Knit Hair Accessories

 

Hello!  It's officially Summer now here in Minnesota after the Summer Solstice this past Sunday and I find myself wanting to knit small quick items.  Silly really as we have air conditioning so it's a very comfortable 72 degrees Fahrenheit and I could pretty much knit anything I wanted in comfort.  But, still I find myself wanting to knit on smaller items that don't sit in my lap as I knit them.  Thus, in comes in the above projects in a category I've never knit from before - hair accessories.  My summer copy of Interweave's KNITS magazine arrived last week and contained a whole section on headbands, kerchiefs and head scarves of which I loved every single one!  

My favorite by far was the Jubilee Kerchief by Shaina Bilow which you can see in the first two photos.  The original calls for a cotton blend DK weight yarn of which I do not possess, and not buying yarn I wasn't going to go purchase it.  So, into the yarn stash I dove and came up with a very pretty brown sock yarn by Malabrigo, which if I doubled the fingering weight strand turned into about a DK weight - just what I needed.  I did have to buy the navy iris metallic beads from Artbeads, but since I'm not on a bead buying freeze this was fine with me.  It was a very simple knit with the only tedious part being you have to string all 253 beads before you get to begin knitting but in all honesty this really didn't take too long.  This was my first project knitting with beads and I was delighted to find it really easy to do.  In fact I see a beaded shawl in my future...

Next up is a headband called the Wrap and Tie Headband by Jenise Hope.  It calls for Knit Picks Stroll sock yarn, which I happened to have in my stash - yay!  This pattern is written out line by line or you could knit from the included chart.  A very simple pattern in an increasing then decreasing 2 x 2 rib with a wide center section.  It's just long enough, about 27inches blocked, to tie twice with short little ends that my hair hides.  The headband is very lightweight so as to hardly notice it's presence.

While these projects only added about 180 meters to my Stash Dash totals, they were immensely satisfying with the instant gratification of only taking just over a day each to knit.  After I finish these socks, which are oh so close to being completed, I'm going to see what other hair accessories I can knit with my stash yarn.

Joining in with:

Nicole for Keep Calm Craft On

Ginny for Yarn Along

Beth for Whatcha Workin' On?  Wednesday

Podcasts, Stash Dash and Gifts

Well, I almost didn't get a post done this week as I have been distracted by the discovery of knitting podcasts.  Do you listen to any?  What are your favorites?  So far, I really like The Knit Girllls, Knitmore Girls, Little Bobbins Knits, Snappy Stitches and In a Sknit and have been listening to them in my alone time during the morning before my son wakes up.  It's like sitting a chatting to a knitting friend which really appeals to me as I am looking for more knitting community.

While listening to one of the Knitmore Girls podcasts I learned about a fun "event" called Stash Dash.  It's run by Leslie and Laura of The Knit Girllls through their Ravelry group.  It's a race (with yourself) to finish your WIPs and knit or spin from your stash (no purchasing new yarn or fiber) in racing lengths of 3K, 5K and 10K.  Basically you are counting the meters of yarn you knit or spin from May 22nd to August 14th.  Since I'm trying not to buy any new yarn or fiber until next year this event is right up my alley.  I've committed to the 5K and because you can count the whole yardage of knit items upon finishing or fixing and refinishing them I am already about 1/2 way with Hubbie's 2 vests, a set of coasters and a mobius cowl.  I'm hoping to finish another cowl, a pair of socks that have been sitting around for some time, my Brown Russian sweater, some rainbow yarn, some alpaca yarn and then lastly knit a cowl (or something) for the rainbow yarn I spin.  It's rather a lot but most of these items are about 1/2 way done.

A few of my Stash Dash items are gifts.  I knit the coasters, which should be familiar from here and here (the yarn seems to keep providing and not running out,) and are a gift for our long time neighbor (13 years) Joe.  He got married last year and they wanted a house that they chose together so they moved a whole 5 blocks down in our same neighborhood.  Our neighborhood simply rocks!  It's like a small town with full walkable amenities (and I mean the basics like library, grocery, bank, hardware store etc. not just cute shops) even though we are considered a suburb of Minneapolis.  The next item is also for a neighbor who was a baby when Hubbie and I  moved into our house and now her and her twin (hence the second forthcoming cowl) have graduated high school.  The pattern I used for the one pictured is this one and the second will be knit from this one.  I've got to get moving as the party is this weekend.  The last photo is a pair of socks that have been living in my purse for I think over a year so it's time to get those puppies done.  They use this simple pattern by toe-up-sock guru Wendy D. Johnson and my only mod was to add a one / three rib so that they'll hug the foot.  They will be a gift for my mom's birthday I think. 

