"Custom made" hat and mitts

Name: Isotope Cabled Hat #2

Pattern:Isotope Cabled Hat by Tonya Wagner

Craft: Knitting

Made for Susan

Started December 29, 2008

Completed December 30, 2008

Size Adult
Needle: US7/ 4.5mm and US8/5.0mm
Yarn: Cascade Yarns 220 Wool
Colour: 7803 Magenta
How much? 1 skeins (220 yards)
Modifications: None
See the project on Ravelry

Name: Very Cabley Mittens

Pattern:Very Cabley Mittens by Kelly Porpiglia

Craft: Knitting

Made for Susan

Started February 12, 2009

Completed February 16, 2009

Size Adult
Needle: US6/4.0mm
Yarn: Cascade Yarns 220 Wool
Colour: 7803 Magenta
How much? 1 skeins (220 yards)
Modifications: Made this with the alternative pattern to increase the length of the mitts
See the project on Ravelry

When Susan saw Jim's mom's hat, she wanted one for herself as well. She also wanted a pair of mitts to go along with the hat. So we went off to the nearest LYS to pick out yarn for her hat and mitts. Since we're talking about Susan, she wouldn't want anything neutral. Anything colourful and bright is best...hence this magenta colour! She was so excited to get "custom made" hat and mitts, it inspired her to learn how to knit! So we went off to Zeller to buy her cheap acrylic to learn how to knit. We went back to my house and had a little "knitting party" with another friend of mine. It was such a fun night! Two of my favourite friends, knitting, wine and junk food! I'm not sure how Susan' knitting is these days, I think she may have given up. I plan on giving her the hat and mitts today, so hopefully that will renew her interest!

I love working with Cascade wool. The price is affordable and it comes in so many colours! This magenta was really bright and I found the dye to rub off on my fingers when I was knitting this, so that wasn't so fun. Overall, I'm really happy how this set turned out. These are my first pair of completed mitts. Hopefully Susan will like her presents :)

Koolhaas for KoolDan

Name: Koolhaas Kollection (Koolhaas #4)

Pattern:Koolhaas by Jared Flood

Craft: Knitting

Made for Daniel

Started February 14, 2009

Completed February 15, 2009

Size Adult
Needle: US7/ 4.5mm
Yarn: Cascade Yarns 220 Superwash
Colour: Black
How much? 0.7 skeins (154 yards)
Modifications: Cast on 120 sts and did 5 repeats for the pattern.
See the project on Ravelry

Daniel asked me to make him a hat to replace his old $2 hat. Daniel is an excellent friend- he edits all my school work for me, takes me the gym, then takes me out for "foodings". (Plus he follows this blog.) So how could I say no? I bought the superwash yarn for him because I didn't want to leave him with hand washing instructions. This way he could do whatever he wants to the hat and I know it would survive. I decided to make him the Koolhaas because it's such a cool pattern (not your ordinary ribbed hat for guys). I worked on it feverously these past two days so I could have it done when we met up for dinner tonight. We made plans to leave at 5pm and I was casting off at 5:15pm. It was a perfect fit on Daniel. The 120 sts was perfect for his "big head" and the length was also perfect because it covered his ears. Now I have to sort through my yarn stash to find yarn to make him a Domokun....knitting for friends never ends!

In love with my gloves

Name: Almeara Gloves

Pattern: Almeara Gloves by Jared Flood

Craft Knitting

Made for me :)

Size: Adult Small

Started January 24, 2009

Completed February 1, 2009

Needle US6/4.0mm

Yarn: Cascade 220 Heathers

Colorway: 8401 Silver Grey

How much? 1 skein

Modification: Used smaller needles, made the gloves longer, and fixed a few mistakes in the pattern

See the project on Ravelry

I absolutely love these gloves! These are the first pair of gloves that I have ever knitted- and I don't think I have ever loved a pair of gloves as much as I love these! My parents were so cute while I was knitting this project. The whole time I was knitting the gloves, my dad kept telling me how impressed he is that I have managed to get all the fingers on correctly. My mom was also very impressed with them, and she graciously agreed to model these gloves so I can take pictures for Ravelry/my blog.

The thing that I love the most about it is that it is long. I have altered the pattern to make it longer, for instructions see here. It's been really cold lately, so these have been perfect for the cold weather. I love the long length because I don't have to experience the cold gap between the coat and gloves.

Knitting the second glove was definitely easier. To make the process easier, whenever there was an increase in the pattern, what I did was picked up a stitch between my two stitches and then looking at the next row to determine if I should knit or purl. I did this because it was easier than doing the million different types of increases stated in the pattern, and in the end it did not make a difference.

Another mistake that I found for the right glove is row 4 of the middle finger. I think it should be K1, P1, K4, P1, K9.

Even though this pattern has more mistakes than most regular patterns, I think the struggle to figure them all out was totally worth it in the end. Like I said earlier, I am absolutely in love with these gloves! I am now casting on to make the "matching" hat to these gloves :)