The Other Peer Gynt Hat For Children

I thought I would use the opportunity of knitting this smaller version of the hat to show some details about finishing. By the way we are happy to email you the PDF of the adult pattern, just send us a note.

In this picture you can see the back of the hat, while it is still on the needles, marker just 2 stitches away. I cast on 96 stitches for this hat, and the design has a flat top so I will need to start the seam one quarter of the way past the middle of the back. This allows me to use the attached yarn to graft the opening.

In this picture, you can see the small amount of the shaded yarn we used for the fairisle. By using this long colour repeat we made the hat it meant that we only needed to use one yarn for all of the colours, instead of 4 or 5. My mother calls this instant fairisle.

My vintage pink Pingouin cotton waste yarn knitting the contrast again, the curly edges need blocking, oh my!

Basting along the top and bottom with a sturdy wooly wool.

A nice blunt tapestry needle and running stitches near to the edges.

Iron and pet linen tea towel have made their magic.

Then there is the glitch in the circular knitting caused by the cast on. Let's graft it by sewing a stitch that imitates a knitting.

I use the tail from the cast on and form a stitch in the gap, then tuck the rest away along the purl side.

This is such a small, quick technique and it work wonders for smoothing the edge.

On the other side, the top, this photo shows grafting the stitches just below the hot pink cotton waste knitting.

Grafting all done and ready to remove the waste knitting.

See! A perfect join, just as if one knitted the row with knitting needles, then steam and warm up the the edges once again as a final touch.

A bit small in size for our Mrs. Black, but looks quite ok, in fact very cute.

Colour Your Own

We have a pattern we believe you will find very useful for enjoying your stash of yarn. It is a blanket or poncho design we have named  "Colour Your Own".

One of the most helpful aspects of this pattern is the list for yarn amounts including yardage. You can look through your own collection, come to understand what you have and absolutely augment it with new yarns. Kim, who created the pattern loves to mix tone and texture. We are happy to assist you with the process, whether you purchase the material from us or not. It is a great opportunity for a colour and texture conversation, rather like making a new acquaintance. This is especially true if you bring in your project during and after to share the joy.

I like the "no ends to sew in" because the tails are in fact, the fringe! We hope to post the pattern for free on Ravelry, but in the meantime, email us and we will send a PDF.

I just want to add, like all sideways knits, you cannot cast on or cast off too loosely. Byron actually fashioned a cast off stick for me out of a 19mm dowel. My customary practice is to leave 4 times the width of the piece for casting off, in these cases however I allow 12 times the width though sometimes it can seem like this is almost half a ball of yarn.

The final thing I have to say about this design is it is perfect for one of my favorite yarns, namely mohair. Light, fluffy and luxurious

Handy Ribbed Hat Pattern

This is the time of the year to start work on small items for gifting. One of my very favorites is this hat pattern made in Sisu sock weight yarn. It is a simple rib and requires only one 50 gram ball for the first few sizes. A project to chip away at when there is something really absorbing on the television or you are involved in a good conversation.  Mum knit this version for my nephew Pete.

Ribbed Sisu Hat

Sizes (1) 2-4 (6-8) 10-12 years (adult)

Yarn: Sisu (80% wool, 20% nylon, 50 g = approx. 160 m)

Yarn required: (1) 1 (1) 2 (2) balls

Knitting needles : 3mm double pointed

Cast on (114) 120 (126) 132 (138) sts.

Work ribbing (k3,p3) around until the toque measures (23) 24 (25) 27 (28) cm.

Decrease as follows: *work the k sts k1, k2tog and work the p sts p1, p2 tog*, repeat from* to * around. Work 3 rows (=k2, p2) ribbing around.

Next row: *K2 tog, p2 tog*, repeat from * to * around. Work 3 rows (k1, p1) ribbing around.

Next row: *K2 tog*, repeat from * to * around. K 1 row around.

Cut the yarn, thread it through rem sts, gather and fasten strand well.

from Sisu hat book Tema 01

Compliments of:

Myrtle Station Wool and Ferguson’s Knitting and Nordic Yarns

905 655 4858

Crescent Shawl

You might remember this pattern book from last winter. Quite popular, especially after our friend Geri knit the sample. The book is back in stock now and we have lots of lovely fine yarns for shawl making, including of course Regia Lace.