And that's it!  Whew!  What are you working on lately?

Joining in late with:

Nicole for Keep Calm Craft On

Ginny for Yarn Along

Beth for Whatcha Workin' on Wednesday

Sweater Weather?

The weather has turned to summer here in Minnesota so of course I'm knitting a thick turtleneck sweater.  What?  Well, I finished my husband's cabled vest and for some reason instead of going back finishing my 2nd fair isle mitten I turned to this WIP I started in December.  It's a Baby Cocktails pattern called White Russian, although mine is decidedly brown ;) , by Thea Colman and the most exciting part is I'm using my own handspun yarn.  I think what swayed me was working on Hubbie's Shetland Vest which also was knit with handspun.  Thus, it will be a balmy 91 degrees Fahrenheit  (that's 33 degrees Celsius for you all outside the US) today and I will be knitting a winter sweater.  Weird?  Yes.  But, I have better luck finishing projects if I go where my mood takes me instead of trying to adhere to my "To Knit" list.

The handspun is a lovely mix of Blue Faced Leicester and my favorite Shetland all grown and processed right here in Mora, Minnesota.  It turned out so bouncy squishy soft I wish you could feel it through your computers monitors (hmm...maybe in the future.)  Anyways, the wool spun to a DK weight making a total of 1327 yards (1213 meters.)  This did limit me a bit for finding a sweater in my size being a bit on the busty side.  What I really wanted to knit with it was this cardigan sweater but I didn't have enough yardage.  The White Russian pattern has been in my Ravelry queue for a long time because I love, love, love turtlenecks and after perusing through it I was surprised to find that I had enough (plus a bit extra) yarn for my size.  So, I cast on in December right after spinning the yarn and knit the turtle neck section, it's a top down knit, and promptly put it all away into a project bag for another day.  Maybe I'm going to sweep through my WIP's this year.  Wouldn't that be cool?  Now, I'm simply thankful for air conditioning making this whole winter sweater knitting possible on this decidedly summer day. 

Oh, and to update from this post I made the plunge and went to my first Knit Night with a lovely group of ladies who I found on Ravelry.  It was wonderful.  They didn't look at me blankly when I discussed different bind offs for sock cuffs as my husband frequently does, they talked about stashes and yarn buying freezes and so much wooly fun.  It was good.

Joining in with:

Nicole for Keep Calm Craft On

Ginny for Yarn Along

Beth for Whatcha Workin' On?   Wednesday

Summer Sale!

Business has been slow in my Etsy shop Simply Playing so I decided to spice things up with a Summer Sale.  Everything in the shop is on sale for 20% off from now through Friday June 12th.  Just use the coupon code "TOYS20" upon checkout to receive your savings.  Thank you all for your support and happy shopping!

Finished Project Pics!

 

Not sure why I look crabby, must be my reaction to something my Hubbie said.  Ha!

 

See the change in the color variegation?  I didn't blend the 2 skeins of Malabrigo Lace as I should have.

 

Here's my Hubbie Dan.  Isn't he handsome in his Shetland Vest.

Just a quick post today to show you some of my finished projects.  Up first is my Gemini Summer Top pattern by Jane Richmond.  It fits really well, but the shoulders do slip a bit.  I knit a few rounds of garter on the neck edge ( not done in the original pattern) to help prevent this, but I think it needed to be a tighter gauge altogether (for the lace part that is.)  So, if I were to knit this one again I would go down a needle size for the lace and keep the same size needle for the body.  The Hemp yarn I used has a lovely weight to it and feels really good next to my skin.  Now, if it would only warm up enough to wear it.

Next up is my Hubbie Dan's Shetland Vest.  I was only lengthening this sweater about 2 inches in the stockinette body portion and re-knitting 2 inches in the ribbing.  I talked about how I did that here.  It fits him very well now and he can reach upwards and not expose his stomach.  I am very pleased I did not have to re-knit this whole sweater.  Shetland is a grabby yarn and doesn't like being frogged much.

Dan's cabled vest is almost done too!  My oldest WIP by far - 3 years if you can believe it.  I have the ribbing around one armhole to do today then block it.  I didn't run out of yarn either and in fact have leftovers.  All that worrying for naught.  What's coming off your needles?

