Hats and more hats

Plenty of small projects in recent times, still some I can't yet show but here are the ones I can!



Urchin Cap by Woolly Wormhead, knitted over the past couple of days in RYC Soft Tweed, shade Bramble. Lovely pattern and it fits a treat, and I really enjoyed knitting with this yarn. Pity it is now discontinued!



VeeDub beanie, just a simple 2x2 rib border, stockinette then 4 sets of paired k2tog/ssk decreases at the crown. Knit in New Lanark Donegal Silk Tweed Aran in Dark Graphite. I needle felted the VW logo using Cascade 220.



A rib beanie in Noro Silver Thaw, made for a gift - one of my favourite patterns I think as I've done three so far, all gifts!

More details on Ravelry/Flickr for these, I do find blogging coming very low down the priority list these days! I generally update my Rav projects list fairly regularly though.

Hope everyone is having a good holiday/break, wishing you all a very Happy New Year! My goal in 2008 is to knit up some of my stash, I've already made a start :-)

Finally - maricel, thanks for your comment, I can't find a way to contact you though. I do have the pattern you're after from the now-defunct Spun, so please email me directly on the address in the sidebar :-)

CPH progress

Time to post a progress picture of the CPH. Thus far the back and both front pieces are complete, and I've made a start on the first sleeve. This does tend to be put aside frequently, mainly due to gift knits at the moment.



Not easy to get any kind of decent photos this time of year, the photo has been tweaked a little to hopefully show up the cables a little better.

I've now decided upon my PIF gifts and have started the first one, I'm sort of aiming for January with these.

Here's something I made a few weeks ago, using two strands of aran weight yarn held together (Noro Kureyon and Jamiesons Shetland Aran):



It's the larger felted bowl pattern from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. It went through two washes at 70 degrees and has felted reasonably well. It's certainly a lot smaller! I blocked it using a glass basin so deliberately crimped the top edge over rather than pinning it out flat. I have to say I prefer the way Cascade 220 felts, losing all stitch definition, whereas you can still see it in this piece. The original pattern uses Lamb's Pride Bulky in a single strand, I did wonder if using two strands gave the yarn a little less wriggle room.

This week I've also completed another knitted gift, which I can't yet show (you can see why CPH progress is slow!).

A couple of links which may be of interest:

Project Download - I saw this via Neil Gaiman's blog, tis for a very good cause.

Free Rice - found this via Piece of Beauty, it's a highly addictive vocabulary game, and for each definition you get right it donates 20 grains of rice via the UN. My best level is 50 (DH got this too), don't ask me how except I seem to be able to work out many of the words even if I don't know them! I'm not Googling them either! If you want to keep your scores go to Options before you begin, as it defaults to not saving them.

Glam Rock Ski Hat, aka Vince's Tundra Hat

Here's the finished Glam Rock Ski Hat, I had fun needlefelting lightning bolts onto the earflaps! I used Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Bulky to make the outline (just winging it by eye), then filled in with more yarn. I then added some BFL fibre on top.



More pictures on Flickr.

I used two patterns for this hat, mostly the Amelia hat from the SnB calendar, and also Woolly Wormhead's Scrappy Flapper.

Update 6th April 2008:

I have written up my pattern notes and made them available as a PDF.

Smooch

Finally complete after being put to one side in the dismal summer weather:



Pattern: Smooch by Kim Hargreaves, from the Rowan All Seasons Cotton collection
Yarn: Rowan All Seasons Cotton in Pansy
Needles: 5mm and 4mm bamboo straights
Yardage: around four and a half 50g balls

Pattern amendments:
I realised one reason I was avoiding finishing this was the (in my book) fiddly way of making a slipped stitch edging on the armholes and neckline. I decided to simply slip stitches and to be honest it looks the same.

Very glad to have finished a long-standing WIP, and it's a good fit too.

I made this cloth/potholder as a gift recently:



The cloth is knit in Debbie Bliss Cotton DK, using this pattern from Caffina's Creations. The idea for adding some fabric backing and cotton batting came from the Easy-Going Potholders pattern from Magknits. I hand-sewed the backing, which was my first proper sewing for many a year. I was quite pleased with how it turned out, despite hand sewing not being my forte. Next step is tackling the sewing machine!

