Tag Archives: worsted

New Pattern(s)! Puget Hat

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It’s new pattern time!

Actually, it was new pattern time two (three?) months ago… Things have slipped through the cracks, what with everything going on. But hey! That doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate a new pattern.

Actually, 2 new patterns!

That’s right, today I’ve got not one, well, two, but kind of just one cute little hat(s)- The Puget Hat in Fingering and Worsted!

They’re both simple bottom-up beanies with a big panel of cabling on one side. But, the big difference between the two patterns (as you might have guessed) is gauge and yarn requirements.

The fingering-weight hat is a really great light hat for cool fall nights when you just need a little something extra to stay warm, but the worsted hat is perfect for the depth of winter, and will keep you toasty even in the snowiest months of the year.

I love the decrease details at the top. Instead of a typical, boring decrease pattern, this hat features an X-shaped decrease scheme, a super-cute detail that’s surprisingly easy to work.

Check in your stash to see what extra skeins you have waiting, then head over to Knit Picks to grab the Puget Hat: Fingering or the Puget Hat: Worsted!

Design Series: Halfway there!

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We’re almost there, guys!   I’m itching to go buy yarn and cast on!

If you’re just joining us now, we’ve been designing a knitting pattern together.  We decided to make socks, and we wanted them to be warm and cozy.  And, last week, we decided to make them with a simple gray and indigo-blue pattern.

This week, I have two questions for you.

First, do you want the socks to be made at a standard sock-yarn gauge, or should they be slipper socks, worked at a larger (DK or Worsted) gauge?

And, of course, what do you you want our simple stripes to look like?  here are 4 variations to choose from.

Design Project Socks

Vote!  Quick!  I really want to go visit the yarn store and start knitting on these socks!

 

(And, don’t forget to enter your name into the drawing for a copy of “Cute, Cuter, Cutest!”  You’ve got until Friday before I pick a winner!)

I’m Slightly Obsessed… Oops.

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I don’t know about you,  but my knitting tends to go in cycles.  I always have something on my needles (or on my crochet hook), but one month I might spend all my time on socks, and the next I’ll be all about big gauge sweaters, and the next I won’t want to work on anything but squares for an afghan.

This week, I’m 100% obsessed with my Yo-Yo Afghan.  I’ve kept it in the closet of my knitting studio for about six months, and I pick it up from time to time.  Whenever I feel uninspired by my current project, I break out my worsted-weight scrap yarn and make a handful of yo-yos.

It’s a totally zen project, and you get a very satisfying pile of yo-yo’s when you’re done.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA(Assuming my counting is correct) I’ve got 841 yo-yo’s, which should be enough to make a 29×29 square blanket.  Each yo-yo is about 2.5 inches across, so the blanket should end up about 6 feet across.

I plan on attaching each yo-yo at random, just avoiding putting two of the same color next to each other.  I have at least a couple dozen different colors, so it shouldn’t be a problem.

I know I’m neglecting my other knitting, and the weeds in my yard are starting to loom menacingly again, but I can’t stop myself.

As soon as this post goes up, I’m going to run over to Jo-Ann’s and get some yarn to start joining up all my hundreds of yo-yos.

What projects have taken over your life?

A Super Exciting Post About Yardage and Budgets

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Yarn does not grow on trees (if only… that would be amazing.  Scientists: get on that).    And there are only so many hours in the day.  It’s still relatively early in December, but you are probably starting to feel the pinch.  Obviously, knitting big projects takes more time than knitting little projects (because… duh), so banging out a sweater in two weeks (while that would be amazing) is probably not going to happen.

When I want to make someone a knitted gift, my usual go-tos are knitted accessories: hats, mittens/gloves, and scarves.  Accessories are always useful, appreciated, don’t usually need to be washed (and potentially ruined), and are small enough that you can finish a project in the time it takes to watch a Sunday marathon of Law & Order.

I’ve undertaken a semi-scientific* study of some of the knitted accessories I have sitting in a box in my closet.  I wanted to see about how much yarn I used in each project, but I didn’t want to unravel everything and measure it out (because I’m not a masochist).  Instead, I broke out the kitchen scale and weighed each item, which will let me estimate of how much yarn each type of project requires.

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After much data collection and number crunching**, here’s what I found out:

A hat uses approximately the same amount of yarn as a pair of mittens. ***

A scarf uses about 2 to 3 times as much yarn as a hat or a pair of mittens.

So, if you’re trying to save money, time, and yarn, try making a gift hat.  If you’re feeling generous, how about a nice long scarf?

*Not at all scientific.

**I measured three of each item all knit with worsted-ish yarn (three pairs of mittens, three scarves, three hats) and averaged the weights.

***Note: my mittens were knit at a slightly finer gauge than my hats and scarves.  So while they may weighed the same, the mittens used more yardage, and probably took more time to knit up.

Lazy Susan Beanie

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I love knitting stripes.  Changing colors back and forth keeps my interest, even when making a super simple project like this beanie.  But, as you know, I am utterly lazy.  I absolutely detest stopping my flow of knitting to attach and reattach new balls of yarn.  And weaving in all those thousands of tiny ends at the end of a project is pretty much the worst.    The Lazy Susan Beanie avoids both of these issues by working both colors at the same time, knitting them in a spiral pattern that ends up looking like perfect one-row stripes (get it?  Lazy Susan?  Because it spins and is for lazy people… like me).

Also, this pattern is a great way to experiment with color and dying your own yarn.  I knit the sample with a turquoise variegated yarn and a dark purple/black semi-solid which I dyed using food coloring.  (You can read my posts for more information about dying yarn with food coloring.)  Try using different color combos for different results!

You can get the Lazy Susan Beanie pattern here:

Lazy Susan Beanie