Another Bluestem Beanie

Over the weekend, I cast on another Bluestem Beanie and once again, couldn’t put it down.

I smashed through the brim and several repeats of the pattern repeat. For this version I chose to use some scraps of Apothefaery Fibers Delightful DK that was leftover from a baby sweater for PB. I paired it with some Stranded Dyeworks Mohair Silk in the Gloom colorway. The mohair is a light grey that dulls down the minty green of the DK.

I will note that this finished fabric is NOT as soft as the alpaca and mohair combo. Not in a bad way but it does feel more rustic with a less soft base yarn under the mohair. I’m interested in what people think of this one when its done.

Happy Knitting!!

Deer Hat Progress

My Oh Deer! Hat has been living in my car these days for car line knitting and appointments. Progress has been slow but I did finally turn the brim.

I am also reading Remarkably Bright Creatures for my book club. It has been just the right amount of story detail and family drama to fit in my brain space this fall. I was unloading my car this morning and noticed how well my knitting coordinated with my book, lol!

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Chiefs Hat #4

I am still working my projects for 2024 Pigskin Party KAL points so here is my fourth Chiefs Hat this season.

I decided to start with the Malabrigo Rios I recently stashed in the “non-traditional” colors in my basic beanie recipe. This is my 88 stitch basic beanie recipe. I did make the brim about 5 rows taller so I could fit the embroidery patch on. The ones I have left are pretty tall.

I also chose to have the red keep going after the fold. I like the edge it creates to the hat. And then I moved back to my smaller stripes in the body of the hat. I was disappointed that the grey skein had a knot in it and I had to splice the yarn. You can TOTALLY see my splice. I do plan to put the patch over this to hide it.

Happy Knitting!!

Pardon My Sneezes

I have been obsessed with my Bluestem Beanie and it has been my all consuming project. I have forgotten how much mohair fuzzes and creates floaties. I find myself with mohair on my clothes and tickling my nose/eyes. To the point my kids asked me why I was sneezing!

Since this weekend, I have knit the 6 inches of stockinette and started in with the patterning. I had to concentrate to set up the stitches but once I was established then I can knit it almost without looking.

I do have to be careful to catch both plies. I found a couple of stitches where I didn’t grab the mohair. And thus far I have been pleased with the mohair as far as staying tangle free and being able to pull back mistakes. And the feel of this finished fabric is DEVINE! I will definitely work this combo again.

Happy Knitting!!

Multiple Blues (And Grey)

This morning was a full morning of gymnastics for PB. To give myself a break from the Chiefs Hats….I only packed my Musselburgh in Blues hat to the gym.

Between Trick or Treat knitting and Mom Cab knitting, I have made good progress! I very quickly realized that I needed some neutrals to tie all these blues together. So I grabbed some grey scraps to break up the blues. This one might end up more “Frankenstein” than the first but it will still be a warm hat, lo

Now on to a well earned Saturday afternoon nap! Happy Knitting!!

A Scrappy Chiefs Brim

I had a full day of online CPE on Zoom. Because this grown adult left most of her 30 hours of CPE to the end of the year. So I grabbed those Chiefs scraps from my bag and started working on a third Chiefs hat. I am also hydrating to get over the sugar coma that was Halloween!

I started with the TreasureGoddess yarns scraps of Gunpowder to create the inner facing brim and then moved to the Leading Men Fiber Arts Poison apple. And thus far, I am in love. I adore the depth that this dark charcoal is adding.

I feel another project hyper fixation coming. I hope my fingers can keep up!!

Happy Knitting!!

Plane Decreases

My 2024 WPF Hat was my travel home knitting. It was an EARLY morning trip so I had to wait for the sun to come up in order to see the dark brown stitches.

As the wheels taxied to the gate, I pulled the yarn through and zipped up the remaining stitches to finish. I sat next to PB and the extra arm space was a great boost to knitting comfortably on the plane. I did have to pick up and put down a TON to administrate drinks for her and navigate her tablet.

FO coming at you! Happy Knitting!!

Two Times The Mocha

My conference had some down time, which was nice to give some time for family stuff AND some alone time. I grabbed an iced coffee and snuck out onto the balcony while the kids were washing up from the beach to work on my 2024 WPF Conference hat. That’s what I am call this, by the way.

I managed to get the brim knit, folded and attached to the hat body. I think I am getting faster at these hats especially on the stockinette versions. Flicking in stockinette has become my default knitting “mode” and its becoming quicker.

I haven’t counted my hat tally in awhile but it’s getting large, especially after vacation knitting!! Happy Crafting!

A Hat On A Boat

With the finishing of my LSP hat, I had a whole in my travel knitting that needed filled. I admit to having had packed extra skeins of yarn in my suitcase for travel knitting. Worsted works up fast don’t you know!

I pulled the Chocolate Mousse skein of Leading Men Fiber Arts and started yet another basic Rachelle hat. This time, I got to cast on from a boat cruising the San Diego harbor! It’s back to my normal 88 stitches on a US 8s. And wooden 8s so as not to anger the TSA gods for travel.

It was lovely to sit in the sun, sip a mimosa and work on a hat! Happy Knitting!!

2024 Conference Knitting

Conference knitting has arrived! This past week when my posts were auto-posting….the family and I snuck away to a conference in San Diego. And boy howdy, did I get a ton of knitting done (and work and family time).

I was in a room with 600+ ladies and I was one of two knitters. I very quickly became “orange hat lady” and had muggles approach me in the bathroom, lol. It was a 9 hour day so I made terrific progress on my Glazed Carrot hat.

Lots of people asked to touch it and were impressed with how soft the fabric is. That is the magic of a singles yarn with no plies, its soft! Stay tuned for the finished object shots…

Happy Knitting!!