Tag Archive | beanies

Two More Hats

Yesterday I wondered how many hats I could get done before Saturday. The answer is: At least two. Waiting room Yoda hat: To be fair, I only need to knit one ear and then sew the ears on, but still. Another hat added to the pile.

Flute lesson pink sparkle hat: I got about halfway done during lesson and finished last night during American Idol. The pompom was made and attached this morning. This one is an older child size. I kind of want one myself! The yarn is an acrylic blend, Cascade Yarns’ Cherub Aran Sparkle. It’s not fancy but it’s fun, affordable, and washable. I’ve still got some left so I’m thinking I need to do a gray newborn size beanie, simple and classic. That might be today’s project, something easy to work on since the kids have a half day today so they’ll be home early, making all the noise. For now, I’m going to take advantage of the peace and quiet to work on my manuscript a bit.

Before I go, here’s a photo of Grace, since usually Jack is the star of my photos. These furry blankets were Christmas gifts, and Grace is convinced they’re hers.

Oh Yeah, Knitting

Feb10

I’ve been distracted from my knitting the last few days, but I came back to it yesterday. While in a waiting room, I knit up some Yoda ears and completed another Yoda hat. It looks a little long, doesn’t it? Hmm. I used a different hat pattern this time. I might modify it a bit next time. I’ve got another Yoda waiting for one more ear, and then it’ll go into the For Sale pile too. I also finished the pink and gray hat last night. Now I need to make one in the reverse colors, but I don’t know if it’ll happen before Saturday. You may remember, I have a small craft show on Saturday, and I’m focusing on hats for this one. I’m trying to get a good variety of price points, and acrylic kid hats seem to be popular. Anyway, once I finished this one, it was time to get everything tagged and priced. I turned up Adele and got to work. I added 17 hats and 4 cowls to my inventory! With any luck, I’ll come home from the show with a lot fewer. Now, let’s see how many more hats I can knit before Saturday…

I might be…a good knitter…maybe? Sometimes?

Oct19

I got a fantastic email last night, another thank-you from a happy Etsy customer. This one turned into another special order, so now I’m making two more scarves before December. That’s added on to a mermaid blanket, an earwarmer and two pairs of fingerless gloves. Whew! I’m gonna be a busy gal. I better get out my elbow support and just start wearing it every day.

Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would have any kind of knitting-related business, not before a couple of years ago. But then I learned to knit in April 2013, and now here I am, with glowing reviews from Etsy customers and craft show customers, repeat business from those customers, special orders, and it feels…perfect. I feel so very lucky. It’s hard for me to think very highly of what I do, because it’s not that special, it’s not unique. Many people knit just as well as I do, and many do more complicated, unusual patterns than I do. And that’s okay. I’m happy where I’m at with my knitting.

So why am I succeeding now? No idea. My attention to detail, maybe. My commitment to customer service (thank you, Coldwater Creek), maybe. I put myself into what I make and I share myself with my customers (and all of you!) and I think people respond to that. I don’t really have the answer, and that’s okay too. As long as I can keep doing what I’m doing, it works for me. It’s not like I’m making a ton of money. Nowhere near it. But I’m at a point where I think the knitting can be self-sustaining financially and that’s huge. (That’s also assuming I can resist big splurges at the yarn stores!) And I think if I keep at it, I might actually profit someday. Wouldn’t that be cool? Yep. Very cool.

This weekend might have been my last free-knitting time before I plunge into all those custom orders. I splurged on some buttons recently, wanting to make more button slouch hats before a craft show next month. I decided the big pink one was perfect for the black and white hat.Yesterday I spent a couple of hours listening while my daughter rehearsed with her local honor orchestra, and cast on for another Borealis beanie.I was done 20 minutes before they were.The girl saw the hat and promptly stole it. This is the same girl who spent an entire day off school making cookies to sell to help offset the cost of the tuition for that orchestra. Voluntarily. So, she wants a hat, she gets a hat.How can I resist when it looks so cute on her?

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Oct16

You would think, with a couple hours of high school football game knitting last night, that I would have made great progress on my Where’s Waldo hat. You would be wrong. I kept looking at it as I knit on the second stretch of white, and I realized that the proportions of the sections were going to be wrong. See, I’ve been going a little nuts recently, making hats on the fly without a pattern. I look at patterns to get an idea of how many stitches to cast on, and then I knit. I’ve done enough hats that I usually have a pretty good idea of when and how to start decreasing. And that’s really cool! I like that I’m learning enough to be able to do that.

