Pirate Redux

Well, I finished it - the redone Pirate Hat - Adult sized this time! My poor husband has been waiting patiently for this hat...and now it's done...just in time for 90 degree weather!

And with a more fancy lining too - I took it upon myself to do a little bit of Fibonacci striping on the inside to keep myself entertained...

Of course, I did wind up tweaking the pattern a bit - more on that later....

Pattern, from Hello Yarn

Yarn: Misti Alpaca Sport in Lipstick Sport (shhh! don't tell! I don't know *what* my husband will think if he finds out the red part is called "Lipstick") and Black

Needle Sizes: US4 and US2

Pattern Notes & Comments:

Because I continued to worry that the hat would be too narrow, I added an extra stitch in the edge of the pattern - and when I picked up the stitches to do the liner, I wound up adding some length because the hat was not long enough to cover my ears....Sadly, it seems my tension in fair isle is different enough from my tension while knitting plain stockinette - because even with the smaller needles, the hat bells out at the bottom - this is not so good because it will definitely not do so well in keeping ears warm. I'm trying to decide how best to resolve this situation - I don't think felting the hat will help at all, so I'm thinking I might need to add a band of elastic in between the outside of the hat and the liner....Anyone have any suggestions?

Like a Whirling Dervish

It seems I've been doing an awful lot of spinning of late, resulting in not much other than Yarn and Batts to post for finished objects...stay tuned, I've got a knitted one to post soon (I hope ;) )

In the meantime, as I mention, I've been rather focused on spinning and color blending - and I've also been trying to come to grips with spinning singles - especially low twist slubby kinds...

It's coming along. This yarn is spun from one of my merino batts - it spun up great and I love the striping that I get throughout...







This other yarn is more of the Mill End fibers - I really like how it came out - the striping from the blending ranges from subtle (as observed on the white strand) to a more bold candy-cane/barber pole effect. Both yarns are available to be made your own over at the shop.

And more food inspired yarn

Ideally, the red and blue bits would be a bit more compact and berry-like - but hey, I think it came out pretty darn good :) It's fun to look at and the blue and red bits are nice and squashy!

Now inspired by food...

These (mmmm brownies!), along a large pile of Mill End Fibers from the Sheep Shed Studio resulted in these:

A small herd of yarns named after brownies...
From left to right: Caramel Cheesecake Brownie, Raspberry Cheesecake Brownie, Raspberry Caramel Cheesecake Brownie and finally, Mud Pie.

Yum.

Oh, btw, this is being entered into the Whipup Whiplash contest :) This week's theme is "Everyday Creativity." Between the baking and playing in the kitchen and being inspired by it to create new colorways, I think it fits in quite nicely!

Gift Bearing Buns

Sorry it's been so long since posting! The creativity hasn't been lacking - I've just been semi derailed and distracted :) These two buns are just like Carat, but they prefer to carry gifts unique to their recipients - one went to live with Mariko and the other to live with Amy. Stay tuned for piles of yarn ;)

Introducing Jacques!

I can't tell you how excited I am that I can finally post about these little guys :)

They are happy little sea turtles, and best of all, they are my first officially published work in a magazine :) Obviously I've been designing my own little animals for a while - having gotten the push from Southwest Trading Company. I owe my magazine debut to Alison and the newly published For the Love of Yarn - go check it out :)

BTW, if you do make Jacques, please share your photos here!