Blizzard- a 'Bones' inspired hat

 It's a blizzard in April!

For everyone who waited so patiently, I'm excited to announce that Blizzard has gone live on Ravelry.  It' a free pattern that uses aprox 150yds of chunky yarn, written in two sizes; Woman's xs/s and m/l.

The original hat has a pom pom, but the pattern features fully fashioned decreases on the crown to allow knitters the option to leave the pom pom off if it's not their thing.

Come on...click the link.  You know you want one of these :)

download now

Mad dash

I've been in a rush to finish a few repairs and put a sweater together that's been sitting on my coffee table for about two months.  I don't usually take longer than a week, but this piece required me to figure out what size the owner was making (because she couldn't remember) and finish knitting the sleeve.  Then when I started to put it together I noticed that she had failed to finish her sleeve, and that there was an error in the pattern.  After I fixed that, I had to graft it together at the shoulders and pick up and knit the collar.  Then I had to seam a garter-stitch sweater together and weave in dozens of little ends (because Prima only comes in 50gm balls which have short yardage).  Finally I was ready to be done but I was still waiting for her to pick out the buttons so I could sew them on.  Thankfully, she came down today while I was in the store and picked them out.  I attached them this evening and left the sweater in the shop for her to pick up whenever she feels like it (because it's paid for now). 

I also repaired a glove and an extremely fine store-bought black sweater for another customer.  The glove was cute in it's own way, with a ribbed cuff that was turned under and sewed down, but really...can someone explain the practicality of a pair of gloves made from cotton yarn?  Anyone?  Because this is New England and we do get snow. 

Finally, I have a beautiful little swing coat for a baby that needs to be put together.  The yoke needs to be knit, and it needs to be seamed, and all the ends need to be woven in...and all by Sunday.  This is Friday.  I can get it done, but because I'm on the clock, I can't help but notice how really inconvenient the construction is.  This could have been done so much more simply.  As a matter of fact, I've been thinking on it all day.  Thinking about how much I'd love to have a swing coat for myself and how I'm sure I could do it in seamless with a few details to make it pretty and grown-up, and long enough for a tall gal.  Taller is better.  :) 

Testing: continued...

Calling all hat knitters!  I'm looking for two test-knitters for the Crescent Park Beret.  One small (18 inches), and one Med/Large (20 inches).  The small is suitable for little girls (4 and up) as well, and it looked pretty sweet on Alex when he modeled it so it might not be too bad for a boy (unblocked and in a solid color), lol.  The patter is written with changes for the larger size in brackets throughout the pattern, except for two sections where I provide separate directions because it was simpler that way.  Please contact my by leaving a comment to this post, or you can message me on Ravelry or Facebook.

Stay tuned because the Blizzard hat inspired by Bones should be up shortly, so if you'd like to test-knit a hat but don't like fingering weight yarn, this may be just the thing for you.  (Think chunky!)

Testing...1...2...

 I'm looking for a test knitter to knit the Rhodes sock pattern this week.  I only need to have one knit, but feel free to actually make the pair, lol.  I just need to make sure that the directions for the gusset and the toe make sense.  You will need to know how to knit a sock, how to read a chart, and it's helpful if you're comfortable with stranding (using two colors in the same row).  Please leave me a comment or post on the Facebook fan page if you're interested.

Aren't I pretty?  Just look at me.

Hurray, finals are over!

To celebrate the culmination of my final projects, I'm posting a neat little questionnaire on the blog and I hope you'll participate.  I actually created this for my Personality Development class and I liked it so much that I decided to post it here as well (and naturally, it's knitting related).  Simply answer the questions at home, and reply to this post with the number of a's and b's in your score.  I'll do the rest!


1. I often try new things.
a. agree          b. disagree

2. I enjoy taking on new challenges.
a. agree          b. disagree

3. Working with more than one strand of yarn at one time is complicated.
a. agree          b. disagree

4. I prefer to make small projects.
a. agree          b. disagree

5. I consider the cost first when choosing my project.
a. agree          b. disagree

6. Knitting classes are a waste of time.
a. agree          b. disagree

7. I prefer not to go outside my comfort zone when I chose a knitting project.
a. agree          b. disagree

8. I only work with neutral colors.
a. agree          b. disagree

9. I could never knit lace.
a. agree          b. disagree

10. I am intimidated by most knitting patterns.
a. agree          b. disagree

11. I only knit with wool.
a. agree          b. disagree

12. I only knit sweaters without waist shaping.
a. agree          b. disagree

13. I love buying patterns online.
a. agree          b. disagree

14. I have a profile on Ravelry.
a. agree          b. disagree

15. I prefer to buy patterns at my local yarn shop.
a. agree          b. disagree


Again, if you choose to participate, please reply to this post with your score.  Thanks for playing!

Hey! That's me!!

Look at this!  It's my ad on Ravelry!!  There's nothing a cool as checking the boards on Ravelry and seeing my ad at the bottom of the page.  Now, I just need other people to see it, lol.

This process has been a real learning experience, as I've mentioned before.  I just learned how to take a screen shot with a Mac to post this photo.  This is going to be a very handy skill going forward.

I've got to get back to my final project, but before I do, I have an eta on when I can expect to hear from Interweave.  Turns out that their average turn-around time is about seven weeks so I won't know anything until May.  I should assume that Knitty works similarly, and not worry about that until mid-May.  That frees up some inbox-stalking time, and I can focus on knitting the blanket for Cascade.  I really miss working on that project.  Anyway, thanks for letting me gush about my 10 seconds of fame.  Back to my homework.

Got your passports yet?

In case you haven't heard, the Passports for the Great Rhody Yarn Crawl are now available for download on their website.  If you're planning on going (and why wouldn't ya be...) then remember to go print down your passport so you can get in on the raffle.  And while you're at it, remember to stop by and pick up one of our kits, an enter the raffles for our individual baskets (I put together a really great one).  See you in two weekends!