Amaliya in red for February

I had so much fun designing and knitting this beautiful, textured set!  There is a capelet with a cowl collar that covers the shoulders and neck, a hat to warm the ears and either mittens or fingerless mitts for the hands.  The texture makes pockets on the inside to trap the warmth. The texture reminds me of the bark on our Ash tree. The set looked so good on our beautiful daughter, Amy, that I named it in her honor. 

Meet Amaliya !
The patterns are available on my web site. You can buy separate patterns for each piece or a combined pattern which includes all 4 pieces.

 

Keeping Heads Warm

Hats, hats and more hats!  Great way to use up scraps of yarn! Not really needed right now but they will be come winter.  These hats are destined for the kindergarten children of the Choctaw Nation Head Start program in Oklahoma.  A friend of mine has  been collecting 310 hats each year to send to this program. Here is her blog if you want to follow the progress:  310 Hats


So far, I have made 7 hats to contribute.  Here are pictures of the first 6 hats. It has been fun to see what sort of variations I can come up with!

The knitters from our church are also making hats as well as scarves and mittens to give out this winter as part of our mitten tree project.  I will have to keep knitting so I can contribute to that one too.  Fortunately, hats are a quick project!

Baby projects

With a grandbaby on the way, I had to knit some things for this little one to wear!  They live in Las Vegas which is generally pretty warm to so hot you can't stand it! But they do have cool weather in the winter and especially at night or in the air conditioning. 

I just finished a cute sweater and hat in purple and greens which I hope they will feel they can use for either a boy or girl. I think I still have enough yarn to make some booties too. Here are some pictures of the set so far. 

They are made in sock yarns which are machine washable.  Important for a new mom! I was test knitting the sweater pattern for Rae Blackledge of Extravayarnza.  The pattern should be ready mid-July. It looks like it will have several options for variations. She has several other beautiful patterns as well.  I made up my own pattern for the hat and finished it off with a bit of I-cord tied in a knot at the top.

 

I have also made a fun cardigan sweater in multi-colored yarn.  I need to put buttons on it and then it will be finished.  

My younger kids all love this one because it is so bright and fun.  This is a self-striping sock yarn as well.  It is interesting to see how the colors worked out in different places on each side of the sweater. The pattern is an old one that is worked from the top down all in one piece. 

Next, I want to make up some booties that will go with the purple set.  I haven't found a pattern so might have to make up my own instead, as I did for the hat.  Baby things are so fast to knit and cute too!

Wild Horses Couldn't Drag Me Away

You know that saying, right? Well, in this case the Wild Blue Horses dragged me away to knit this fabulous 5-sided cap. Here is the designer's picture of it:


And here is my progress so far. It is going pretty well, I think. The colors look different in my photo because of different lighting but they are the same colors as the original.

The design is by Cynthia Wasner of Norsk Needlework. She also has a sweater and mittens with this design and several other sets that are also quite fun. I have been trying to get all of her patterns listed on my web site but it is going a bit slowly. I did get this pattern up though and you can find it here. Watch for more of her designs to be posted soon.

The cap is made of Rauma Finullgarn and there are 3 blues and white in it. Two of the sides have horses facing to the front and the other 3 sides are flowers. It takes some flipping of the graphs as you work around but they are easy to follow and it is fun to see the design develop.

Hopefully, I can stick with this project and get it done quickly. There are lots of UFOs (Un-Finished Objects) that need my attention soon. Our temperatures are dropping and winter is in the air. I have a daughter who is in Alaska and they are already well below zero so she needs more warm woolies. Another daughter is traveling with a theatrical show around the US and Canada. She spent the past couple of years in the South US where it is warm all year so there will be some warm knits on her Christmas list too I'm sure. Lots of knitting to keep me busy!

Iowa State Fair

I entered the fair for the first time this year. I have thought about it before but never followed through to get it done. Some of the knitters from the Ames Public Library's Knit and Crochet group were talking about entering so I thought maybe this year should be the year I finally did too. I found that there were lots of categories in knitting. I thought I might be able to enter a few things so I started making a list of what I had and which categories they would fit into. I came up with 15 items!

