And I was very happy for the two of them.

But a little sad.

Because I am a bit selfish and wished I could help with the wedding, but I can’t because I don’t live in New Zealand or Canada. (Boo.)

So I had the brilliant idea of how to weasle my way into the wedding…I would knit.

See, Carly’s planning on wearing a strapless dress, and the knitter in me automatically screamed, “Cold shoulders!” True, it will be summer, but summer evenings can get a little chilly. Sometimes.

So I talked to Carly and ~~pathetically grovelled for the honor~~ set forth my intention to knit a shawl for her wedding day. (I stifled the urge to skip about the room when she enthusiastically accepted my offer.)

I spent a few hours looking up shawl after shawl, and compiled a list of eight different patterns that I thought she’d maybe like:

Swallowtail: http://yulianknits.wordpress.com/2010/10/25/why-a-bunch-of-beads-looks-pretty-but-is-essentially-unuseful-at-least-for-me/
Luna Moth Shawl: http://marinoie.blogspot.com/2010/01/luna-moth-shawl.html
Birch: http://susancrowe.co.uk/2010/04/16/it-made-me-the-ksh-junkie-i-am-today/
Echo Flower Shawl: http://www.pepperknit.com/2010/11/echo-flower-shawl/
Queen Silvia Shawl: http://rogue-knits.blogspot.com/2009/06/queen-silvia.html
Summer Shawl: http://osbornfiber.com/2011/01/07/a-joy-forever/ (detail shots)
http://deserthomemaker.blogspot.com/2009/06/im-so-excited.html (shape)
Forest Path Stole: http://thingssoolikes.blogspot.com/2008/02/end-of-path.html
Myrtle Leaf Shawl: http://segasummasuvila.blogspot.com/2008/07/must-ilma-punaseta.html

Then I emailed another two choices a day or two later because they were too pretty to leave off of the list:

Purity: http://dagi35.blox.pl/2009/06/Plan-wykonany.html
Citron: http://j-essaieonverrabien.over-blog.com/article-citron-au-coeur-d-artichaud-64202817.html

Carly narrowed it down to two designs (Purity and Forest Path Stole), but was having trouble deciding on which one to go with. Being the inpatient knitter that I can be, I gave her 37 hours to make up her mind. (Yeah, I really did! But only after she told me that she was terribly indecisive and needed a “cutt-throat” deadline.)

Thirty seven hours passed…and no email from Carly.

I posted a mocking Facebook status update: “Dost my eyes deceive me? No lace decision? Oh, now I’m sad.” (Reading that now makes me think I should have used “mine” instead of “my.”)

She replied, two hours later, with: “I”M SORRY!!!!!! (If you are talking about me lol) Decision being made NOW!“

I had an email within that hour to tell me that her choice was something completely different from what she had previously narrowed her choices down to. I laughed out loud.

Michael asked why I was laughing and I told him that Carly chose a pattern that wasn’t one of the two she was previously considering. Michael laughed too.

The pattern that Carly ended up choosing, drum roll please….is the Echo Flowers Shawl!

Tune in next week for Part Two: “The Yarn” of the Brooketopian drama “The Wedding Shawl.”

Little Monkey Baby Hat for my Little Monkeyboy

January 3, 2011February 1, 20152 Comments

Oh, the cuteness is almost overwhelming!

Pattern: Little Monkey Baby Hat by Irina Poludnenko

Yarn: Knit Picks Swish DK in Bark, Doe, Charcoal Heather & Coal

Needles: US 6 DPN

Modifications: Braided earflap tassels instead of I-Cord.

Many months ago, I became aware of this pattern after mentioning at Knit Nite that I wanted to make a monkey hat for my baby boy. Kit found this pattern on Ravelry and showed it me, and I knew I had to make it someday.

I then got the idea into my head that it would make a great Christmas present and strived to make it work, but I ran out of the dark brown color a few days before the holiday and had to wait for it arrive later. (If I had been a little more frugal in my tail ends and done I-cord tassels instead of braided tassels, I’m pretty sure I could have completed this with just one skein of the dark brown…)

Monkeyboy seems to like it. He likes to hold a tassel in each of his chubby little hands and then chew on the yarn.

The pattern is a little crazy; I don’t think I’ll make this again because it drove me nuts. It seemed as though the designer was trying really hard to make the pattern fit onto one page of instructions, and so she’d leave out minor details or type multiple rows’ worth of instructions onto one line. Yeah, you’re still technically able to create the hat, but it takes more mental energy, which isn’t something I’m in excess possession of when I sit down to knit. Things like that in pattern are the little things…and the little things matter!

