches,

decrease rows: k3, k2tog

next: k2, k2tog

next: k1, k2tog

next: k2tog

next: k2tog

Finish off.

To make larger versions, cast on in multiples of five. I do not have a scientific approach to knitting for babies. I sort of fly by the seat of my pants. If someone has a tried and true method...please...do tell. I haven't had a baby in my house in so long, I have forgotten how small they really are.

Here is my non-scientific method:

for infants, if using WW, cast on 55, knit until 4", then decrease.

for babies, cast on 65, knit until 4-1/2"(3-6mo), 5" (6-9mo) & 5-1/2" (9-12 mo). (Some babies have really big heads and may need more length to have the hat fit properly. Use your judgement.)

toddlers, cast on 75, Stay at 5-1/2" (but you be the judge here!)

kids & older, cast on 85, and depending on how big of a melon they have, knit till 6".

Hope you enjoy!! :)

Hats and Shawls

Hi all. More finished objects today. I updated my computer, so of course it didn't work right anymore. I glitches have apparently fixed themselves, so we are back to our regularly scheduled programming.

We will start with shawls today.

My Mommy turns 64 on Friday. (I was supposed to be born on her birthday, but I decided to come 2-1/2 weeks late. I was born to disrupt the status quo.) I decided my mumsy needed some shawls. I wanted to make her three, but only had time to make her two before I had to get the box mailed in time for her birthday. I knit one and I crocheted one. I don't love the crocheted one for two reasons. I think I picked a bad colorway and it is too short for true "shawl-ness". Nevertheless, I sent it to her.

First up: Flying Geese Shawl http://www.knittingdaily.com/media/p/47244/showcontent.aspx

That is the link. I can't get my laptop to work with me today. Maybe the glitches aren't fixed?

I made mine with Lion Brand "Jiffy" in #189 Wine. It is an acrylic bulky weight yarn, with a bit of a "fuzz" to it. The technical term eludes me today . I used a size 15 needle. I also added an extra "V" because I wanted to make sure this would be long enough to wrap around her. Thanks Stef for being my model.

This is the crocheted shawl I made. I want to try it again with a different color and adding a repeat or two.

Fabulous Shawl. http://www.favecrafts.com/Crochet-Sweaters/Fabulous-Shawl-from-Red-Heart I used, "I Love That Yarn" from Hobby Lobby. Don't know the colorway. It looks prettier in the skein.

Here we have a new baby hat pattern I have come up with. I will be adding a pom-pom to the top. This is something I will be selling in my Etsy shop. http://www.etsy.com/shop/originalbiz This particular hat is a custom request from a patron, but I will be making more for the shop soon.

Last week I made some hats for my Mom. She is in the frozen tundra and she needs some cute hats. I sent her some links to hats I was interested in making and these are the ones she approved of.

Greentrelac hat: knit http://www.allcrafts.net/fjs.htm?url=rms-ravelingmysensibility.blogspot.com/2008/11/entre-nous-entrelac.html

I learned Entrelac, people!! Exciting to say the least. I feel so accomplished! It is a slow moving pattern for sure, but such cute results. It makes you look brilliant. I will admit, I struggled with it at first. My brain almost imploded, but then Shazam! I caught it and we were off to the races.

This particular pattern gives a very sketchy explanation of how many stitches to cast on for the ribbing. I did the whole measurement thing and did the first hat with a cast on of 104. Turned out big. Not "turn it over, add handles and call it a purse" big, but definitely requiring bobby pins to hold it on big. Or big hair, big. The second one I took it down and cast on 96. Still feels a little roomy to me. The next one I will either cast on 90 or 84. We'll see. Btw, I have a 23" head circumference.

This one is: Patons 100% Wool, not sure of colorway. It's a blue, teal, brown, tan mixture.

This one is Debbie Norville "Everyday". It is my NEW acrylic worsted weight favorite. Soft, really great spring and pill-free. Definitely not the "plastic, scratchy" feel of Red Heart SS. JoAnn's had it on sale 2 for $5, so I thought I'd give it a try. It is spendy if you are looking to do an afghan. I believe it sells for $3.99, or something close to that, for a 3.5 oz skein. But it's GREAT for hats and other small projects like that.

The last hat I made Mom was a take on the Brattleboro Hat from Knitting Daily. http://www.knittingdaily.com/media/p/47263.aspx It is a pattern that is for sale in a book. I wasn't willing to pay $25.00 for a book for one pattern that I was interested in, so I sorta figured it out for myself. This is a terrible picture of me, but I wanted to show you the hat.

