Knitting Projects

This weekend I did a lot of knitting. No more can I say that knitting something larger than a small toy takes too long. Of course I was using big needles (size 13) and big yarn (super bulky – Lion Brand Hometown and Wool-Ease Thick & Quick), so that helped. but maybe I’m actually getting the hang of this knitting thing.

My final count for the weekend:

I finished the last stripe on the lap blanket I started September 9th. I still need to weave in ends and make the straps to hold it all rolled up. For the most part I was using up yarn I’d bought a year ago for other small projects. Yarn sitting around the house in blanket form is easier to justify storing than yarn sitting around the house in skein form. Or maybe it’s just easier to fold and tuck away.

I knit a red and white striped ear-flap hat. I need to weave in all those ends too (what was I thinking with all those stripes?!), crochet an edge on it, and do the braids down the ends of the ear flaps. It’s a silly hat I’m planning on wearing caroling here in Arizona where the whole point is the look not the warmth. As it’s only one layer of thickness (no folded up band), so the wind can get through the stitches to my ears. I hate cold ears.

I had to adjust the pattern because we have larger than average heads here in our household apparently and while an 18 inch hat might stretch to fit a range of sizes, stretching it to fit my 22.5 inch head wouldn’t be comfortable.

• For the ear flaps I did one more increase row for a total of 11 stitches for each ear flap.
• I cast on 11 stitches between the ear flaps in the back for a total of 33 stitches for those four rows.
• I cast on 15 stitches in the front for a total of 48 stitches in the round.
• For the decreases I did a (K4, k2tog) round, a knit round, and then picked up with the decreases as directed in the pattern.

Skills learned with this project: casting on stitches in the middle of my work, and I think I’m getting the hang of the increase where you pick up the horizontal bar between two stitches. I’ll learn how to do a crochet edge on it too when I get an appropriately sized needle. It fits my head. It’d fit Brett’s head too, but I doubt we’ll see him wearing it.

I started and finished knitting a brown headband that is basically just 7 inches of k2, p2 ribbing knit in the round and then folded in half. It looks good. And it’s going to be warm. I had to figure out provisional cast-on for that so I could finish it with a kitchener stitch. I will not be using that cast-on very often because it was very not intuitive for my brain and fingers. This one I cast on 44 stitches for. I think if I were to do it again I’d cast on 40 so it would fit a little snugger. I did two rounds of a red stripe in the middle for a design element.

Two years ago I picked up double-pointed needles for the first time so I could make Brett a wool hat for our first anniversary (we had trips planned to Utah and Indiana that year and so he’d need it then). Once I got over the feeling that I was going to stab the needles through my hand and thought it would probably be easier to knit with them if I was any good at chopsticks, I got the hang of it and I use double-pointed needles a lot now. I especially love the feel and sound of bamboo ones. I’ve been needing my own thick wool hat though (for when we travel in the winter, not necessarily for here). So this weekend I knit one in a dark charcoal grey. Again because of my large head I did a bit of adjusting of the pattern and it fits great.

• Cast on 44 stitches.
• After knitting the 5.5 inches of ribbing, k10, k in front and back, repeat four times, total of 48 stitches.
• For the decreases – k6, k2tog, repeat 6 times, 42 stitches at the end of that round. Knit the next round. Continue with the decreases as written in the pattern.

It’s a fine looking hat and will keep me very warm.

It was a very productive knitting weekend. I’m going to keep my end-weaving-in projects and end-weaving-in supplies (I keep my set of blunt needles and folding scissors (which are AWESOME!) in an old prescription bottle that is the perfect pocket size) with me and see if I can’t get those finished up while waiting for various meetings and appointments.