Joining in with Andrea for Fibre Arts Friday
 Linda for Creative Friday
Jenna for Freshly Finished Friday 
Beth for Flash Your Finishes Friday

Meet My New Spinning Wheel

 

I finally found a used Lendrum spinning wheel on Craigslist after searching for two years!  My first spinning wheel was an Ashford Traditional which I added a double treadle to as I had horrible rhythm with the single treadle.  It was a nice wheel and while I enjoyed spinning on it just wasn't a good fit to our tiny house and boy was it hard to carry to classes.  I tried a Lendrum at my first spinning class at The MN Textile Center in St. Paul and loved it utterly and completely, but the price put it out of my reach. Then a few weeks ago I found one on CL for a price I could afford and it is a perfect match.  She fits sweetly in a corner, spins beautifully and it's a breeze to fold her up and take her with me.  I turned around and sold my Ashford wheel with all her accessories which amazingly covered the cost of the new wheel - yay! 

 To try her out I finished spinning the second ply of some BFL fiber I purchased from the lovely ladies at Friends in Fiber.  The colorway is Antique Tapestry and is a rich array of copper, brown and teal.  I then plied the two singles together using the Bulky head flyer (which is a breeze to switch out) to a DK/light worsted weight yarn.  I cast on right away for the Spiral Cowl which you see above.  It was a fun knit as I learned something new - how to do a picot edge cast on and bind off, and the spiral lace pattern that makes up the middle section was a breeze to knit and very relaxing.  I even got to use one of the handmade buttons from Wooly Moss Roots that I salvaged from a failed project .  It's made of walnut which matched the cowl's colors beautifully.

Currently, I'm spinning the fiber I got from Shepard's Harvest from Three Sisters Farm and Fiber which I talked about here.  It is practically spinning itself into a very fine ply.  I purchased 8 oz. of fiber which gives me enough to make a 3 ply yarn with a good amount of yardage I think.  I really love 3 ply handspun yarn as it's so round and pleasant to knit with.  I'm only sneaking in time at the wheel when I take a break from knitting my Hubbie's cabled vest so progress is slow and I'm only on the very beginning of the second ply.  This yarn's fate will be a cowl I think as it is so, so very soft and well, I love simply love cowls - so cozy!

Joining in with Nicole for Keep Calm Craft On and Ginny for Yarn Along.

Shetland - Yes Please!

First off, a wholehearted "Thank YOU!" to all you commented on my last post.  I usually respond to each comment, but there were so many I thought I'd thank you all at once.  You all made my day with your sweet kind words.  I read them all aloud to my husband who commented "Knitters are so cool."  How right he is!

Speaking of my husband, he brought home one of his knitted vests (he keeps them at work so they're on hand when he inevitably gets cold) that he stopped wearing because it was too short.  It's knit out of the first yarn I ever spun.  I used MN Shetland fiber as the Scots in me loves the heritage connection we have and well, it's super easy to spin too.  Needless to say I did not want to frog this sweater vest, but it was knit from the bottom up making me unsure on how to lengthen it.  The internet came to my rescue and with a video no less!  Seriously, the internet is wonderful for all the knitting information and videos you can find.  Following the Knitting Daily video I picked up a row of stitches just above the ribbing of the vest and then, gulp, cut the row just below and removed the ribbing.  It was very slick, not messy and I was able to save the handspun yarn from the ribbing to reuse.  Yay!  So, I've knit the 2 inches that was the ribbing in stockinette and just started on the new ribbing thankful that I had extra of this handspun yarn on hand.  I'm thinking I will finish it today and block it over the weekend.  There is a bit of a "ridge" from the old to the new knitting, but hopefully that will block right out.

In the Shetland theme of today's post I'm showing you the latest (and probably last for quite a while) addition to my stash - Clara Yarn Shetland 1.0.  Have you heard of this company?  They have a great story which I found so compelling that I bought a sweater's worth amount of yarn.  It came in the mail yesterday and man I am in LOVE!  The color, texture, feel it's just all so perfect for my taste and it's destiny is this sweater.  In my knitting schedule for the rest of the year (don't you have one of those?) I have it blocked off for December for a from me to me Christmas gift.  Thus, all the Christmas knitting I'm planning on has to be done by the end of November, which works on paper, but we'll have to see if I'm biting off more than I can chew as the saying goes.

Joining in with Amanda for Fibre Arts Friday and Linda for Creative Friday.

The Stash Situation and Progress

Small portion of the out of control stash.  And yes, those are each 2 gallon sized Ziploc bags or in other words a sweater each!

Dan's sweater vest.