I made it from Lion Brand Wool-Ease with size 7 dpns. I, also, had to research how to make decreases while doing a seed stitch in the round. Oy...the things I do for my mother. I did write down the pattern so I could repeat it. However I don't feel right putting it on here because I just copied somebody else's design. Besides, mine is not nearly as "polished" looking as the original. My Mama appreciated it, though. :)

Last, but certainly not least, is the newest 'hat addition' to our house. My love needed to get a second job to take care of this family. He was hired by Domino's to be a rush driver. He went through several weeks of feeling embarrassed about the fact that he had to get a job at Domino's. I, being the tender sweetheart that I am, just could not wrap my brain around what the big deal was. A job is a job. But, for him, it really mattered. He was ashamed. Something clicked last week. He noticed he was not the only late 30's man working there that worked a day job and delivered pizza's at night to make ends meet. God has touched his heart and now he is grateful for this job. *whew* I must say, I thoroughly enjoy his employee discount. :)

Be grateful....Be blessed. :)

Log Cabin Lapghan finished

The Log Cabin inspired lap afghan that I've been working on I completed last night. I was SO happy! My hands have been aching because I couldn't find my circulars and have had to work on 14" needles. Boy did that get heavy towards the end!

I finished off with a crocheted border, which completed the look nicely and I am planning on giving this to Miss Dorothy at church tomorrow night as a late Easter present. :)

Cotton/Acrylic Log Cabin Afghan- WIP

Thought I'd share what I'm working on. I was making dish cloths. Thought cotton would be a good yarn to use in the new 80 degree, Florida weather I'm not yet accustomed to. I got Dish Clothed Out!! In the bottom of the box of cotton cones I found the beginnings of a cotton log cabin blanket that I had started at least 2 years ago. It was just the middle square and one round of "logs" made from left over stash yarns. I thought to myself "Yes. This is exactly what I need to be working on!"

So, I have embarked on another afghan. I found as I went along that I didn't have enough cotton colors, so I have had to throw about three acrylic logs in there. I know, I know....Integrity of the Project!! I'm just not stressing out over it. It is a scrappish afghan and I refuse to become bogged down with "rules". I needed coordinating colors and I was only going to get them from my acrylic bins, so that's what I did.

I don't know what is to become of this blanket. I know that I love how light and airy it feels, yet it keeps you so nice and toasty. As I started working on it a little, elderly woman from church named Miss Dorothy came to mind. I think I will give it to her. She wears a hat every service and she crochet's all of them. :) I asked her about her creations last Sunday and we got to talking about being cold. She said she is cold all of the time. lol. She is just a tiny thing. I know she likes bright colors based on her hats, so hopefully she will find a use for this blanket. I just want it to be a blessing to her.

Socks and Tears

I started Teo's socks Tuesday night after work. I managed to get through the cuff watching tv. Thank goodness he likes a short cuff. Then yesterday at work, I got through the heel flap. And I worked through the turn heel and started on the foot watching tv, talking with Tony and snuggling in bed last night. I am determined to get these buggers done before the weekend is up. Stefani has declared she needs another pair of slippers. These are my favorites to make and they are the sturdiest little sock slippers! I just add a few stitches and use a bigger needle if I'm making them for a man. Otherwise they can be a little skinny for slipping on and off.

Bubba's Socks in Toasted Almond by Red Heart "Heart & Sole"

I have one thing to say about the next picture. You, people, humble me.


I can only attribute this to the free pattern sites that have picked up on my patterns...but all I can say is Thank You to those of you who have stayed and continue to come back time and time again. I received an email from a reader this morning that brought me to tears. Thank you for allowing me to talk and for giving me a voice. I hope that this blog helps your day in some way.

Be Blessed!!

New Socks

Ok be very proud of me...I have started a new pair of socks for my boy. He wore a hole in his favorite pair of wool ones he wears around the house. So I went to the LYS yesterday and hemmed and hawed for about 15 minutes trying to find the least girlie colored ball of yarn in their selection without it being a solid color. Found a lovely one. Basic Red Heart "Heart & Sole" in Toasted Almond. The predominant colors are dark brown, tan, navy, and purpley mauve color. Thankfully the purpley color doesn't overwhelm, so I am very happy with the progress so far. Couldn't find my metal #2's...had to use Bamboo #2's. Hate them..just putting that out there. Was able to get up to the heel flap last night. He likes a short cuff, so it makes it easy to get socks done for him quickly. lol

Hopefully this is the start of me coming out of my crafting funk.