The remnant from the skein of cotton used above was just enough to make this Simple Lace Headband (not such a great photo I'm afraid):



Another Ribbed Noro Hat for a birthday gift, in Silver Thaw shade 13 (takes a little under one skein):



In books, I finished and thoroughly enjoyed "North and South" while on holiday from work recently. I've also read the new Terry Pratchett novel, "Making Money", which had me laughing out loud as usual. I've now started something different, "Postcards" by Annie Proulx. I believe it is something in the vein of Steinbeck's "Grapes of Wrath". I read quite a number of his works in my teens, and he is one of the authors I intend to rediscover. I'm also quite keen to re-read some of the Thomas Hardy novels. I know he is not universally liked but I loved books like "Far From The Madding Crowd".

As regards the Pay It Forward exchange, unfortunately hazy is not now able to participate, but I have decided to make a third gift as a surprise for a friend instead, rather than throw the field open again. I feel it's in the spirit of the PIF if not the letter.

Tweedy

A tweedy WIP to be more precise. I've started the Central Park Hoodie at long last, after wanting to knit it all last winter. The yarn is Rowanspun Aran in "Hardy", and I love working with it. I can see I need to "collect" some more!



My other WIPs are slumbering, although Yelena is slowly being completed piece by piece. I also have a mystery WIP OTN of course, and another completed which I'm really pleased with, but must stay secret for the time being.

I did make a second batch of innocent hats recently, I'm planning on making 20 in total this year I think.



Many many thanks to the folks who have signed up to my PIF - gilraen, hazy and blog-blethers! Please head over to one of their blogs if you would like to join the PIF exchange, I believe they all have a space left at the moment!

I've been slowly adding my stash on to Ravelry this week, after completing the projects, and it's driving me a little scatty! I'm cross referencing with my yarn spreadsheet and keep finding yarn I thought I had photos of which mysteriously don't appear in my Flickr sets *tears a bit more hair out LOL*. I've not had much chance to go pattern browsing and add to my queue yet, which is one thing I really do enjoy. I think the queue will be a better tool than my current spreadsheet for future projects.

The knitting of small things

For the past couple of weeks I've been knitting small, almost-instant-gratification projects. It's good to have a change from large items for a while. I've also been doing some mystery knitting which I can't show here yet. I've even started a sewing project - something I've not really done since I was at school! No photos of that yet as I've only got as far as cutting out the felt, but stay tuned.

First up, my first batch of hats for the innocent fundraising for Help the Aged:



These are great for using up leftover yarn. I've added the hat-ometer to my sidebar, the target has been raised again this year as they exceeded last year's by quite a bit.

There was almost a full skein of BSA cotton left over from Flair, so I made another 3am cable hat, this time for me:



I love how the cables "pop" with this yarn. I couldn't believe that I still had leftover yarn after the hat, so I knit a moss stitch headband too (not pictured). I had to finish the last few rows with some green Cotton Fleece but it's made a very useful soft band for keeping my hair under control. I've been growing it all year and it's not long enough to be able to tie back yet, but still long enough to need taming at times.

On the subject of yarn, my stashalong is officially over! I have not celebrated by buying crates of yarn (not yet), but I did snag this from The Land of Temptation last Sunday:



Posh Yarn Helena merino 4ply in "Glen"

We're on holiday from work for the next two weeks and a trip to Colinette is imminent! Stand by for some stash enhancement. I'm also hoping to warp up my loom, and get the sewing machine out and learn to use it properly.

I thought I'd mention some of my WIPs that disappeared from the sidebar too. I started the Simple Knitted Bodice in March this year but never got more than a few rows into it, that was frogged back a few weeks ago and I'm looking to restart this autumn/winter. I was using Jaeger Shetland Aran but am considering trying Rowan Summer Tweed instead. I started the Spring Things shawl earlier in the year too, and got to the end of the first section, but with gritted teeth! I find KSH a little difficult to handle, and the problem was being able to see it at night - even with a daylight lamp it was very awkward. This was actually sent on to a good blogging friend who will hopefully be able to finish it one day.

