Matching (AKA Lake Superior Ate My Hat)

Well. I started to write this post almost two months ago because I had made matching hats for me and my brother Paul last year for Christmas. I had some nice anecdotes about doing a Handmade Christmas (I think this is the year for our family ! ) and how it reminds me of Laura Ingalls Wilder and how they would make their Christmas gifts from bits and bobs of yarn, and I was all prepared to tell you the adventures my brother and I have taken these hats on.

And then I lost my hat (and mourned). But we're not at that part of the story yet!

Let's start with the process: terribly scientific, I just kind of made them up as I went. I might have ripped out and started over once or twice, but it was a year ago, so the disappointment of starting over has faded (or been blocked out). It's out of extra yarn from my senior collection, Knitpicks Wool of the Andes worsted weight, 2 ends for a heavier gauge, size... 11? needles. Forever obsessed with this deep teal. I made my pom poms with cardboard circles because no pom pom maker in existence will ever be big enough for me. (The pom pom was maybe too big, because my hat sometimes fell off my head from the weight of it. Little did I know this would be the end of the hat!)

The only photos of our matchingness! This was shortly after Christmas, 2015.

Not long after I made it, I took it for a blizzard trial run in Baltimore in January. A girlfriend and I went out to visit another dear friend from college, and got caught in that big ol' east coast blizzard. Our flight was cancelled and we got stranded for an extra couple days... not the worst to be stuck on vacation! I was super toasty warm in my cowl, hat, and big wool men's overcoat when we ventured out to a bar to play boardgames and enjoy some Natty Bo (National Bohemian) which I understood to be to Maryland what PBR is to Milwaukee.

Here's one more shot from Baltimore, after the sun came out.

So I think I probably took it to Alaska when I visited family in April, and maybe Paul brought his but we don't have photographic evidence.

Then we went to Seattle as a family and took a ferry, and my hat definitely didn't fall into THIS body of water.

Paul wore his hat while enjoying some news on a street corner in Seattle.

He also went on a side adventure to Idaho and climbed something (if you know Paul at all, you know he climbs things, sorry Mom) and his hat did NOT fall off while climbing to outrageous heights. Also, how gorgeous is this photo?!

The hat, plus me and my future husband, cutting down a Christmas tree while visiting my parents. (Ooo meet Mike! I don't know if you've seen him on the blog yet!) 

Okay so, we know this story has an ending (though amidst this rambling post, you might have been wondering if that was still the case!). On Christmas day, we decided to travel due to a major snow/ice storm in the forecast. There were some huge swells on Lake Superior, and I had my camera at the ready, so we stopped so I could get some shots. I climbed down to a stone covered beach, and started snapping away.

The photos were turning out great. I could hardly tear myself away, thinking that each wave was going to be bigger than the last! But finally, I started walking back along the beach, and paused to get one last photo.

As the wave rolled in, I realized the water was coming much higher up on shore than before. I stepped backward, trying to keep my feet dry. As I stepped, my hat flopped forward and fell off my head, right into the big water. 

And it was quickly swept further in by the waves. I tried to fish it out with a stick while ankle deep in the frigid water, but it was slippery and I didn't want to sacrifice my hat AND my dignity (also my camera) so I sadly watched it slip away.

Boots soaking wet and head slightly cold, I climbed back up the bank and trudged away. And that's the overly dramatic, terribly drawn-out tale of how I lost my hat in Lake Superior. (Paul still has his.) I guess I should make another?

Giant Knit Slouchy Beanie pt. 2!

When I made the tutorial for this giant slouchy beanie, I did it with two different colors of roving, but I really wanted try it in all white to see how it turned out. I used roving from Dharma Trading, which I am really surprised and delighted by, and my size 50 knitting needles. It took only a couple hours to finish, and I made it out on the balcony to photograph it just in time before it got dark.

And I really love how it turned out! It is super warm, very comfy, and quite cute. I'm always trying to be conscious of having cute winter gear, since it takes up such a large portion of my wardrobe. This fits the bill, I'd say!

I just love roving, and I don't think this affair is going to end any time soon, to be honest.

And yeah. I'm wearing this shirt for forever. Don't judge.

Tutorial for this hat is here, or you can buy the hat here. :)

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Finished Project: Camilla Babe Sweater

It took me about four months longer than it should have, but I finally finished this little sweater for my niece! I started it way back in August, shortly after she was born, and knit the bulk of it on a series of plane rides from North Carolina to Alaska. I didn't quite finish it during my visit up there, and after I got home, it fell the the side. All I had left to do was sew the underarm seams and weave in the ends, and it sat for months in that state! How silly! 

