A family of hats

I'm amazed by how far one can stretch 2 balls of yarn.  I made 2 adult hats and 2 preemie hats all from the same 2 balls of Naturally Caron Country.

My favorite is the pink and gray preemie hat because I made up the “design” (if you can even call it that).  I used some leftover Lion Brand Wool-Ease for the pink stripe, and just LOVE how the colors  contrasted. Very cute!  It is such a freeing feeling to make your own designs.  The phrase "I can do anything I want!" kept popping into my mind while I was knitting.  =) What a thrill!

Mitts for Me!

I finished the fingerless mitts last week. It was a great way to use that odd ball of yarn I had lying around.  I used the mitten pattern in Ann Budd's "Handy book of Patterns" but left out the finger-tips.

I had enough yarn left over to fool around a bit.  So I made an impromptu mug-cozy-bookmark-headband-thingy. Fun!

Next up is hat #2 for my mom.  This time the darn thing better fit or it will become a hand bag.

2 fingerless mitts at the same time

I'm making myself another pair of fingerless mitts.  I love my first pair but it is (or is it "they are") so worn out!  These things are great at keeping my hands warm while allowing me to use my phone-and-podcast-player.

I decided to make both mitts at the same time, on 2 circular needles, from the same ball of yarn.  In other words, frequently tangled needles and yarn causing much gnashing of teeth.

Here is the beast, in its "harmless" state:

I hope to be done with them today so I can start my mom's hat (#2).

Half an inch

Ahh... I learned the significant of 1/2 inch yesterday.  I made a hat for my mom that turned out gorgeous.  Great colors and not bad knitting for my first fair-isle project.  But when my mom put it on, it was 1/2 inch too tight and 1 inch too short. Sigh... Back to the drawing board. I *will* make her a hat that fits!

Here's is the hat, which I shall be wearing now.

And poor Moose had to wear a cone for the past week.  He scratched his right eye somehow and it got all red and swollen.  For 4 days Mr. cone-head wobbled around and bumped into everything.  On one hand it was super  funny and cute, but on the other hand it was sad to see him so flustered.

But the cone is off now and his eye is all better.  Thanks to Dr D at Companion Animal Hospital!

Bob and Jane

2 little cuties designed by Anna Hrachovec, each takes 2-3 nights to make.

Left one is Bob, right one is Jane.  Philippe and Betty might be joining the party!

Wow wee Wow Wreath

How cool is this!  If Tim and I get a wreath, I hope it will be as fun as this one (from Tahki Stacy Charles).

On a knitting note, I finished the Ganomy hat by Elizabeth Zimmermann.  This hat is for me.  Walking Moose in the dark and cold is no fun, but now I have a funny hat to make things better!  =)

Next up?  A BOB! (you'll see!)

From Moose and my (almost) daily walk

This is what Moose and I see now on our (almost) daily walks.  Fall colors are so beautiful!

Moose hat

I finished Tim's moose hat over the weekend. It was my first real color-work project.

I made it out of some Eco Alpaca by Cascade Yarns.  Very soft and fuzzy.  Purrrty!

Thanks for giving!

A few quick updates on recent happenings. 

First, Tim and I got away to Sonoma a couple of weeks back.  We revisited 2 wineries we've previously liked - Kaz and Imagery.   The owner at Kaz (Mr. Kaz himself) gave us an impromptu demo of how wine is made (by hand).  At Imagery, a place specializing in esoteric wines and local art, Tim was blown away by the blueberry port.

We also tried 2 new wineries.  One of them reminded us more of Disney Land than wine. The other was B.R. Cohn (I never knew the history of this Cohn guy!).  Here are some pictures from B.R.Cohn's front entrance.  Fun!  

We stayed at the local Best Western.  It is a down-to-earth H(m)otel and walking distance to the Sonoma square.  The square is about as "downtown" as a Northern California small town gets.  More importantly, it is where The Girl and the Fig lives.  Yummy.... We ate like royalty.

Some pics from the Square.  Here is Tim in front of the historic Sonoma Mission.

A random (shall we say artsy?) shot taking with my Android phone (NOT the iphone because I can indeed make and complete real calls!)

Lastly, I finished 2 projects recently.  A simple cabled hat for Tim and some fingerless mitts for me.  Both made out of the same yarn (Araucania Nature Wool) and both easy-peasy.  I told Tim I am only going to knit small stuff between now and the end of the year.  I like it!  Instant gratification (at least, as instant as it gets compared to sweaters).  

Happy Thanksgiving all!  Thanks for happy giving!  Happily giving thanks!

Hat no more

Up until 2 days ago I was happily trying a new technique: stranded knitting with 2 colors.  The end result was suppose to be a moose hat for Tim.  Well, attempt #1 at color work did not go too well.  The stitches were puckering and the hat was TOO small.  So, what is a sane woman to do?  Act like a frog and "rip-it" of course!  (!! LOL !! OMG !!  I'm *so* funny.  I crack myself up, right hon? ;-)

Here is the hat's short live, in pictures:

Before (nice new yummy yarn)

During (questionable moose-bottom)

After (nice yummy yarn)

Well...attempt #2 will happen, soon.