Liking the yarn. Haven’t done anything with DK weight before, but I really liked how baby-perfect it seemed…sometimes worsted seems just a little too heavy for babies, but this weight is just one step lighter, so it feels like “baby-worsted.” I basically have full skeins left of the Bark, Charcoal Heather and Coal colors and I’d estimate I’ve got half a skein of the Doe/Light Brown color left. And it’s superwash merino! I don’t know why, but I am feeling pretty proud that my little bitty boy has a nice, warm, wool cap for his head. It just feels like I’m taking especially good care of him by clothing him in wool against the bitter cold that’s outside right now. Mommy Success!

Gotta keep those chubby little cheeks warm & toasty too!

Sweet Pea Hat for a Little Princess

December 25, 2010February 1, 2015Leave a comment

My cousin and his lovely wife just became the proud parents of an adorable little girl in November, so I made an adorable little hat for her first Christmas. I made a unisex version before the birth of Monkeyboy (which he wore proudly), but I was really looking forward to making it in a definitive gender color scheme.

Pattern: Sweet Pea, by Susan B. Anderson
Yarn: Tahki Cotton Classic (#3446-Pink, and I couldn’t read the color number for the green…)
Needles: US 5 & 7

Needless to say, I think this is an adorable little hat. This was the first time I was able to use the Cotton Classic yarn, and I don’t think I’m a big fan of it. It’s too…crisp. Which seems like a weird thing to dislike, but dislike it I do. The colors are beautiful and I love the sheen of the yarn…but it’s too crisp for me. I don’t know how to describe it any other way.

It’s so much fun now that my family members are starting to reproduce! I won’t commit to making something for every new soul, but I’m definitely going to try to fit in some crafting for wee ones when they come about into the world.

When I logged into my Facebook account this afternoon, I saw that there were new pictures of the wee little and I happily discovered that two of those pictures featured her modelling this very hat. This marks the infant’s parents as knitworthy, which may benefit her in the way of knitted goods in the future. She looked so stinkin’ cute and so very tiny. Sweet baby girl. Oh, bitty babies are just so precious.

Merry Christmas!

Posts might resume in this next week, but I reserve the right to continue enjoying a low-stress vacation.

Edith Hats Galore

November 27, 2010February 1, 20152 Comments

Pattern: Edith Hat, by Johanne Landin
Yarn: KnitPicks’ Palette in White & Bluebell, about half a skein each.
Needles: US 1 & US 2

I made this cute little hat for my mother-in-law, who I have been promising a hat to for quite some time. I went with the idea of making something that I really wanted so that I knew for sure that it was a good gift.

The problem with this gifting philosophy is that while you’re busily knitting away, you develop a sort of sadness that you will not be keeping the beautiful thing you are creating. I would share my frustration at knit night as I plugged along–how beautiful the hat was and that I couldn’t keep it and would have to suffer my way through the pattern yet again when I embarked upon knitting it for myself. (I’m generally not the kind of person who starts a project for someone else and then decides to keep it for myself…I would feel guilty each time I wore “someone else’s” project!)

So my knitting buddy made me one:

(And I totally stole the picture that she took of it for her Ravelry project page. Hee hee!)

I almost cried when she casually flopped it onto the table and remarked that she had noticed that I seemed to really like the pattern and she figured that I’d appreciate it if she made one for me because Heaven knew when I’d be able to get to making one for myself.

I was speechless. (And that’s hard to do to me.) I still get a little choked up when I put this hat on each morning as I head out into the bitter winter wind. Especially since I’ve worked through the pattern myself and know how time-consuming and challenging it is…what a wonderful gift.

Bluebird did me the favor of modeling her grandma’s hat for the blog.
Her verdict: “It’s so warm and toasty, Grandma will love it!”

Seeing how my mother-in-law isn’t obsessed with knitting like myself, I don’t think she’ll get all emotional about her hat every time she wears it…because I’m pretty sure it’s kind of weird that I do that and we just don’t need any more weirdness like that in this world. But hopefully it brings a smile to her face. She has really pretty brown eyes and I think the blue will complement them ever so nicely.