Here's my first attempts at needle felting. This was a kit sent to me by another blogging friend for my birthday, and it was a great introduction to the craft.





Both sides of the little wool purse from the kit, with the heart shapes made using a tiny metal cookie-cutter template that was included. The flower was attached to the purse so I had a go at embellishing it without the aid of a template. It's highly addictive and takes very little time, I really enjoyed this and have since bought the Clover felting tool which holds multiple needles, and a single needle mounted in a soft-grip handle. I also bought a few more shades of the Filz-It felting wool, and a bigger foam pad to work with (all from Get Knitted).

Here's something I forgot to add to my previous post. On our visit to the Wool Clip, we ended up buying a painting! The Watermill Cafe exhibits the work of local artists, this is a scene looking out over the Solway Firth (we think, we forgot to ask for the card next to the painting), and is by Jean Alexander, acrylic on boxed canvas:



We both love paintings of the sea, especially where the artist has painted wave action and caught the movement of the water. This now hangs over our fireplace, and in fact the two other (smaller) paintings in the room are both of the sea too (both bought in Cornwall).

Before I forget, I got my invite to Ravelry last week too! I am knittyinpink on there. It's an excellent and as others have noted addictive place! I've not had much time to add projects or stash on there yet but am hoping to do that fairly soon.

And finally - I will be holding a giveaway soon - it may even be up in the next couple of days. Watch this space!

Entrelac scarf in Noro Kureyon

I love this scarf! Essential details:

Pattern: adapted Lady Eleanor Stole from Scarf Style
Yarn: Noro Kureyon
Shades: one skein each of 154, 164, 159, 157, 128, 138, in this order
Needles: 5mm bamboo straights
Finished size: 10 inches wide x 80 inches long
Pattern mods: four base triangles instead of seven



I started off with the Danica pattern from Knitty, and ended up frogging my first laborious attempt at the entrelac. Howver it did give me the general idea of how it worked, and once I picked up my copy of Scarf Style I found I could knit the rectangles and triangles a lot faster. In fact if you are thinking of trying entrelac this is a very well written pattern, and it makes it very easy to pick up the stitches each time, by slipping the first stitch of the decrease row - creating a nice selvedge. Entrelac looks incredibly difficult but once you've had a quick practice, it's easy to get the hang of. I found I didn't need to look at the pattern after a while as it's very logical.



There are more photos in my Flickr gallery. Each skein was knit in its entirety before starting the next - you can chop and change around every few tiers too. I used felted joins each time I started a new skein, and to rejoin yarn after removing the inevitable knots. Three skeins came from stash, and I initially only bought two more - then decided I needed a sixth! The scarf is lovely and warm and comfortable, it had a good soak first in Ecover wool wash, then in the fabric conditioner, and it does make quite a difference to the knitted fabric. I'm looking forward to some colder weather so I can wear this!

Finally, thank you so much to everyone who commented on my previous post, I am very touched! I do try to answer comments at some point, by the way, given the time constraints it's likely to be the next time I blog rather than right away - but I do try especially if someone is looking for a pattern link or a specific piece of information. of course, Blogger doesn't help as you can't directly email back, so if I can't track you down on your blog, I'll generally add something to my next post :-) I'm really looking forward to catching up with everyone on Ravelry - only around 1100 ahead of me today!

Quite a lot of knitting

I thought I'd dust off the blog and post up the various knits I've completed this summer. You can always find a full set of FO photos on my new Flickr account, by the way. Having signed up and uploaded lots of photos in preparation for Ravelry, I've found it's a fantastic resource and will be adding to the galleries there regularly.

In chronological order:

One Skein Wonder in Noro Kochoran



This used around one and two thirds skeins - I made the sleeves longer and finished them with a 2x2 rib to match the border around the body.

Dashing gloves in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran



Made as a gift - they used approx. three-quarters of a skein per glove.