Click on the picture for a better look.
If you make it to the fair check out the Fiber & Threads, upstairs in the Varied Industries Building.

Knitting Pictures!

I finally found some time to take pictures of the knitting I have been doing. I really have been knitting but just hadn't found time to blog about it. I have spent that past couple of months trying to keep up with Arnhild's business as well as my own business and taking care of my family. I found some time in there to knit apparently too, as you can see!

There are hats and a cowl to go to charity. These will probably go to our church for their fall hat and mitten drive. I have been working on a couple of hats in ISU Cyclone colors, red and gold. These are the kind of knitting that I do while watching Rosie's basketball games or reading email. The striped one was finished at the last game, which they won in overtime!

Another hat and cowl set that I finished recently is this beautiful white cabled set. It is made in Rauma Vamsegarn, a worsted weight wool. The pattern is newly translated pattern -- Rauma 84-10. This one will be displayed at the Arnhild's Knitting Studio Retreat to be held in Ames in late February. The pattern will be released at that time.

I finished the sleeves for the Norwegian Man's Sweater a couple of weeks ago. I have been awaiting further instructions from Arnhild for the finishing. I have started that now. I will need to sew with the sewing machine along the center front and the sleeve openings and then I will cut through the knitting to make openings to attach the sleeves and the button bands. I will be taking lots of pictures as I do that. Arnhild and I are making up a book to give the students who are taking classes in our new Fiber Arts School. We are going to include lots of photos of the techniques involved in making these sweaters and other knitting projects.

And finally I have been learning how to knit socks from the toe up. I have knit dozens of socks from the top down but this takes some different techniques. It has been a challenge sometimes but I feel like I am learning a lot as I go. I have been wanting to learn how to do this because I have some sock yarn which is hand-dyed. I can't get more if I run out and the ball is a little shorter yardage than some that I have used. With this method of making socks I should be able to use up all of the yarn and still have my socks completed. I always worry when knitting from the top down that I will not have enough to finish the toe!

This is a photo from about a week ago. I have both of the socks past the heel now and one is almost finished.

I will try to update more as I work on the Norwegain sweater. It also needs to be finished in time for the retreat in February. There may be some other projects on my list for then too. I'd better keep knitting!

More Charity Knitting

I have several charity projects that I knit for.

There are

• prayer shawls for our church ministry,
  
• hats & mittens for the international families -- also part of our church ministry,
  
• hats for www.knit-a-cap.org,
• and recently I started making wool mittens for Macuwita-Sni (on Yahoo) (and here on Ravelry) a project for the Cheyenne River Sioux in South Dakota

The hat that I started on my way home from TNNA is one of these pictured. I had some made before the show and I have made others since then. These are really easy and fast to make. Some of them will go to the internationals and some will go to knit-a-cap.

The red mittens in my last post are planned for Macuwita-Sni, as are these red and blue stranded mittens. These have been a fun but frustrating exercise. I do not have a pattern to work from. I just thought I should add a simple stranded pattern to make them a little thicker and warmer. HA! The first mitten didn't work out too badly but trying to make the second one match was really a challenge! As my husband likes to remind me, "It's easy to make ONE of anything alike!"

I have ripped out many, many times! But I think I finally have it. Now to see if I can figure out what to do with the thumbs!!

Rauma Sweater and Hat

I have the task of making a sample for Arnhild's Knitting Studio for the TNNA show in June. This is my sweater kit for one of the new patterns from Rauma Designs of Norway. Pattern #2090RVF and 19 skeins of Vamsegarn and Finullgarn for the size medium. It is quite the pile of yarn!

This cabled cardigan uses 2 strands of yarn which change colors to make subtle horizontal stripes. The blue is Rauma Vamsegarn, a worsted weight yarn. This color will stay the same throughout. The 3 brown shades are Rauma Finullgarn, a fine weight yarn. The two yarns knit together are making a beautiful heathered knit.