So, it's happened again.  While my back was turned my yarn stash added to it ranks.  I was down to 1 1/2 Rubbermaid large tubs of yarn and now suddenly it's doubled in size and I have three.  How does this happen you may ask?  Well, definitely with some stealth, forgetfulness, impetuousness and excitement of new possibilities (because that's what yarn is after all - new possibilities.)   That and well...maybe a yarn sale or two and a couple of fiber events might of pushed me over the edge.  But, this of course is not the real reason why I purchased so much yarn.  The real underlying reason, I figured out recently, is that I'm lonely and when I'm lonely I shop.  

Now, don't get me wrong I have friends and a loving family, but what I don't have is knitting friends.  Only one of my friends knit and she has 3 kids with one on the way so you can just imagine how much knitting time she has on her hands (let alone time to visit.)  Knitting has become my passion and fills much of my waking hours.  And not having anyone to talk to about it (besides you lovely people, but let's face it it's a bit one sided on a blog) is really getting me down.  

To remedy this situation I turned to Ravelry and started looking for a local knitting group to join.  It seems the obvious answer and I just haven't done it yet out of shyness and my hermit like tendencies.  Well, there is one other reason I have yet to find a group.  I knit kinda weird.  My mom taught me and she taught herself from a book which wasn't very clear with it's directions.  It works fine.  I make knitted things as you've seen, but sometimes I look rather fumbly and awkward (at least I feel that way.)  It's very silly of me I know to be concerned with how I look knitting, but I do so that's that.  But, I think I really need people to talk to in person about knitting so I'm making the leap to join a group.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming of knitting.  I've made decent progress on Dan's Wall Street Cables vest and will definitely finish it in time for Father's Day.  The yarn is a nice soft merino, but I'm thinking I might not have quite enough or it will be tight to say the least.  I started this project 3 years ago when I was still rather new to knitting and didn't know to estimate more yarn then suggested by the pattern.  I think I will have enough to finish the front panel thanks to the deep v-neck so the worst outcome would be a contrasting neck and arm edgings.  Which, let's face it wouldn't be too terrible.  The frustrating thing is I think this sweater is going to be big on my Hubbie and I probably could've knitted one size down eliminating my yarn shortage issues.  Agh!  I am determined to finish though and well, Dan likes loose clothing so all this wringing of hands might be for naught.  At least that's what I hoping.

Joining in with Nicole for Keep Calm Craft On and Ginny for Yarn Along.

Revisiting an Old Project

No, I've not finished the second mitten, or the navy and white summer top, but yes, I have moved on to another project.  I think I have a knitting specific ADD.  Well really, it occurred to me the other day that Father's day is about a month after mother's day and maybe I should make something special for my husband (especially after not knitting him anything for his birthday - for shame Ann.)  When given the option of this spiffy hat or another sweater vest he opted for the vest (he gets very cold at work even in the summer as he doesn't care for AC.)  It just so happens I have one halfway knitted from over 3 years ago.  Yup, you heard me right 3 years ago I started this vest, finishing the backside only to then panic that I would not have enough yarn to complete it so I promptly stopped knitting.  Because if you don't knit you won't run out of yarn and everything will be fine right?  Fine, but no sweater vest to wear.  Sigh.  So, I decided to get back to it for Father's Day and it seems to me I'll have enough yarn and if not, well then there's always contrasting trim right? 

The only bummer is a mistake I made in the middle of the back all those years ago - can you see it?  I made one whole grouping of cables tighter than the rest all the way across.  It's right smack dab in the middle of the back too.  Now, my quandary is do I replicate this mistake on the front panel so the seams match as they should or do I knit it correctly for the front and side seams be damned?  Notice how I don't mention re-knitting the back to fix said mistake?  It's just too much for this faint heart to unravel that much knitting.  What do you think?

Joining in with Linda for Creative Friday and Amanda for Fibre Arts Fridays. 

Shepard's Harvest and Mittens

- The Festival -

 

 

 

- The Goodies -

 

- The Results -

Ok, you made it through the pictures; now onto the text!  This past weekend was Minnesota's largest fiber festival Shepard's Harvest and needless to say I was very excited to go.  It was my first time attending and boy was it a wonderful experience.  It will definitely be an annual pilgrimage for me and my family.  There were beautiful alpacas, goats, sheep and of so soft bunnies (I could just kick myself for forgetting to take some pics of the angora rabbits they were so beautiful.  Sam held one too.)  There were hand knitters, machine knitters, spinners with drop spindles, spinners with spinning wheels (there was even one of these great wheels being demoed) basket makers, tons of vendors, lovely musicians and yummy not so good for you Fair food.  Lots of demos were happening all weekend: spinning, sheep dog herding, sheep and alpaca shearing and machine knitting to name a few.  Crafts were available too for those families so inclined as well as many, many classes (which you need to sign up for months in advance - note to self for next year.)   Ah, it was lovely.