Luckily, I made a six-month size and it turned out big anyway, so it is still going to fit her. This is the Camilla Babe pattern from Quince & Co, and I've always thought it was just the sweetest little pattern. It is knit bottom up, seamless, so it's really comfortable for a little one to wear (presumably). It was for the most part a breeze to knit, but because I had never knit a sweater bottom-up before, I did have a hard time wrapping my head around the joining of the sleeves to the body. Once my knitting buddy from work explained that it was like three tubes joining together to become one tube, it clicked for me. Funny how we get tripped up on these little things, isn't it?

I used some amazingly soft merino superwash DK weight, which I actually went in on with my aforementioned knitting buddy, and I can't remember the site we got it from. But it was like $3/skein, so I bought a LOT... and then went on a yarn diet for an extended period of time. Speaking of, I should really do that again. It's great for stash busting!

One more project off the needles. I can't wait to see my niece wear it when I visit Alaska in April! Ravelry link is here!

Tutorial: How to Knit a Slouchy Beanie with Colorblocking - Roving

Apologies for the unintentional hiatus! January got away from me, in a good kind of way. I finished up a few projects (including this shirt! I'll post it soon!), traveled to Baltimore during their big blizzard, and got a new cat (!). Happy February!

This is a tutorial for a chunky knit roving hat with colorblocking. It is super simple and fast and fun! I also cannot decide if I even like the hat or not, haha! I ran out of the blue, and I think I would like it more if it had more than a smidge of blue at the end. But you know, you win some and you lose some.

Because this is hat is knit with roving, the first thing you'll need to do is make your yarn! You can do this following my instructions in my previous tutorial, for the giant knit cowl. You will need to divide and set a slight twist into the roving to create your yarn:

You can learn the details of that technique HERE!

Okay, so for this project, you'll need about 100 grams of roving, or two skeins of Knitpick's roving.  You can really use any roving that's combed into a long strand. Here I used some creamy white roving, and some beautiful sapphire blue Knitpick's Wool of the Andes roving, left over from other projects. You can adjust your colorblocking to be any length, or you can skip it altogether! 

You will also need size 50 (25 mm) circular knitting needles. I like these ones from Knitter's Pride. 

With you main color, start by casting on 16 stitches, using the long-tail cast-on method.

Join in the round.

Begin to knit 1x1 rib.

Splice your yarn as necessary!

Watch it (quickly!) grow...

Knit in rib for 8 rounds (or desired amount). Switch to your second color:

Proceed in 1x1 rib for two more rounds.

On round 11, k2tog 8 times. 8 sts remaining.

Pull your loose end through the 8 remaining stitches.

Pull tightly, tie a knot, and weave in all loose ends.

How easy was that?! Even with spinning the roving, this can easily be done in a couple hours! It is one-size-fits-most, and you can easily increase or decrease as needed. For reference, I have a 22 1/2" head circumference (pretty standard).

This is so easily customizable, and I think would look really cute with different amounts of colorblocking, or stripes, or no colorblocking! You do you!

Here is the Ravelry link - add me, heart it up, all of that good stuff. I would love to see photos if you make this! Thanks for reading through! 

Giant Knit Cabled Intarsia Sweater

So here we are! Happy Monday! Happy New Year! I truly love the new year. Making goals, resolutions, and measuring progress from the previous year is satisfying and invigorating. And I am SO excited for 2016!

2015 brought a lot of good things. I built a lot of healthy habits into my life (everything at once - sleeping more, drinking more water, eating WAY healthier--as in zero Taco Bell and LOTS of new veggies--, and actually enjoying exercising regularly!) and hope to continue to make improvements there. I also made a lot more room in my life to be creative, and it's been so incredibly rewarding to be making things again. August brought me the cutest niece in the whole world, and the joy she has brought my entire family has been a true blessing. I got to meet her in Alaska in September, and it was so, so good to visit my brother and sister-in-law in their yurt (!) on the mountain they live on (!!). Aside from wishing I weren't so far from my whole family, I'm really happy in my personal life, and  satisfied (but still hungry) in my creative endeavors. 

So speaking of creative endeavors, here is another bulky intarsia sweater! I love making these. This was really fun to figure out, combining cables and intarsia. I am really into the abstract nature of it! It was a surprise to me as to how it was going to turn out. I used Knitpick's roving for the green heather, and some new roving I purchased from Dharma Trading Company for the white. Dharma's roving really impressed me, and I can't wait to order more from them. As always, I was delighted with the Knitpick's roving -- this heather is a beautiful combination of blues, greens, and yellows, giving the color so much depth. The fibers are very long, which makes my loose spinning technique easier, and gives it a sleeker handfeel.

It started to snow right as I was setting up to take these photos, which I figured was a very appropriate setting for such a fluffy, heavy sweater! 

What are your New Year's goals and resolutions? 

Mine include:

- Take more photos for fun

- Make better use of my evenings and weekends

- Take time to enjoy my mornings rather than rush out the door

- Write more, both blogging and journaling

- Use up more of my stash!

Hope your first week of 2016 is going well so far!

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