The pattern calls for 5mm and 7mm needles. Unfortunately, US needle sizes don't include a 7mm. US10.5 is a 6.5mm and US11 is 8mm. I tried the 6.5mm to make a simple stockinette swatch but that seemed too tight. I did some with the 8mm but I was still not sure about the gauge so I started on the hat first. It is knitting up very quickly on size US11(8mm) needles. It will be a fun chunky hat.

There are cables all around the hat. Can you see them in this close-up? Click on the picture for a larger view. You might be able to see where I changed the browns too.

I had to show off my new yarn helper too. Arnhild's brother-in-law makes these. The balls spin easily without rolling all over the floor now! I can't tell you how many things I have tried for keeping my yarn handy. This is a wonderful solution! I am sure if you contact Arnhild she can let you know how to get one too!

Details
Pattern: Rauma 2090RF
Yarn: Rauma Vamsegarn and Rauma Finullgarn, 2 strands throughout
Needles: So far I am using size US8(5mm) and US11(8mm)

Finished knitting

Some finished item pictures:

My Candy Wrapper Hat pattern done in Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted yarn. This will be a nice warm hat!
More mittens for the International students. They are 100% wool. Should feel good to someone who is not used to Iowa winters I hope.


And lastly, a child size hat. I knit this during Amy's basketball game. Remember how I said that I could knit simple things without looking at them? I was surprised at how quickly I finished it. I had it cast on before the game so I didn't have to worry about counting. I almost finished it during the game. I think I knit faster when the game gets exciting! Amy made the first basket of the game for her team! It was also the only basket made in the first half I think. It is a very inexperienced, young team. They lost 59-12 but they had a great time playing and felt good about how it went.

Four boxes of yarn have been donated recently for the knitters at church. Of course it came to my house because I am in charge of the group. We don't have a very large group at this point so I guess I better keep busy. I certainly won't run out of yarn any time soon!

Fun with Vamsegarn from Rauma

I have been playing with Rauma's Vamsegarn. It is a 100% wool worsted weight yarn. Slightly heavier than Nature Spun worsted or Patons Classic Merino. It has a really nice hand though and I love how crisp the pattern looks and how even the stitches are.

I had a lot of fun designing this hat. It is done on size 7 needles. The snowflake pattern is the same one that is on the Selbu mittens that I am making.

The kids had a great time trying it on to see who it would look the best on. I liked it best on Wesley my 17 yo but he wouldn't let me take pictures. So here are Rosie and Carl hamming it up for your enjoyment.

I am hoping to make some mittens to match next. Then I will try to get the patterns written up.

Karaoke Candy Wrapper Hat

This color makes me think of Wether's Originals. I like it but the cables don't show up quite as nicely as they do in the plain colored hats.

Pattern: Candy Wrapper Hat--top down, size-women's large
Needles: size 7 dpn and 16 inch circular
Yarn: Karaoke, 50%soy silk/50% wool, 100m

Candy Wrapper Hat in Karaoke

I found this beautiful new colorway in Karaoke 50% Soysilk fibers/50% wool at my LYS. It is really soft! The newer colors of Karaoke are much softer than the older ones.

I wanted to see how the striping would work with the lace and cables of the Candy Wrapper Hat pattern.

So far, so good. I will keep you posted.

Candy Wrapper Hat

My newest pattern!

Candy Wrapper Hat

You will find the pattern available on my web site.


It started with a challenge from my friend Jennifer to "make a sample" from this heavenly soft new yarn that Rosemary got in at the Rose Tree Fiber Shop. It is Silk and Merino from Russi Sales 30% Silk, 70% extra fine Merino from Italy.


I tried a series of cables for a swatch and found that the yarn shows them off beautifully. I wanted to be able to use every inch of this wonderful yarn but I was also worried about running out before I finished the hat if I started at the bottom as most hats are. I only had 120 yards.


