Tag Archives: hat

mountain meadow wool

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in jr high,

at the end of lunch in the school cafeteria,

they sold creamsicles from a little ice cream cart.

on hot days, the line of kids waiting to buy

would wrap most of the day around

the big, old room.

when i first saw this yarn,

i picked out ‘natural cream color’ and ‘tesa orange’

because together they make up a creamsicle.

such yummy memories come to mind…

i was just going to

knit up a little two color swatch

in mountain meadow wool‘s alpine dk,

take a few photos, and put together this post.

honestly. that was all.

but this 3ply merino dk felt so great in my hands,

 with its just right light twist and

such fine stitch definition,

that before the swatch was even completely dry,

i’d planned out a new hat, cast on, and was working my way through the brim.

ha. guess my plans went a bit awry.

but i’m really going to enjoy the cozy of this merino when fall comes.

i wonder if wearing it will give me dreams

of creamsicles dancing

in my head?

‘hands’ taken from 19:1 ot psalms.

note: now for just a little of the nitty-gritty.

i was given these skeins from mountain meadow wool to review,

but, you all know me, and

a couple of free skeins of beautiful yarn

isn’t ever going to make me say i like what i don’t.

i’m much too stubborn and pig-headed for things like that…

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crossway kal

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did you know about the fun we had in march?

a bunch of us did a knitalong (kal) over in my ravelry group ‘talitha’s tangles’

for the ‘crossway’ hat.

there was a custom colorway from mrs. crosby

called ‘cloverleaf’ available only through jimmy bean’s wool

(if you love green tonals, there are a few skeins left here),

lots of fun chatter and encouragement and hats.

definitely beautiful knit hats. take a look at our fo’s:

if you missed the fun, no worries.

i’ll be announcing (just about the mid-april)

the next kal

which will start

the first week of may.

this time around we’ll be knitting the depth cowl (in either dk or worsted).

keep an eye out here, or join ‘talitha’s tangles’

so you’re sure not to miss the detail packed

announcement all about that kal.

talk to you soon!

‘knit’ taken from 10:10-12 of job.

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cobalt blue

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timing is so key.

just as the custom doll from threadpluslove arrived,

so did a skein of new cobalt blue gems fingering from louet!

now, my friend knitecochic

calls me ‘vibrant blue’ and the doll was designed to have short spiky hair like me…

so i knew immediately that this yarn would be a hat for her

(she is still nameless, btw,

if anyone has name ideas, feel free to comment below).

i’ve not always been a fan of fingering weight yarns.

my pinkies, of all things, always cramped up when i used thinner yarns,

but it turns out it’s the needle size that was the culprit,

not those beautiful fine yarns.

the color alone, was enough to draw me to the gems,

but turns out that the stitch definition is fab-u-lous as well. since i had a still model to try it onto (as opposed to a squirming child),

and as i was making the fit up as i went along,

i tried it on her many times and was continually impressed by the spring of the yarn

and how nicely it retained its shape.

soon as the hat

was finished, i packed it and the doll up and returned them to my mum

(the doll was to be a Christmas present from her to me).

when it finally was time to open the box and have her be mine for real

(oh how badly ‘she’ needs a name, guys),

the vibrant color of the yarn struck me as gold all over again.

it also occurred to me that perhaps some tiny little

bracelets should be next … right?

‘shape’ taken from 17:28-29 of acts.

note: a little of the nitty-gritty.

i was given this skein of louet gems fingering to review,

but, you know me, a free skein of yarn

isn’t ever going to make me say that i like what i don’t.

i am much too pig-headed to act anything like that. ever.

connecting

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i continue to be surprised

in this day and age that holds such a plethora of ways

to connect.

by all the different ways getting to know people

happens.

i ‘met’ margaret

of little gidding farm suris via instagram.

she was posting pics of such vibrant yarn!

i commented and we started a little conversation…

that pretty quickly led to

gorgeous yarn in the mail headed my way.

this stuff is so soft and yet manages to have excellent stitch definition.

i started knitting with it and hardly put it down

until two new hat patterns were born.

szlak & szlakow, in ‘suri delight’

szlak and szlakow collagespeaking of ‘born’,

check out ‘lgfsuris’ on instagram to see the farm

and to ooh & aah over the adorable little baby suris.

i’m talking about seriously adorable here.

‘talking’ taken from 29:9 of genesis.

photo of ‘szlakow’ by blueeyedcrafty photography.

leslie of blueeyedcrafty photography wears ‘szlak’ above. 

it’s the one

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after lots of

false starts and stops,

i have ended up with just the yarn

to make exactly the hat that i was looking for.

yes, finally. ahh.

the test knitting has begun. final photos

might be able to happen tomorrow depending upon

weather and availability.

tech editing and layout are next…

then the new pattern can be released.

until then,

let me introduce ‘sinew’:

slouchy when worn straight up,

fitted when worn with the brim folded precisely.

warm, without being bulky or restrictively tight.

it is just what i wanted.sinew 4sqfor the record: straight up simple is not the easiest to do.

there’s nowhere to hide decreases or shaping.

every stitch has to ‘play nice’

with all the others.

every stitch.

whew.

