Autumn Beret

Thanks to Ravelry there is a cornucopia of free patterns all on a single site. It's like hitting the jackpot everytime I browse through them.

I came across this pattern for a Spring Beret. Knit in cottor, it does make a wonderful springtime accessory.

But, I needed to make something for my dearest friend's birthday and it's on November 4th. Not springtime.



Here it is in Malabrigo's worsted wool. It took less than one skein, and I even threw in an extra repeat of the 8-row pattern to make it floppier.

I still think it cold be floppier and roomier. (I admit. I do have a rather bulbous head.)

Kicked me in the ass (and still kicking)

SO.

I do like this pattern - Bacchus Socks from IK Fall 2008. And, I do like the way this ONE sock has turned out.

But lemme tell ya... if this sock up and threw itself out the window of my apartment, I wouldn't run downstairs to see if it made it. I'd draw the curtains, and turn off my lights like I did when that vase accidentally fell off of my window ledge and shattered all over the sidewalk. But, that's a whole other story. (No one was hurt.)

With this particular design, I discovered quite a few things. First, the Turkish cast-on. Achieved, but not without a lot of cursing. The Interweave Knits instructions were lacking, shall we say. So I turned to EZ and Meg. They tipped me off to the two circular needle way of doing it.

Did I have two circular needles in a size 1? Of course not. So the cursing continued.

My second discovery: no matter how much you pay for dpn's, they can break. Please see previous post.

Thirdly, the smaller the stitches, the harder to pick up dropped one's. Just sayin'.

Finally, the invisible cast-off. The annoyance built up inside of me since the instructions were for either 1x1 rib, or 2x2 rib. This pattern has a 2x1 rib. I know I know... easy enough to translate. But I just wanted to read instructions and follow them. Is that so wrong?

Again, EZ to the rescue! I did her sewn bind-off... purl through two, knit through first, pull off that stitch. Easy enough. The result... eh. It definitely isn't an invisible cast-off. But that's what happens when you take shortcuts.

I am not amused.



The punchline. Wait for it... wait for it...

The sock doesn't fit me.

!@#$%^&*

I was more than happy to splurge on a set of Lantern Moon Sox Stix. I already had one set, and really enjoyed using them.

So, on my very first go with my brand new Size 0 set I broke a needle. (Rosewood, btw.)



Like... seriously... WTF?! W. T. F.

I'm pissed. And oh so annoyed.

Men's Alpaca Scarf

Inspired from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts' Men's Cashmere Scarf. I didn't have cashmere on hand, but I had some nice rich gray alpaca.

I know I know, gray is so boring. But, I'd rather my recipient wear this scarf than admire the color as the scarf hangs on the back of a door.



Very easy, very quick and it only took two skeins of Misti's Baby Alpaca Chunky.

The edges do curl (argh), but some wet blocking took care of that.

Rainbow Sprinkles

I've been digging through books and sifting through ravelry.com trying to find quick yet impressive holiday gifts to make.

I stumbled across Elizabeth Zimmermann's Spiral Hat, also better known as the Snail Hat or Dairy Queen Hat. Personally being a huge fan of Dairy Queen, I looked at the "vanilla" colored hat in The Opinionated Knitter and remembered how I had always been such a sucker for anything with rainbow sprinkles on it.

I pulled out some Sheep Shop Yarn that was rainbowy, and got started.



A quick knit, but I'm not sure who this could go to. I think it's such a cool design, but wearable?

Be honest - do you think it's too goofy?

One for you; one for me

After making Shady a seed stitch scarf, I had to make one for myself. I loved the feel of the baby alpaca, and the look of the seed stitch.

I added fringe along one side of the scarf making it more blanket-y. I planned on doing both sides, but it looked a little crazy.



Used Misti Alpaca Chunky vs. Cascade's Baby Alpaca Chunky this time. Can't say that I notice a difference. Both super super soft and lovely to work with.