The shawl sits on our hanger (or one's shoulders) beautifully, gravity alone, without a pin. Geri used Punta handpainted lace weight. Just enough weight and warmth for indoors.

I laid out the shawl so you can see how the crescent shape is made with yarnovers and decreasing. This time I used my flash so the hole pattern shows. My other favorite crescent shawl is Annis, available free from a past issue of Knitty, the online magazine. Annis has small bobble like stitches around the lace called nupps, though I have seen variations with beads in place of the nupps, very pretty either way.

Soon time for handwarmers

My Aunt Dorothy from Inverness, Scotland came for a visit in late summer. She looked in Port Perry for a pair of handwarmers for her daughter Angie, but could not find them. I offered to make a pair from our Handwarmer Family pattern (available free on Ravelry). Angie prefers soft natural colours.

We made the original pattern in Regia DK. It is very simple to knit, with no shaping, often a stumbling block for new knitters. I use my pair to augment store bought stretch gloves. They are great for keeping your hands warm when on the bike.

After freshly knitting a project, I  block it. You can see in the first picture the stocking stitch is a bit curled. I have a favorite ball of fuschia pink cotton yarn - Pinguin Pecadille, from long ago that I use. I baste the two parts, right sides together around the edges with a tapestry needle.

I have a vintage linen tea towel I use for blocking. I wet it under the tap and lay it over the item to be steamed. Over the years, I have used different technologies, but always come back to this simple one. If I were to block a more complex shape like a shawl, I would still use this technique, but also use pins to define the edge shaping. Our well water is mineral rich here on the moraine, not metal pipe friendly, so by using the wet towel, I only need to swipe the bottom of the iron with vinegar to keep it shiny and smooth after the steaming. It is an especially good idea to use a cloth when steaming yarns which include nylon in their composition. Nylon has a very low melting point and will go crispy when it gets touched by a hot metal sole plate.

I gently, but thoroughly stroke the item under the cloth with the iron, no pressure, making steam and enjoying the sizzle sound. The purpose of the steam is to give the knitted yarn a fixed memory of the stitch shape you have made. Unless you cause the item to get hotter in the future, when you launder it for example, the memory you give it today will remain. Bonus for me is the scent of steamy wool and the soft wooly feel of the item after I remove the the cloth to check if each and every stitch is warm.

Here is the cloth away and the handwarmer resting until completely cool. Remove the basting and now it is ready to sew up, admire and put in the post for Angie.

How calm and and smooth the blocked pair look now.

lopi lite and purple

I was very pleased late last week when the new Lopi book arrived. The company had sent the model sweater in August. It was very warm at that time, so with the present cooler nights, we are ready work with wooly wool. My friend Geri, of Not Just About Knitting, has just completed a beautiful shetland wool blanket in the natural sheep colors, she enjoyed the integrity of the floats on the reverse side. I couldn't agree more. Shetland wool, peer gynt and lopi are all natural fairisle candidates.

On a different, yet also autumnal note, we went camping to Emily Park near Peterborough last weekend. Saturday it did not rain as predicted, and the park was very quiet. We had a lovely, relaxing ride on our folding bikes. Never having been there in the fall before, the appearance of all the fungi was a delight. Mushroom magic in the grass and leaves, and the smell of fresh air.

Beaverton knitting retreat

This is a table full of the colourful samples to inspire us, knit by the president of the Durham guild, Sharion. We were also given a handy notebook compilation of instructions for the samples.

I confess, I wanted to try, however I had a project to finish first.

I had begun a pair of socks last year in Regia stretch (it has a bit of lycra mixed with the yarn). After completing the pair of ladies size 9's I thought ... hmmm... can I make another pair of smaller ones?

Yes indeed! I used the first size in the delightful Regia Flusie children's series, cast on 44 stitches and just made it by inches. It was exciting.

I was thrilled to participate in the weekend, and very happy to be among so many creative people. We really enjoyed playing with colour using the techniques of slip stitch and entrelac. Sharion had fashioned quite a few of her stitch journey's into french press covers, so I will do the same for my coffee pot. Cinders will have to wait again, but not for too long I hope.