Round and Round We Go

I finished one of C's new winter hats this week. I figured out why I'm finding scarf knitting so tiresome--it's because I love knitting in the round so much. The row by row stopping and turning of the scarf isn't as fun as the continuous circle of hat rounds.

That made this hat a very fast and enjoyable project. Here it is on the little man. He was a perfect model for me. I think because he was watching his favorite show, SuperWhy.

Here is the inspiration picture again. I prefer the red-orange and royal blue colors of the hat in the ad, but I had limited yarn color choices; mine are more pumpkin-orange and navy.

The pattern was very easy to follow. The hat can be folded over (as I intend it to be) or it can be worn in a slouchy style which looks really cool too.

Here's my model again. A couple things about the slouchy version: C has a big head (as we established here), and I probably should have gone up to the next size for him (I used the toddler size). The slouch would look/ drape better that way. Also, if he was going to wear it this way I would not have striped the hat the way I did. Without the cuff (brim?) the scale is completely off--too much orange vs. navy.

I had only intended on making this and the other Janie and Jack inspiration hat for him this year, but truthfully, the slouchy version is so cute I think I'm going to make another one of these too! Every 2 year old needs at least three hats, right? I'm not sure of the color combinations yet though...maybe some greens, grays, blues...? It's such a quick/ fun knit. I see myself revisiting this in the years to come too. That way I'll get plenty of chances to experiment with color.

Inspiration Love

Scarf Love

I am still working on my scarf. I estimate I'm halfway through. As much as I really love the pattern/ yarn/ color I have to admit that scarves are kind of boring to knit. That's too bad b/c I feel like there are a million scarf patterns out there that I want to try. I'll have to just get past that.

I'm still in love with this design though and I'm looking forward to actually being able to wear it.

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Book Love

This is an awesome new book I got online. I had a gift card for Borders (which just closed its doors forever) and thought I better use it up before it became void.

When this came in the mail and I opened it for the first time, I'm not kidding, I actually felt awestruck. I even sucked in my breath for a second-- like in a gasp. I am truly a knitting geek. It's official.

The patterns and stitches are amazing to a novice like me.

I never even knew such stitches existed before.

As thorough as this book is though, I know there are many other stitches out there that I want to learn about. Not sure what I'm going to do with all this stitch information, but it's certainly handy to have as a reference tool.

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Hat Love

 After I'm done my scarf, I plan on making a couple hats for Little C. this year. One source of inspiration is a Janie & Jack hat I saw from last year:

I would really love to use this as a starting point, alter the design by adding earflaps, and maybe incorporate the Norwegian Star Earflap Hat pattern from Ravelry. Little C. has an orange winter coat from Janie and Jack and this would look perfect with it.

Janie and Jack always has such charming designs, but sometimes inspiration comes from unlikely places--like junk mail. Last year I got a mailer from Tiny Prints about Christmas cards. I had already bought mine at the time, but before I threw the ad in the trash I ripped out these pictures of a couple of adorable kids with the cutest knit hats ever.

I'm going to make C. a ribbed hat following this pattern in the orange, white, and navy stripe color scheme.

And should I ever have a baby girl, you can bet your money that I will be making this cream-colored baby cable hat. I might even force a baby boy to wear it though if there is no girl!

And finally, I also love this Missoni for Target knit hat that my sister emailed me a picture of the other day:

The whole world is mad for Missoni, so you have a better shot of being struck by lightening than finding this hat in a Target store right now. I don't plan on making a hat like this, but I still love looking at it.

I'm trying to focus and finish things, taking one step at a time when it comes to all this craft inspiration, but I have really been distracted lately with all this beauty. Two bad I only have one pair of hands to knit with. The fall is such a busy time anyway; I'm really going to try to slow down, and enjoy the knitting/ crochet process this season. I don't plan on knitting/ crocheting any Christmas gifts this year (except for lots of snowflakes!), so I should have the luxury of time. We'll see how I do.

Not My Knits: Simple Baby Blanket

Here is the lovely baby blanket I received from an old coworker. It matches the baby kimono sweaters I posted about a few months ago.

It's a simple little pattern--just knits and purls. But the texture it creates along with the stripes is very pleasing to the eye.

It's a good reminder that "simple" usually wins out when it comes to design.

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In personal WIP news:
I've put blankets on the back burner temporarily while I knit an Anthropologie-inspired Scarf for myself. I have been making progress but it's slow-going. My craft mojo is still a little sluggish lately. I also can't help other knitting distractions from creeping in: I'm starting to get a wicked fair isle obsession, and the thought of that is kind of terrifying! I'm not sure if I could tackle something like that right now. We'll have to see if it passes or not.

MIA

Unfortunately I have not been MIA due to a fabulous tropical vacation, or even--God forbid--because of the rare earthquake, hurricane, and tornadoes my region has experienced as of late.

Nope. It's only because of running out of yarn with only about 10 inches left on the border of my basket weave throw. Don't you hate it when that happens? You're almost to the end of a project and then your momentum totally stalls. Truthfully, I still have not made it to the craft store to pick up more yarn. Hopefully sometime this week...

Anyway, I'm calling this blanket 99% finished.

It wound up being about as long as me-around 63"- and about as wide as a twin bed. (You didn't really expect me to measure it, did you?) I used the same ribbed border technique that I discovered from the Crochet Shrug I made earlier this summer. The blanket part is very thick, heavy, and extremely warm. The border definitely has a different weight to it, but it doesn't bother me too much. If I was making it again, that's something I would consider changing; it's the right look I was going for, but it doesn't have the same heft as the rest of the throw.

Now that we are getting ready to move into autumn, I know this blanket will start getting a lot more use. I'm also happy to be checking one more blanket off my WIP list.