My new friend Mary Lou of Angora Gardens even displayed some of my knitted bunny and cat children's toys (for which I use her yarns) with her fabulous angora products at the festival.  She did a little post about me too on her blog.  Here is a picture she took with one her baby angoras.  She titled it "Real or Imposter?"

She had bigger bunnies ready for adoption at the Fair and my son Sam was itching to take one of the black ones home.  We're considering it and may be making a farm visit to adopt one.

After perusing all the the many vendors I made a few purchases.  From Golden Meadow Alpacas from Lewis Minnesota I bought 5 sport weight skeins of natural colored alpaca yarn.  My original intent was to find Shetland yarn to make this Kate Davies hat which requires 9 different shades, but alas no Shetland was to be found.  So, I "made do", if you can call this beautiful alpaca yarn making do, with only 5 shades of 100% alpaca yarn (I wanted more colors but the price of full skeins multiplied by 9 was a bit too cost prohibitive for me.)  Then to satisfy my spinning urge I purchased 2 buttery soft balls of angora and alpaca roving from Three Sisters Farm and Fiber from Winona Minnesota.  There was quite a lot of alpaca at the festival, which makes me think they must be well suited to our crazy climate of freezing winters and hot humid summers.

Of course upon arriving home I quickly abandoned my current knitting project to knit with these new yarns.  Such a fickle woman am I.  I tried stranded mittens for the first time using this Knitting Traditions pattern.  It calls for eight colors so I had to modify it a bit, but I don't think using only 5 colors detracted one bit from the outcome.  I'm very pleased with the results to say the least.  Although I did pull my strands a bit tight in places, even with knitting them inside out to keep them loose, the blocking seems to have eased the yarn tension sufficiently.  The only bummer is the thumb is a tad bit short, but still wearable.  I was suspicious it would be (I have long thumbs), but then it seemed like it was going to be ok, but then it wasn't.  Trust your intuition Ann!  I'm hopeful that the yarn will stretch a bit with use.  I know I could always undo the thumb and add more rounds, but that sounds too daunting to do with stranded knitting so I'm just going to leave it as is.  Now to get going on the second mitten, then maybe a matching Scottish tam and cowl?  Hmm...so much for summer tops.

Joining in with Nicole for Keep Calm and Craft On and Ginny for Yarn Along.

A New Project!

Casting on for a new project - yay!!  The Summer Top is currently blocking and though I have yet to wear it, it has turned me on to knitting even more summer tops!  Thus the above project has begun and will be the Astonish Top from Knit Picks Golden Morning collection of patterns.  It's knit on the bias and has a lovely drape.  I'm using Valley Yarns Charlemont fingering weight yarn (the other yarn I got for Mother's Day last year - see the theme?) which is mainly merino wool, but has 20% silk in it's makeup.  The silk should really add to the drape of this pattern as well as lending a lovely sheen.  I chose my favorite classic color combo of navy blue and white (which is starting to take over my wardrobe.)  My only trepidation to this project is the fact that it is fingering weight yarn knit on tiny US 2 1/2 - 3 mm needles.  This is making progress slow, but oh, do I love the look! 

Joining in with Andrea for Fibre Arts Friday.

Summer Top!

I'm finally finishing up my warm weather sweater I planned on knitting last summer.  I received the yarn as a gift from mother's day a year ago, and knit the bulk of it while on retreat this Spring.  The pattern is Gemini by Jane Richmond and it is free and very easy to follow.  It's meant for a DK weight yarn and while the Hempathy by Elsbeth Lavold is considered DK I thought the fabric was a bit too loose at gauge.  To remedy this I added a lace weight strand of Malabrigo merino yarn and now I love the resulting fabric and the color variation the Malabrigo lends.  Of course this addition means I have to handwash the sweater, but I think it will be worth it in the long run.  I have about 4 inches left to knit which is so close and yet so far as it's boring stockinette (good TV knitting though.)  Then just a few rows and some ribbing to finish off each of the sleeves and I'm done.  This is my first knitted warm weather top and I can't wait to wear it.  Now, if it would just warm up already, but alas Spring in Minnesota is temperamental to say the least.

Joining in with Nicole for Keep Calm Craft On and Ginny for Yarn Along.