It’s just such a beautiful hat, it even has a picot edging! Oh, just lovely. If I didn’t go cross-eyed while reading the pattern, I’d make a whole lot more. Love it Grandma, love it…it’s destined to be a one-time-only creation.

(I wrote this post before I gave the hat to my mother-in-law and it turns out that I think she was pretty pleased with it. And it fit quite nicely. I’m kind of hit-and-miss with making things that actually fit other people. Success!)

Bluebird’s Winter Hat: Molly Beret

November 17, 2010February 1, 20153 Comments

Pattern: Molly Beret from Never Not Knitting

Yarn: Knit One Crochet Too “Crock-O-Dye” in Tomato colorway (#250) & Dale of Norway Baby Ull in Light Peach (#3403)

Needles: US 1 & US 3

Size: 20″/Small Adult

I buy our winterwear during the summer when it’s 80% off, which limits the colors we can purchase. This year, Bluebird had to choose between white/gray, grass/lime or a peach/coral winter coat. (She was not happy about this because she wanted pink or purple, but alas, those are the colors that sell out and usually aren’t available on clearance.)

However, the Brooke family is well-known for its love of the color orange and she went with the orange-hued parka. Upon receipt of said coat I began to wonder how in the world I was going to match any sort of accessory to its non-traditional color palette.

Bluebird accompanied me on my Yarn Quest shortly following, and she spied the Tomato Crock-O-Dye yarn while we were investigating The Black Sheep Wool Company. She brought it over to me and announced that she had found the perfect yarn to match her coat. I agreed that it did match, and complimented her on her good eye for color.

Bluebird browsed through the Ravelry pattern database with me and chose the Molly Beret pattern, which just tickled me to no end. (I think little girls in berets are just one of the cutest things ever!) I paired up the Crock-O-Dye with some leftover peach Baby Ull from the Peach Yoked Cardigan and was quite pleased at how well the two yarns matched her crazy technicolor winter coat.

All in all, I really like the finished product. I made it a touch too large, but her head measured 20″ in circumference, which was the small adult size. However, upon further reflection, one wants a hat to fit snugly and should therefore knit a cap one size smaller to assure a secure fit. It still looks cute despite its super slouchy appearance. She receives compliments on her beret every time she wears it and her little face just lights up with pleasure whenever someone notices her hat. I have more than enough yarn leftover to knit mittens or a scarf, but I have other projects that need my attention first. (And I’m already in the midst of a scarf knit with fingering weight yarn and I don’t think my sanity could handle casting on another scarf in skinny yarn.)

A friend laughed at me when I told her about my predicament in trying to find a yarn that would match Bluebird’s coat and quipped that not everyone frets about matching their children’s accessories. And I guess it’s just not an issue to a lot of people, but I garner great satisfaction out of attiring my family nicely and I experience pleasure in knowing that I created those items myself. It’s such a fun process to pick out the yarn and pattern together and then watch your child’s eyes light up while they watch you create something just for them.

However, the other children become very vociferous with their requests for handmade items when a sibling’s project is on my needles. Next up is a scarf for Penguin. But knit in a very bulky-weight yarn. I can handle that.

Look What Bluebird Has Learned to Do!

September 8, 2010January 26, 20151 Comment

WIP: Circus of Colors Scarf

September 2, 2010February 1, 20152 Comments

While frolicking about during Yarn Quest, I saw a Linen Stitch Scarf made from luscious Koigu Painter’s Palette Premium Merino on display at Blazing Needles. I decided that I needed; yes, NEEDED, one for myself. I bought a crazy combination of colors and cast on that very week. Six weeks later finds me with this much progress.

While choosing my colors, I decided to take a risk and go for an all-out color cacophony that would scream, “Cheerful!” amidst the drab winter months. I think this scarf will do a fantastic job of executing my intent.

Many have complained that this scarf takes FOREVER to complete and blame it on the fact that it’s knit from end to end instead of your usual side to side. The actual reason why this scarf takes forever to knit is because it’s knit from a fingering weight yarn. Any scarf made from fingering weight yarn is going to take forever to complete, regardless of what direction you’re knitting! But, oh, is it going to be worth the effort! (Anything that can make you feel cheerful on a gray day is worth the effort!)

My original goal date for completion is the end of September…we’ll see how that goes.