Antoinette cardigan from Rowan 39



Yarn is Rowan Cotton Rope, shade Cyclamen. It took 15 skeins rather than the 14 specified. There is a "modelled" photo on the Flickr gallery.

Bergere de France Hooded Jacket



Finally finished! It does actually fit quite well, after I feared it would be much too small. With hindsight I'd have made size 3 rather than size 2, now I know how the sizes actually translate! Again there's a modelled pic on Flickr.

Currently on the needles is an entrelac scarf in Noro Kureyon, inspired by this beautiful scarf showcased on whip-up. This photo was taken last week, with a full first section using shade 154, then half way through a skein of 164:



I'm now almost finished with the fourth skein out of six. I'm concentrating on knitting this at the moment, my other two WIPs are the Smooch top from the ASC book and the Yelena cardigan which has been stalled for a long time! Here's the almost-complete back of Smooch:



As I mentioned in an earlier post, this is using the ASC that came as the gift when I renewed my Rowan membershop this year. I bought an extra skein from Jannette and amazingly it was the same dye lot!

The stashalonging is going quite well. I've bought a few skeins of handpainted yarn along the way, and 3 Noro Silver Thaw in the Stash sale. I had a rather large day off when on holiday in July, but stuck to the list I'd taken with me:



We have: 10 skeins of Rowan Damask in Molasses, destined for the Tulip top; a pack of Summer Tweed in Shark on sale in Sheepish in York; and 6 skeins of Wensleydale Longwool DK for the top-down cable raglan from IK. I also snagged the Happy Hooker book and the new pattern book for Twilleys Freedom Spirit and Freedom Wool. There are some fabulous patterns in the latter and I have plenty of FS in stash! This week I've bought the three new pattern books from Debbie Bliss, I particularly like the Luxury Collection. I also got the new Bergere de France pattern book (508) again with some lovely tempting patterns.

I'm very pleased with the new Rowan collection 42, I love the Doon Coat in Kid Classic, and the Fyne tunic in Felted Tweed. There are a good dozen or so patterns in there that I would make.

As far as Ravelry is concerned, there are currently 2120 people ahead of me in the queue. I'm almost done with uploading photos to Flickr in preparation, I have one last cache of stash to photograph. Although I have a spreadsheet with my stash listed, having the photo sets together is great, as the colour and texture speaks to you rather more strongly than a written list can!

Flair jacket

Flair was finished on Saturday, and the buttons sewn on yesterday. Modelled today as it's slightly cooler!







Pattern: Flair by Knit and Tonic
Yarn: Blue Sky Alpacas worsted dyed organic cotton, shade 620 Fern
Yardage: 6 full skeins plus a small amount of a seventh
Needles: main body Denise 4.5mm with 30" cord; Addi 4.5mm 16" needle for sleeves; Denise 4.5mm with shorter cord for collar

I do like how this has turned out. It fits nicely, has plenty of "swing", and the fabric is very soft and fluid. The BSA cotton does tend to shed and pill, as it's so soft though.

Pattern amendments:

- an extra buttonhole
- added several more increases plus some straight rows than the pattern called for before I separated off the sleeve stitches. I quite possibly added a little more than I needed but it doesn't show
- seed stitch band is 8 stitches, not 7, as I had a brain fart with the seven at first (dont ask!). Therefore the bottom band is also a tad deeper to match with the vertical one.
- body length below armholes is slightly longer than the pattern calls for, and this was just with knitting up to the last mandated increases (although I didn't do that last one). I find this a little odd as I was convinced that my row gauage was causing the buttonholes to be too close together at first.
- I made increases (M1) where the pattern called for decreases in the sleeves (thanks Sarah)
- I've only added buttons on the front placket. I didn't fancy my chances making the inner buttons "invisible", and simply added one and a loop at the inner top instead. It seems to hang well enough! The buttons are olive wood and were a good choice I think!

I originally bought 6 skeins of the BSA from kpixie, and only just went into a seventh for the collar alone, which I acquired swiftly from Loop GB. I ought to know by now that it's always wise to buy an extra skein!