Second Mitten Syndrome

Second Mitten Syndrome is much like Second Sock Syndrome, only less eclectic and fun. When you have second sock syndrome you can still get away with wearing mismatched socks. It's all the rage...or at least it was a year or two ago. You could even get see through shoes to show off your funky sockness. But, second mitten syndrome is less charming. You don't look fun and funky...you look like some lamo who lost their mitten and should really have a string sewn on so you don't do that again!



The second mitten is much less exciting to make, cuz you've been there, done that. Just like the second sock. Anything you have to make two of.....well, pretty much drains all joy out of me.

So why do I do it? A) It's a sickness. B) It's a compulsion. C) There is a satisfaction derived from completing something that you dread doing. Almost like feeling that sense of inner accomplishment for eating that yogurt...when you really wanted a donut. And then you go back and eat the donut anyway cuz the yogurt really wasn't satisfying...but who's counting? You get 'points' for eating something healthy.

Has anyone ever added up their 'points'? If so, what do you get to use your 'points' for? That's a brain twister there.

Gloves I finished a week or so ago. I think I actually love making gloves way more than mittens. Don't know why. Maybe it's the fact that I feel like a freaking knitting goddess when they are done. They fit, they are functional AND they are pretty. :)

My macho, macho man was too cool for knitted gloves when I showed him the pattern I intended to make. "Nah...I don't need any gloves" he said. After I got the first one done, all of a sudden.."Yeah, these are pretty cool. I could use a black pair." Oh can you, now? And daughter pipes up..."Ooooo, Mom, I want these.....the ones with 1800 color changes and 50,000 ends that you'll have to weave in when you're done! Those are sweet!" *You really don't care if I ever work on another project, do you?*

So, onward, I knit. Loving and hating it all at the same time. While I know my family will "appreciate" the gloves. They will never "appreciate" what goes into them. I make it look way too easy. Sort of like watching my husband play any sport with a ball involved. How does anyone play that good all the time?? Or watching my daughter powerlift. How does anyone get that strong?? Or listening to my son tell me his latest ideas for books he wants to write. Where does he come up with this stuff???

I guess we all have our own gifts. World would be pretty boring if we were all the same, huh?

Mittens for the Finished Hat

I started the mittens that will go with the hat. I do have a pattern for the mittens. It comes out of the Patons: Next Steps Seven, Mittens & Gloves book. It's the basic 4 needle mitten. I just added a few stripes of color to have it coordinate with the hat. Working on the second mitten now.

I'm sort of loving the way the two skeins I bought are pooling their colors so differently. The hat and top portion of the finished mitten are the

same skein. Bottom of mitten and the next mitten are the other ball. If I were going to be super anal about it, the differences would be driving me batty about now. But, seeing as how I'm the super laid back broad that I am, I am looking at this as sort of fun. I like the differences. I mean, that is why I bought hand-dyed, right?

A Little Bit of This and A Little Bit of That

As I sit here scarfing my lunch (soooper hungry) of leftover sauteed peppers, onions, garlic and zucchini with feta cheese and a homemade spelt pita....I remember the pictures of Toby that I promised to share with you featuring the Barnyard Gang.

There is only one picture of the carnage that I won't be able to show you. It is on my phone and although I carry a small media center around in my purse, the one cable I don't have is the one for my phone to connect to the computer. I will, however, describe the picture to you. It's a little blurry. Lola is dangling from my mother's cupboard by her tail, upside down, udder facing out. No one is quite sure how Toby, who is 13 months old, was able to coordinate such an effort. But, it made for a hilarious picture. One I really, really wanted to show you. :) It's a testament to the hardy structure of the toy itself. From the moment Lola came out of the bag, she was one of his favorites (the other was Jedediah's hat). He tried to behead her, de-tail her and rip most of the rest of her limbs off as well. Watching him play with the Barnyard Gang reaffirmed for me why I double sew everything on. It needs to last and not be a choking hazard. And Toby would have found a way to make it a choking hazard, if he could. LOL

Without further ado...here's Toby.

Notice that Bob is almost flat? He's gotten crawled over a few times...

So that was the Tobinator.

Next up: Baby Socks.

When I was looking through my yarn stash a day or so ago I came across little balls of leftover sock yarn. So, yesterday, I got a wild hair and decided that I needed to make some baby socks out of those little balls. The balls looked so small to me I thought, "I won't be able to get more than one baby sock out of each of those balls. This'll be a great way to stash bust some of this mess out of here, baby socks work up fast AND I'll be able to work my way back into sock making (I haven't touched them in almost 2 years)." Well. Let me share a little secret. Little balls of sock yarn make many baby socks. Because the little balls of yarn sit in my bag and reproduce...so they never end. Ever.