‘hide’ taken from 119:19 of the psalms.

secure(d)

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yarn.

oh how love it.

i don’t love it tangled and unruly, though.

so, there’s this little contraption that i got in new york city: the yarnit.

i’ll tell you more about it and i at vklive tomorrow.

today i just want to show you

how happily it sits on the piano in my kitchen

(yes, i said ‘piano’ and yes, i said ‘in my kitchen’).IMG_8847cropi can knit a few stitches, stir whatever’s on the stove,

all the while knowing that the yarn will be exactly where i left it

(having not rolled down under the piano where the dust bunnies thrive).

the yarnit sits there while i chase after

whatever kid needs whatever thing at any given moment, too.

it’s sort of a nanny for my yarn and

this busy mama is really loving having a yarn nanny.

for sure.

‘chase’ taken from 12:11 of proverbs.

turn around

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when i took a step back

and looked honestly at the progress of my nomadic nights slouch

i could see it was a  good idea gone sideways.

the three very differently textured yarns

that i had chosen so they would

pop individually,

blended together until the personality of each fiber was lost.

ugh. time for plan b.

i lovingly rewound the original skeins for another day,IMG_8829crop

and began again

with three

muted shades of

julie asselin’s ankara.

this is big, squishy

bulky at its

best.

still enjoying holly‘s pattern and now i’m so liking

the finished hat as well.IMG_8810crop

i guess that since

the snow

refuses to hear

my pitiful cries and stop,

that i might get quite a bit of

wear out of my new

slouch.

[love]

‘finished’ taken from 5:4 of luke.

and around again

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i just finished my second riles hat.

this one is in the color of february love.  ahhh.february 'riles' collagecolor is so powerful, makes this feel like a different hat altogether.

thanks to phydeaux designs, for a limited time,

if you buy a set of their minis

in the ‘neutrals’ colorway,

or one of the three new ‘wizard of oz’ mystery colorways

you’ll get a free copy of my little striped hat pattern as well.

call it a belated Christmas gift, or a jump start

on knitting in the new year.

whatever you call it,

enjoy!

‘love’ taken from 19:18 of leviticus.

window of opportunity

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my 15 yr old knows.

when i stand at the bottom of the stairs and call up to her,

‘hey jo, can i have your help for just 10 minutes’,

IMG_7973cropshe knows what comes next.

it means i just

caught

a glimpse of the sun

hovering at the treeline,

thinking about

calling it a day.

‘we have about

20 minutes, and then

that gorgeous light

will be gone’, i say.

she knows this, too

because i have said it to her before.

patiently, she comes down (well, patiently for a 15 yr old girl) and

lets me dress her in my cozy coat, place ‘riles’ on her head and fiddle with her hair.

then out we go into the yard.

the last time we did this

we climbed up into the kid’s platform fort.

it was nearly a miss, but we caught the light.

i’m so happy with the dusky look of these photos.IMG_7959sat

the combo of the light

and the glow

of the silk in the yarn

and the muted colors

is exactly what

i envisioned

for this pattern.

thanks for helping

me out, baby girl.

i really appreciate it.

.

‘caught’ taken from 10:19 of exodus.

and a quick reminder: you have until thursday night at midnight (est),

to leave a comment on yesterday’s post and maybe be a winner of the giveaway.

done! gone? and again.

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things have really been hopping here.

cousins and holiday preparations and school projects for the kids.

oh, and the final edits of my collection with CEY.

those were done as of yesterday morning.

not quite sure yet what to do with

the free space in my head

from having that

on the way

to print.

but,

for the record, i did finish my lace weight hat in time for thanksgiving

and it wasIMG_7913crop

promptly absconded

by my 15 yr old.

hard to say ‘no’

when it looks

so great on her.

true to form,

i was only

partway through

knitting it up

when my head was

already planning minor design adjustments for the next time around…manos lace hat on sj collagenow, to find a lace weight that i

love as much as i do the manos lace

(or maybe just a different colorway of this same yarn).

then i’m going to start in on another ‘strange loop‘.

this second one will definitely be for me.

most definitely.

‘true’ taken from 16:11 of luke.

disclaimer: manos gave me this yarn to play with, but you know me.

i am way too stubborn to be influenced toward lies or embellishment by one free

skein of yarn.  therefore, the opinions expressed here are honest and truthfully mine.