As you can see from my ticker above, I'm stashalonging at the moment, basically for large projects (sweater size). To that end I've started Antoinette from Rowan 39, in a few days' worth of knitting I have the back complete and have almost finishedthe second front piece. This is knitted in Rowan Cotton Rope which is a bit awkward to cast on with at times, but knits up nicely into a soft fabric. The shade is Cyclamen, discontinued, obtained for 1.50 a ball at Cucumberpatch!



I also rejoined the Rowan club and this year's gift arrived. Four balls of All Seasons Cotton and 2 patterns, a waistcoat and a wrap. After some reports that the wrap pattern is slightly bizarre, I'm wondering about snagging an extra skein and making Smooch from the ASC book instead.



I'm on the last few days of the 4-week Food Doctor plan, still going well and I will certainly maintain the basic principles of this for the foreseeable future. I'm quite possibly addicted to porridge though!

Tank top in Twilleys Freedom Spirit

Pattern: Tank top from "Knitting" magazine
Yarn: Twilleys Freedom Spirit shade 501 "Soul"
Yardage: 5 balls plus a small amount of a sixth
Needles: Brittany birch 4mm, metal 3.5mm and Denise 4mm circular
Modifications: made the armholes slightly deeper

This was a nice easy knit, despite the pattern in the magazine having various parts missing - mostly near the end - but they were easily worked out. I also got to practice picking up a dropped stitch for the first time from about 5 inches down on the back piece. Not quite fully dropped, more of a hole with stitches above, so I unravelled that stitch back down and picked it back up with a crochet hook. I'm very pleased with my picking up of stitches on this piece for the neck an armholes too. I made sure to follow the same line and not deviate and it seems to have worked. I worked my decreases one stitch in from the end of the row in all cases too so you can see them on the arm curves and neck.

The pattern makes a long-line tank and has shaping to accomodate hips and waist. Not sure that the horizontal stripes are quite the most flattering thing on my figure at the moment, but here's a photo to show that it actually is a very good fit:



Now that I've scared you all, here's some lovely yarn to take your mind off it :-) This is Socrates 4ply from Violet Green, and is for a Shoalwater shawl. After seeing murdo's lovely WIP on the Crafty Threads forum I had to dig the pattern out, then I saw this which is named "Seascape":



I can't wait to get started with this. I should probably attempt to finish Spring Things first though. After some thought I decided I won't be doing the nupps on it though. KSH is not a yarn I would choose to work with again, it feels lovely but is so fine and fluffy I do have trouble handling it. After a few troubles with decreases I decided the last thing I want to do is invite disaster with p5tog! I'd attempt it happily with a different yarn though.

My Blue Sky Alpacas cotton arrived from kpixie yesterday, it took barely 6 days to reach me, and it's beautiful yarn. The picture doesn't do the green justice, it's more olive than it shows, but it does show some of the lustrous softness:



This is of course for Flair, and again I'm itching to get started!

After mandella's excellent review and hearing good things all round, I bought "No Sheep For You" by Amy Singer. I've been reading the first few chapters and have learnt a fair bit already about fibres (now I finally know what modal is!). The patterns I've looked at so far are lovely too.

I also picked up several Colinette pattern books for half price from the ongoing Knit Tin sale. I'd wanted Wayfarer in particular for a while so was happy to find it at a bargainous price.

Some great news this week for a knitblogger friend, Hazel's pattern for a beaded jacket is published in the current issue of Simply Knitting! It's a lovely 6-page spread and a very pretty piece indeed.

I'd also like to mention Sunflower Swifts and Sublime Spindles who now have a blog to showcase their wares. I bought my swift from them earlier this year and am very pleased with it, it's a beautiful piece of work.

Finally a mention to the lovely Piglottie who has an ongoing sale of her excellent hand-made cards, in aid of a friend's charitable trek. Please pop over and take a look!