But I’m second-guessing myself on this particular hat, probably because it’s a special order and not just for my inventory. I want to make sure it’s exactly what my customer wants, with the right amount of slouch and everything. This is one time my perfectionism slows things down! So here’s what I had: I’m only doing one thick red stripe, and when I started on the second white section, I realized it would be significantly bigger than the other two, and the red stripe wouldn’t be centered. With a sinking feeling, I knew what my next step would be. I spent the first half hour of the game frogging and then picking up stitches. After counting rows and estimating how many I’d have total, I made the first white section bigger. Here’s where I am now. You like my little helper there? Yes, that’s pillow-eating Grace. At least she doesn’t eat yarn. Anyway, I have high hopes of finishing this hat today. After that, I’m moving on to building up my hat inventory for my next craft show in November. I’ve even wound the yarn I want to use.These are my last two skeins of Berroco Borealis, a gorgeous mix of blues and greens. They should make lovely slouchy hats. Hopefully I have good buttons in my stash for them, because I have no place close by to buy good buttons. Have you seen the selection at Michael’s? It’s sad. I swear, I got so spoiled by Joann. Hmm. Maybe a trip to Joann can be my reward for finishing the Where’s Waldo hat!

Finally, here’s a tiny elephant. The girl found it in Jack’s mouth this morning. We have no idea where it came from, and the poor thing is missing a leg. As small as it is, I can’t believe Jack didn’t swallow it whole. So this is a survivor elephant. He will live in my craft room now.

Yesterday Was (not so) Awesome

Oct7

It started off pretty well with morning tea and knitting, but after lunch I went shopping for a few new clothes. Unfortunately, I needed a bigger size and only had one pair of jeans and maybe half a dozen long-sleeve shirts that fit well. The up side was that I found a few good things, but I wasn’t thrilled about the size I had to get. So I wasn’t feeling too great about myself after that, but I was trying.

Then last night I got in trouble. I got in trouble for letting my son order a shirt in a size that ended up too big, then for getting upset when he snapped at me about it. I got in trouble for running down the hill that morning to take him the frosting he needed for a class project (“Someone was THERE, mom”) and then found out that he was letting me walk with him to school not because he liked the time, but because he didn’t know how to say he didn’t want me to. I trust him to get to school safely, but it was one of the few times I got to spend with him alone, and I liked our little chats. Guess I was the only one. Then I got in trouble for not knowing where the rubbing alcohol was (“We have all these beauty products and nothing USEFUL”) and then in trouble for getting upset by being snapped at unexpectedly.

So yeah. Yesterday was SUPER. Maybe it was just a bad day for everybody. Sigh. Today I let him walk alone, I will email the band director about ordering a smaller size, and I’ll find the darn rubbing alcohol. AND I’m going to knit! That was about the only good thing about yesterday. I now have two finished Royal blue hats to take to the craft show, and I think I can get one more done today. It’ll be a beanie in super bulky yarn so it should go quickly. The brim on this one came out a little bigger than I wanted, but it should work well for those with slightly bigger heads, or with lots of hair. And if it doesn’t sell at this craft show, I might see about adding a bit of elastic to snug it up some. And I love how this one turned out! The gray and blue is a little less common for a KC Royals hat, but I love it. And I showed the side with the joining seam because I was pleased with myself. It’s still noticeable if you look for it, but overall it came out really clean and smooth. I just have to decide whether to add a blue pom pom. Personally, I’ll always vote for a pom pom. How about you?

Stupid Hat is Done

May14

Thank goodness that’s over! I finished the hat this morning and sent it off this afternoon. It was nothing but trouble from start to finish, so I’m very relieved that I can put it behind me and move on to something more fun. The yarn was softer than I expected, and knit up fine. Had good stitch definition. The pattern came out quite lovely. But I struggled to get gauge, I made mistakes left and right, and I didn’t care for how the decreases were done. I can’t imagine I’ll ever make this hat again. Now, back to my sister’s bag I go!

Crazy for Crochet

Apr22

I can’t stop crocheting lately! Ever since I learned to knit, I’ve preferred it to crochet. Knitting is easier on my wrist and I love the fabric it creates. But I do still love the quickness of crochet, and it’s the perfect way to use all my cotton yarns. I made another small cross-body bag, just kind of made up my own pattern, and this one has a flap and a button closure. I debated between a dark silver button and a white flower. The flower was cute, but made the bag seem more appropriate for a young girl, and I wanted this to be more versatile. It’s something I would definitely carry. I’ve been working on a custom order through Etsy, but the other day I got a request for a couple of chemo caps. In my book, chemo caps always go to the top of the list. I used soft, washable acrylic and made them a small adult size so hopefully they’ll fit snugly. This is the Shelbi Hat pattern, and I’ve made it several times now. It’s very quick but looks intricate and interesting. I especially like that the pattern comes with four different sizes. It’s not a free one, but it’s absolutely worth the money for me.

Oh, and I had a wee knitting crisis the other day! You know I’m making a bag for my sister, right? Well, I picked it up and (GASP!) found this: I have no idea what happened. These are fixed-tip needles from Joann, so I’ve asked my handy hubby if he can fashion a new tip on it. Nothing to lose, right? In the meantime, I switched to my Knitter’s Pride Nova interchangeables, and actually the metal works much better with the cotton blend yarn anyway. Knits much faster. THIS is why I have so many needles! (Well, that and they’re really cool and I just like to buy them.)