Roar! #2

August 22, 2010February 1, 20154 Comments

Pattern: “Roar! A Dinosaur Hat,” by Kate Oates
Yarn: Knit Picks’ Shine Worsted in Green Apple & Grass
Needles: US 7

Even though Penguin is modeling the hat, I made it as a 4th birthday present for her future fiance, Will. He’s big into dinosaurs right now and his mom made a random comment after seeing Monkeyboy’s Roar hat that Will would totally love a dinosaur hat of his own. And seeing how she was able to deliver that comment without exuding any pressure upon me to actually make one for her son, I decided to make one because I wanted to make it.

I totally love this hat and I totally love this yarn.

Click here to view this project’s Ravelry page.

Penguin and Will have been intended for each other since before they were born, when Denise found out she was having a boy and I found out I was having a girl, due at the same time. (I went into labor a week early, she went into labor a week late…) I was thinking about this blog post when I stumbled across some archived photos from the first version of this blog (long since deleted), and found the following:

Holding hands:

This is from when we referred to the two of them as “Tank and Tink”:

And this happened one random day when Denise and I were messing around with her camera:

I’m a little concerned over how forward she was in kissing him first…

Totally meant for each other. I will make their boy babies lots of dinosaur hats. 🙂

Roar! A Dinosaur Hat

June 13, 2010February 1, 20152 Comments

Pattern: Roar! A Dinosaur Hat, by Kate Oates
Yarn: Knit Picks’ Shine Worsted in Aquamarine and Clementine (60% Pima Cotton, 40% Modal natural beech wood fiber)
Needles: US 7

Talk about crazy cuteness! I saw this pattern while I was still pregnant with Monkeyboy; and, not knowing the gender of my little bambino, told myself that if I had a boy that I would definitely make this hat. Let’s just say I was all too happy to keep that promise and I plan on fulfilling it many times more after this initial completion. I LOVE this hat!

Of course, my darling boy looks completely adorable in it. (But really, with a smile like that, he could make anything look absolutely charming…) I plan on making the next one in a monochromatic color scheme…light and dark shades of the same color. (I’ve been told that this would make it look more dinosaury.) I’ve also had a request from one of my daughters for a pink version. This hat is a runaway winner!

The pattern is super easy to follow and the spikes are totally easy to make. (Perfection for a sleep-deprived mama such as myself!) Make one yourself, you’ll fall in love with it as well!

Click here to see this project’s Ravelry page.

Summer Star Hat

January 6, 2010February 1, 20152 Comments

Renaissance has been so jealous of Emily’s “Rainbow” Inca hat and even went so far as to rifle through my yarn stash until she found the leftover yarn I made it from; which she brought to me and asked, with big pleading eyes, that I use it to create a hat for her.

Pattern: Summer Star Hat, by Mary Triplett
Yarn: Noro Taiyo, left over from Emily’s Inca Hat, Color #11, less than half a skein
Needles: US #6 DPNs

I found myself wandering aimlessly around the house after the girls had gone to sleep on Friday, so I sat down to begin organizing my knitting stash and discovered that I had this adorable little pattern crammed in amongst many other forgotten knitterly things. I cast on right then and there (about 11pm or so) and worked until about 1am. I then spent most of the next day working feverishly on it and finished it just before the girls went off to bed. (In case you’re wondering, that’s LESS than 24 hours…I felt like a super knitter, even though I never could have done it had Michael not taken over for the entire day while I remained curled up under my blanket with my project.)

Of all my girls, Renaissance is definitely the most knitworthy. She genuinely wants me to knit things for her and is giddy whenever I present her with a new handmade item. When I gave her this hat, she yelled “Yay!” and started jumping up and down, then had to run to the mirror to see how it looked on her and then insisted on wearing it to bed because she believed it would give her “good rainbow dreams.” You better believe that I’ll keep knitting for someone who appreciates it as much as that!

The pattern calls for a worsted weight yarn and #8 needles, but I figured it would turn out too small for my three year old, so I bumped my needles down significantly and spent a lot of time worrying whether it would actually fit her when I was done. Ren was only too happy to relieve my fears and try it on throughout its construction–she thought it was so funny to wear a hat that still had knitting needles in it! It fits snugly, but the cotton in the yarn is stretching each time she wears it and it’s fitting better with each day.

I think it’s just darling, even if the stitch is kind of annoying to work…knit loosely, very loosely! I’m definitely going to make some more of these; I think Rachel would be so adorable in a little yellow hat with an orange flower on the side. Perhaps I’ll make a wee little one as well in case Baby #4 turns out to be a girl; it’d be super cute on a newborn.