Diamonds on the Diagonal scarf

Pattern: Diamonds on the Diagonal scarf (half diamond version) by Ilga Leja
Yarn: Posh Yarn Lucia 4ply shade "Muse"
Yardage: less than one skein (around four-fifths used)
Needles: 4mm bamboo straights
Pattern amendments: knit one extra pattern repeat on each half of the scarf; 4mm needles instead of 3.75mm



These are very well written patterns and include both charts and written instructions. I did wonder if the scarf would block to the length stated in the pattern (54") but as it turned out, that was no problem at all.

I've not made too much progress in sewing up my jacket, the sides are done but the sleeves and the edgings still need doing. This is partly due to preferring actual knitting to seaming (especially as I'm currently on holiday from work), and partly because I know the jacket is a little on the small side. This is due to my picking the wrong size kit originally, I think, the Bergere sizings don't appear to run to the generous side and I thought given "actual" measurements it would be OK. Mind you, this was a year ago and I've learnt quite a bit about picking the correct size to make since then!

I started making the Spring Things shawl in KSH, but am now in two minds as to whether to continue in that, or restart in some PY laceweight instead. I'm not convinced about the whole look of the KSH so far, plus the fact it isn't a terribly easy yarn for me to handle. I think I'll try another pattern repeat and see how it looks then.

I've been doing most of my knitting on a tank top in Twilleys Freedom Spirit (shade Soul), using a pattern from a recent "Knitting" magazine. I'm not far off finished with the back section, so far I've used almost 2 balls of the FS. The are all from the same pack/dyelot yet look at the definite difference in the pattern and colouration. I rather like it and there's no issue with pooling with this yarn, but I didn't realise it varied quite so much!



Yesterday we went to Coldspring Mill and I bought these:



A pack of Debbie Bliss SoHo for 14.99, and 430g of Twilleys Freedom Spirit for 12 pounds something!

On Monday we visited Freeport and found these two knitting books in Book Depot for a few pounds each:



The stitch dictionary has excellent clear colour photos and charts. The other book appears to be part of a small series of craft books, there are a few projects in there I'd make including a sideways knit jacket and a multi-yarn beret.

Finally I'd like to say a big thanks for all the lovely comments on my Forest Canopy Shawl, they were much appreciated!

Forest Canopy Shoulder Shawl

I'm absolutely delighted with this, despite the fact that I ran out of the original yarn right before the last cast-off row! I kid you not. Thankfully I had bought some toning yarn last Wednesday at PY and I used that to cast-off with. I think I like it even more with that slightly contrasting edging. My next one of these will be in DK!



click to see much larger photo

Pattern: Forest Canopy Shoulder Shawl by Susan Pierce Lawrence
Yarn: Posh Yarn Emily 100g in shade "Yodel" - edged with Emily shade "Dainty"
Yardage: full skein of Emily plus a tiny amount of a second skein to finish
Needles: 5mm bamboo straights

I really enjoyed making this shawl, I started last Saturday and despite taking time out to finish the hood on my Bergere jacket, still managed to finish this one week later. The Emily yarn is a delight to knit with, I guess it's one of those things that I ran out when I did, and I shall buy two skeins in future if I want to make more!



click to see much larger photo

More yarn naughtiness this week, and I do seem to be amassing a small stash of PY ;-)



A skein of PY Sophia (cashmere) laceweight in "Chuckle".

I also won a charity auction on Crafty Threads and Yarns Forum, with yarn kindly donated by Aknita in aid of Chrissy's sun-walk fundraising. This is SWTC Oasis soy silk in "Passion", lovely!



Even better news this week is that I've finally finished my Bergere jacket. My next task is sewing it up, which will take a little while as all the edgings have to be turned up and stitched as well as the usual seams!

Free knitting pattern - Skye rib hat

I made this along with the Dashing gloves and hat for a friend and her mum. I thought I'd share the pattern. I've now created a PDF file for the pattern, this can be downloaded here.

Skye rib hat - 4x4 ribbed beanie - free knitting pattern

Yarn: Colinette Skye, shade Copper Beeches, one skein (you will use around half a skein), or any similar aran/worsted weight yarn
Needles: 4.5mm circular and/or DPNs
Notions: one stitch marker and a tapestry needle
Gauge: not vital, I knit this probably slightly snugger than "normal" stockinette gauge for this yarn (18st/4"). Since we are using 4x4 rib the hat is very stretchy.