Finally, puppies. We bought a fire pit last year and it sat outside all winter long. The puppies found it recently and Grace has fallen in love with the basin. She pushes and pulls it around the yard, tries to flip it, and especially loves to sit in it. I’m not sure we’ll get to use it again as a fire pit.

Bam! Another Hat Done

Apr13

I finished a hat this morning. I am so in love with this pattern. It’s called the Combination Summer Hat and I have now made three of them. The body is all loose, airy crochet, but then you pick up stitches and a knit a ribbed brim. I tell you, I think it’s brilliant. Part of the reason I like knitted hats better is that they seem to have more elasticity, but I love the look of crochet for spring and summer projects. Add in the fact that I can make one of these, start to finish, in a couple of hours, and yeah. This is perfection. This one was made with Berroco Weekend, which is mostly acrylic but has 25% cotton, enough to give it some stiffness and a great drape. I’ve got two more colors ready to go!

We had a fair bit of rain this weekend, which made for muddy puppies and muddy floors. Not great. But it also made for a funny photo op when the puppies found a new source of water.Hopefully the rain is done for a while. I’m ready for some sunshine and a drier backyard!

Cute little baby hats

Mar24

Oh good. It’s raining. Sighh. Gray skies, cold rain, muddy puppies. Can you tell I’m not a big fan of rainy days (and Mondays)? Seriously. I should be living somewhere with sunny days 90% of the time. But in lieu of that, I guess I’ll keep knitting. I finished the green and white long-tail hat. It’s toddler-sized and came out more Christmas-ish than I was expecting but I still liked it so much I started another one this morning, only this one will be a newborn size in gray and white. I’d bought some 12″ circular needles at the Yarn Barn and this is the perfect pattern to break them in.It’s weird! They’re so tiny! Such little bitty needles for a little bitty hat. It was a little awkward at first but I’m getting used to them quickly, and they’re still faster for me than DPNs. So let’s see if I can get it finished before I have to start the driving-around-for-other-people portion of my day.

One Little, Two Little, Three Little Yodas

Mar9

Oh my people, I have been gone for days and I have missed you! I had some crazy busy days that sadly could not involve much knitting, let alone writing about knitting. See, here’s the thing: the girl turned 15 yesterday! Yikes! Big, wonderful day. For her birthday present, she wants to redecorate her room, so last week we did some shopping for bedding. Then of course I had to do some solo shopping because she *had* to have some presents to open on her birthday (EOS lip balms, chocolate, bobby pins, headbands, just little things).

I also took Puppy 1 to the vet to get his nails trimmed, and that was an adventure. He’s not a fan of the nail trimming. The vet tech handed me a muzzle, and I was all offended, because my puppy is not mean. He was just scared. And he didn’t want to wear it. So the guy helper hoisted him onto the table (he’s a big dog, around 70 pounds, I think. Guessing because he was too scared to get on the big scale). Somehow this process ended up expressing some certain glands that other dog owners are probably aware of but I wasn’t, really. I am now though! Anyway, he held puppy down, I talked to puppy, and the nails got trimmed. And he was fine. Didn’t even try to snap at anyone; his tail was wagging the whole time. (I TOLD you my puppy’s not mean.)

So! That’s why the end of last week got lost. And on Saturday, the girl (who is a flutist extraordinaire) had a solo and ensemble contest. She was taking both a solo and a flute quartet, so we spent the day inside a high school filled with musicians. It was actually pretty fun. I really love band/orchestra kids. They’re so interesting, so strange and often so confident in their quirkiness. Maybe lots of teenagers are like that; I know theater kids are too. And the hallways were full of funny flyers, and this one was my fave.Obviously my girl is not evil, just fabulous. I know this because despite all her fretting and worrying, she scored a 1 ranking on her solo (rankings are 1-5, one being the best) which means she gets to move on to the state level. Woohoo! Of course I did knit that day while we waited and waited. I worked on little Yoda hats. I worked on little Yoda hats yesterday too, with the little knitting time I had. Since it was the birthday, we had to do presents, go bowling (I won 2 out of 3 games) and go out to dinner. But with all the little bits of time here and there, I managed to knit three Yoda hats, and this morning I sewed on the ears and they are complete.I only love them a little. Ok. A lot. It’s a happy little baby family of Yoda hats. They’re Ravelled here if you want more details. My only sadness comes because this used the rest of my Yoda green yarn, and that color’s no longer available. I will have a find a new Yoda yarn. These little hats will probably go on my Etsy shop, and if they don’t sell there, they’ll travel to a show I’m doing at the end of April.

So there you go! Now you know why I’ve been MIA for several days. But now you’re stuck with me because I’ve got a new WIP that I’m in love with so I’ll be sharing that in the near future. Until then, happy knitting!