Then I thought of the Pinwheel Baby Blanket pattern that has this beautiful spiral start. I combined that with a double cable twist that looks like candy wrappers.



Oh, and I did use almost every little bit of the yarn. I have only a tiny ball left over. I even frogged my swatch and used it!

So come on into the Rose Tree if you can and check out all of the beautiful new colors of Silk and Merino. It is so soft that you may want to take some home too!






My model is my beautiful daughter, Amy. She is rather shy.

What can I say?

I frogged it! I decided that I really didn't like the back side of the stockinette on this Silky Wool. The pattern has you use reverse-stockinette as the background for the cables. The yarn is rustic enough on the right side of the stockinette that I really was not liking the wrong side.

I also had really made it difficult for myself because I was knitting it in the round from the inside so I could knit all the stitches. Except that meant that I had to do all of the cable work from the back side of the top, reading the charts backwards and making all the knits into purls and the purls, knits. YIKES! It was just too much!

So off to the frog pond it went. I started over again using the front of the stockinette and adding 2 purl stitches beside the cable so it will stand out. I really like it now! I think I may leave out the design that is in the center of the top though. It is just not in a good place for my figure!


I am still knitting caps! I found some fun kid-colored yarns on sale. I don't think I will run out of yarns any time soon. I am up to cap number 10 now. The plain green one came out a little bit small for Knit-a-cap. It will probably go to the international families instead. I have more of this yarn(Red Heart Kids), so the next one is one strand of it and one strand of baby yarn on size 11 needles. I wonder what size it will come out? It really doesn't matter because there is always a child's head that it will fit!


I also did some blanket blocks and a pink ribbon dishcloth for a friend of a friend who is dealing with cancer. Some of the blocks are crochet and some are knit. I pray that these things will give her some comfort and that she will heal and live a long, full life.

There is something magical about this hat!

Over the weekend the pile of caps grew and grew! These are just so easy and mindless. I love mindless projects. Maybe it is because I like to read while knitting.

These hats were knit from the Knit-a-cap pattern using a 16 inch size 10 circular needle. The dark striped one on the bottom was TLC Essentials. It came out a little bit thin looking so the second one (plain blue) I made with 2 strands of Caron Simply Soft.

Then I pulled out some Red Heart Super Saver yarn and decided to try it with one strand because it is a little bit thicker. The 3 middle hats were made with this yarn.

The green and blue striped hats on the top are made from Red Heart Strata, a self striping yarn. I started the first one last weekend and finished the 7th one yesterday.

A great way to use up some stash yarn and help out some kids!

Caps for charity

I got this pattern from the Knit-a-Cap web page. A friend told me about the thank you letters that came from kindergartners after her mother's death. Her mother had made several caps while she was ill. This organization provides handknit caps for the Kindergarteners on Indian Reservations to help prevent ear infections.

The striped hat was made according to the pattern. Size 10 needles, worsted weight acrylic yarn, 56 stitches. Knowing what winter is like here in Iowa this hat didn't seem very heavy to me. It is not what I put on my kid's heads when it gets cold and blustery! So for the next one I tried using 2 strands of Caron Simply Soft yarn with the same numbers of stitches. Much nicer!

I am not sure if I will get enough of these made to be worth sending them to Knit-a-cap or if I will take them down to the church for the children of the international students who are studying at the university here.

"But that is not all," said the Cat....

"Oh no, that is not all."

Here are a few more things that I can do....

I am almost finished with the Cat hat. I just have to weave in ends on the inside before I finish the inside hat. I think I may make a drawstring so the stuffing can be removed for washing. I am not quite sure what to stuff it with yet either.

I also have been trying to get another Baby Surprise sweater finished. Fiaba Baby is a really soft cotton yarn. I need to seam the shoulders and sew on some buttons. I was thinking that I might make a hat and booties too. There is plenty of yarn left. The baby has arrived already but the sweater will be a little big for her right now. Still, I'd better not put it off too long. It is amazing how fast babies grow!