Sized to fit most adult heads.

Cast on 88 stitches (I use cable cast on), place stitch marker to mark end of round and join.

Knit K4 P4 rib to end of round, and repeat until piece is approx 6 inches long from cast-on edge.

Decreases - every other round:

Next round: (K1, K2tog, K1, P4, K4, P4) 5 times; K1, K2tog, K1, P4
Next round: (K3, P4, K4, P4) 5 times; K3, P4
Next round: (K3, P4, K1, K2tog, K1, P4) 5 times; K3, P4
Next round: (K3 P4) around
Next round: (K3, P1, P2tog, P1, K3, P4) 5 times; K3, P1, P2tog, P1
Next round: (K3, P3, K3, P4) 5 times; K3, P3
Next round: (K3, P3, K3, P1, P2tog, P1) 5 times; K3 P3
Next round: (K3 P3) around

Decreases - every round:
Switch to DPNs when stitches become tight on circular needle.

Next round: (K1, K2tog, P3, K3, P3) 5 times; K1, K2tog, P3
Next round: (K2, P3, K1, K2tog, P3) 5 times; K3, P3
Next round: (K2, P1, P2tog, K2, P3) 5 times; K2, P1 P2tog
Next round: (K2, P2, K2, P1, P2tog) 5 times; K2, P2
Next round: (K2tog, P2, K2, P2) 5 times; K2tog, P2
Next round: (K1, P2, K2tog, P2) 5 times; K1, P2
Next round: (K1, P2tog, K1, P2) 5 times; K1, P2tog
Next round: (K1, P1, K1, P2tog) 5 times; K1, P1
Next round: K2tog around
Next round: (K2tog) 5 times; K1 - 6 stitches remain

Cut yarn and thread onto tapestry needle. Draw the yarn through the remaining stitches and secure the top of the hat. Weave in yarn ends.

If you spot any errors please let me know at the address in the sidebar, many thanks.

This pattern is free for personal non-profit use including charity knits. It must not be sold or given away with yarn purchases, nor reproduced elsewhere in any format. E&OE. Copyright © knittyinpink.co.uk 2007.

Thanks to T for gifting the yarn to me!

Dashing gloves and a beanie to match

My "emergency" knitting is now complete, firstly here are the finished pair of "Dashing" gloves:



I was pleased with the match I got with the colours from two different skeins of the yarn!

Pattern: Dashing by Cheryl Niamath
Yarn: Noro Silver Thaw shade 9, 2 skeins
Yardage: approx. three quarters of a skein for each glove
Needles: 4.5mm Addi 12" circular and 4.5mm 16" bamboo DPNs

With the third skein of yarn I made a hat to match:



Pattern: Ribbed Noro Hat by Spiral's Free Patterns
Yarn: as above, 1 skein (used around three quarters)
Needles: as above

I liked the shaping effect used in this hat, you probably can't see it too well on my photo but take a look at the original pictures in the link.

Last night I finished a rib beanie hat in Colinette Skye, I'll post this up separately with the pattern I worked out for it (nothing mindboggling I hasten to add, but I was quite pleased with how my shaping worked!).

Here's some obligatory yarn pr0n, a gorgeous skein of Emily 4ply in shade "Yodel", from last week's Posh Yarn sale. The colours in this are just fabulous.



This would be great for the Forest Canopy shawl. I have a skein of Helena in purples and pinks that I was going to make this in first, but I am beguiled by the spring shades in this one!

Two more books have landed on our doormat and they both live up to expectations:



Lace Style has patterns for everyone, there are plenty that I would make. I hear that "Bag Style" will be out in the autumn, another one for the wish list! Fitted Knits is another lovely book, I like the presentation and there are a lot of lovely patterns in there. Two of my favourites are the Bluebell sweater and the Textured Tunic:





Bluebell reminds me of a more day-to-day version of the SKB. Speaking of which, mine is on temporary hold while I finish at least one thing! Must be the knitting version of the spring cleaning bug!