master yarnsmith

Hat #4 of Baby Hat Week. I lied to all of you yesterday: this is my favorite hat, possibly ever. I'm definitely making this one for literally all of us because it's amazing. Emery desperately wanted to model the hat, but unfortunately her head is much larger than a 6 month old's, so she settled for cuddling it instead. And I don't blame her! It's 100% superwash merino, so it's incredibly soft. The plan is to make a hat for Emery today, a hat for Ezekiel tomorrow, and one last hat for the new baby on Sunday to finish up Baby Hat Week. The kids are pretty jealous I haven't made them a hat this week, so I figure I'd better fix that.

Hat #3 of Baby Hat Week: ✅ Not gonna lie, this is my favorite so far. I wish the knot color work showed up more, but that's just poor color choice on my part. 🤷🏻‍♀️ My Mimi always told me that the back of my fair isle should look good enough to be worn on the front, and I was honestly worried I wouldn't remember how to do my floats, but I think they look okay, and I love how this fabric feels. I made this hat a little smaller, because there's just no telling how big this little guy's head will be. It was measuring bigger than Emery and Ezekiel's were at their 21 week ultrasound, but they were also tiny babies, so I figure it wouldn't hurt to have several sizes ready.

I love when tumblr mobile refuses to post. 😑 I've written this dang thing four times now. This is hat #2 of Baby Hat Week. I had about 50g of this skein of Sirdar Cotton Rich left after the owl hat and several pairs of baby booties, so I figured I'd just keep making hats out of it until it was gone. Can't go wrong with taupe hats. I wanted to use my simple baby hat recipe, but I didn't want it to be plain ol' stockinette. I went through a very old pattern book of my great-grandma's, hoping to find some inspiration that wasn't just cables, and found a shrug pattern that had these little C4b cables for added texture, and I decided that was exactly what I wanted. After some math, this is what I came up with.

I finished this hat before baptism yesterday, and I love it. I'm afraid it might be a little bigger than newborn sized, but that's ok. 👍🏻 Emery wants a pink one in her size, so once the Week of Baby Hats is over I'll adjust the pattern to fit her. Baby hat #2 is a pattern I'm making up as I go, and it's almost done, which means I'll have two hats to post today.

Sometimes you need to take a break from the big projects and whip up some baby hats. I haven't finished a project in ages, because they've been big, 1500+ yard projects, and nothing makes me lose my will to knit like a dry spell. I'm using up some 50g skeins to make some little hats for the baby, and let me tell you, after going so long without finishing anything it feels marvelous to finish a project in a couple of hours. Expect at least one post a day this week about a finished hat, because hats are all I'll be doing until I can get to my LYS and buy the rest of the yarn for the blanket.

Well poop. Here I've been thinking that Swish worsted was 220 yards per skein, but nope. It's 110 yards, and KnitPicks is sold out of the color. Now I get to frog all of that work and try to figure something out.

I've had to put the shawl I've been working on in time out. I hit a point somewhere between halfway and 3/4 done with every project where the thought of working another stitch just makes me crazy, and unfortunately I've hit that point with the shawl. I think it was exacerbated this time by knowing that the yarn I'm planning to use for this baby blanket was just sitting in the bag from my last trip to Lowlander Yarn Shop, just waiting to be turned into a blanket. See, I've put off making this baby anything until the last possible minute. If my other two kids are any indication, he will be here in less than six weeks, and I have not made him a single thing, whereas the other two had a veritable wardrobe by this point. We're talking cardigans up to 12 months in size, multiple blankets, socks, wool diapers, hats, mittens, toys - everything I could knit or crochet them. But this one... I think it stems from a combination of things. One) I have a 3.5 year old and an almost 2 year old, so time is an issue. Two) I haven't felt anywhere near the attachment to this one as I have the other two, probably because I am so busy with the older kids. Three) I couldn't find a yarn or pattern that I liked for anything, largely due to things I learned from my last June baby. I finally found the yarn I wanted to use for a swaddle blanket, with the help of the owner of Lowlander. I am not a fan of acrylic for anything, because even the "soft" acrylics tend to get scratchy or squeaky after a wash or two, but I also don't want to have to hand wash baby blankets every time there's a blow out or spit up. That takes time that I know I won't have. I was pointed to this lovely Sirdar cotton blend, and I think it's a winner. It feels like working with cotton (boo) but it has just enough acrylic in it to give it a little slide on the hooks. I am wishing I had a nickel-plated circular in a size 8, though, but birch is what I've got free at the moment, so birch it is. And I decided that I just wasn't going to find a pattern I liked, so I'm making one up. I'm sure there are probably very similar patterns out there, considering I'm just using the basics of entrelac on a much larger scale, but if there are I couldn't find one. I'll be posting progress shots, and if anyone is interested I'll write the pattern out. I'm thinking it should be a mindless knit from start to finish, but we shall see.

You guys. I found an actual life saving knitting tool. Let's say you're like me, and you start your first pattern that requires row counting, only to learn that a) you have the memory of a goldfish and b) row counters all disappear into the same abyss stitch markers do. Enter the abacus bracelet. I've been trying (and failing) to use an app on my phone to keep track of my rows in this shawl, and I never remember to actually push the button when I finish a row, so every time I come back to my work I'm having to count stitches to figure out where I am. Not anymore, dang it. I should have bought one of these a long time ago. Now that I know how helpful these are, I'm thinking I'm going to make some with different colored beads (ie not such bright colors) to wear when I'm out. The bright colors aren't really my style, but in more subdued colors this would look as nice as any frivolous bracelet I own.

Look at this gorgeous yarn I found at my LYS. 😍 Not only is it absolutely beautiful, it's 70% merino, 20% cashmere, 10% nylon, so it's incredibly soft. I'm thinking I'm going to use this yarn as the inspiration for a new shawl pattern.

Oh man, it has been a while since I've updated this blog, but I'm excited to announce that The Depression has decided to ease up, and I've found some motivation. I've got a few little things planned out before the new baby gets here in June, including reviews of several yarns, as well as a knit along, if anyone is interested. I've also been working on a pattern for a shawl that I'm debating publishing on ravelry, so I might want a few people to test knit that for me. What have you all been making lately?