I did have a grand time surfing the web for baby sock patterns, though, and I printed off a pile of them to make. I am going to do with these what I did with the dishcloth patterns I printed off. I want to make at least one pair of every pattern I printed. I am 1 sock done on the first pattern. lol I know I made it sound like I had knitted 15 socks off of one ball, but I didn't. Only one sock...but I was so sure that darn thing would've taken up alot more yarn than it did.

Here's the picture and pattern of my fat, little baby socks.

Here is the extra yarn I brought with me today. Although if I don't get off this computer, I won't even finish the second sock to the first pair....

Here's the list of patterns I will be tackling in the next few days in an effort to **Bust the Stash** (insert loud, echo-ey announcers voice here):

1. Bamboozle Bambini Socks
2. Hunca Munca- Baby Socks
3. Just Your Basic Baby Socks (and hat)
4. Matthew's Leftover Baby Socks
5. Froggy Socks - I may have to go buy some yarn for this...darnit....

and some Just for Fun items from Lion Brand Yarn Company:

*You will have to sign up for free membership to view these patterns*

1. Norwegian Wristers

2. Foyle's Cabled Leg Warmers

Thought Stefani might enjoy a pair of the leg warmers. We'll see if I have enough ambition to get them done. lol

Tah!

If At First You Don't Succeed.....

......try, try again! When I signed into Blogger today, I realized that I haven't posted in 10 days! I told myself I wouldn't let the blog go anymore...yet, here I am....

There hasn't been anything terribly exciting to update you on. My arm is doing great. I can't put much for pressure on my hand but I am noticing a lovely lack of pain when I am writing, crocheting, knitting, typing.... I am working my way back into cooking. I can cut veggies and fruits but I still cannot cut chicken. It takes a particular torque and pressure that I just can't achieve in my present level of healing.

I am discovering that not every dish I create for supper is a hit. Take the Chicken and Wild Rice soup I made for supper last night. I had boiled down a deli chicken carcass, removed the bones and peeled the meat off of the bone and threw it back in the broth. Then I chopped some celery, carrots and onion and threw it in. I added about a cup of wild rice, maybe a little more(?). Flavored it with some basil, thyme, pepper, garlic salt and rubbed sage. Thickened it with a little corn starch and milk. Added about a 1/2 cup of milk and 2 tbsp butter to the pot and called it good. Hubby and I loved it. Daughter gagged down a bite and son wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole. Go figure. I just had a leftover bowl for lunch that was just as good as last night. lol

However, the chicken (or chicken/black bean) enchilada recipe that we have been messing with has been perfected and the kids beg for those! All you do is cube up about a pound or so of chicken breasts and cook, in a decent sized skillet, with about 2 tbsp olive oil, a chopped onion and about 2-3 cloves of minced garlic. Then, you add to the pan 1 little can of diced green chilies, an 8 oz cream cheese cubed or cut into strips for easier melting and 1/2 a can of nacho flavored cheese (this is my one processed food item I just can't give up yet). Mix until smooth. At this point, you can either add a can of drained and rinsed black beans, or leave it as is. Then, spoon a small portion into warmed (wrap in tinfoil, put into 325 degree oven for 15 minutes) 6" corn tortillas, roll and place seam side down in a sprayed or greased 9x13 pan. This should make you two pans. Pour a can of enchilada sauce on EACH pan. So if you have two pans, you'll need two cans of sauce. Sprinkle generously with cheese (we like sharp cheddar). Leave uncovered and cook at 375 for 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly and cheese begins to brown a little at the edges. This has become an absolute favorite food in our house. I don't know why I ever thought enchiladas were hard to make!! lol My hubby has had to make the last few batches, though, cuz of the inability to cut chicken. I'm sure he'll be happy to hand the job back to me. :)

I've been working on knitting some coffee cup cozies. I started with this pattern. Mine does not turn out as cute and tight as hers. Mine is all loopy on the bind off. So I sort of redid it to suit me. Here's what I came up with:

Knitted cup cozy
material: less than 2 oz of yarn, 7dpns

CO 40st, join to make circle
row 1: k1, p1
row 2: inc, continue in established pattern around.
row3-16: repeat rows 1 and 2 ending with 48 stitches
row 17-18: purl each st around
BO in purl. Cut, leave long end for winding.

I will try to post a picture of it soon. It's sort of cute. :)

Ok, I think that's all I have to blather on about for today. Let me know if you try any of the recipes. :)

Tah!