Happy Forest Pixie

You’ve heard of the Stella Pixie hat, right?  It’s a pattern originally published in 1944 and reprinted in Vintage Baby Knits – and it’s a free download in Ravelry.  I’m sure many knitters were inspired to make it based purely on the adorable photos on the Sew Liberated blog (try these for starters).

We’re having a baby shower for a coworker in my library on Monday, and I felt this was the perfect opportunity to try this hat.  I knew it was the right choice when I looked more closely at the pattern and realized it was made out of sock yarn.  SCORE!  I didn’t even have to acquire new yarn.  I wasn’t sure how much yardage I’d need (the pattern just says “one skein” but I couldn’t imagine it took the entire skein), so I took a gamble and used some leftover yarn.  Remember these socks?

They use one of Cat Bordhi’s crazy “sockitectures,” the Sidestream.  The yarn is Dream in Color Smooshy in color “Happy Forest.”  Those skeins are quite generous and I had 45 grams remaining.  I cast on.

The hat is knit as a flat rectangle which is grafted later.  Because of the ribbing – and faux ribbing – it doesn’t really lay like a rectangle.  Here it is before grafting:Here is the rectangle with my able assistant holding it into shape: And here is the finished hat.  I didn’t knit the neckband and buttonhole as the pattern indicated; instead, I did i-cord and applied i-cord as you can see here.  It looks more like a Christmas tree than a hat just laying on a flat surface, I’ll admit… This hat really comes to life on a baby’s head.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have a baby’s head handy.  So I used this grumpy assistant instead:His head isn’t as spherical as a baby’s – it is kind of flat like an M&M.  And his ears are in a very different spot than actual baby ears.  But he was all I had.

I think this hat will be adorable on an actual baby, and I will happily make more.  (Are you expecting a baby?  Let me know!)  It took only 35 GRAMS of Smooshy sock yarn.  I used a 3 mm needle (US 2) instead of the 3.25 mm (US 3) called for, because I really hate my 3.25 mm Clover bamboo needle.  I knit loosely, anyway.

I like this hat so much that the next time I see Smooshy sock yarn in a shop, I’ll probably buy a skein specifically to have on hand for future pixie hats!

Night watch report

This is the sock I’ve been working on in preparation for and since the sock design class I took with Anne Hanson.  The yarn is Dream in Color Smooshy in “Night Watch,” a gorgeous non-pooling colorway that is a study in blue and purple (and a pinch of green, too).  My sons gave me this yarn for my birthday a couple of years ago – what excellent taste they have!

This sock combines several stitch patterns.  The one on the top is “gulls and garter,” and I think the “gulls” highlight the handpainted yarn very well.  After an inch or so of transition (good old garter rib), I begin a twisted rib pattern that serves as the “water” in this picture.  Gulls flying over water at night… does that work?

Here’s a closeup of the gulls:

With luck, I’ll finish the toe tonight and be able to start sock #2.  I got distracted this week by some felted nesting boxes (which are knit but not quite felted yet).

Homework

I’m taking a Sock Design workshop with Anne Hanson of knitspot this Sunday at Eleganza Yarns in Frederick, MD.  Here is the course description:

Unleash your inner sock designer under the expert tutelage of Knitspot's Anne Hanson! This comprehensive beginning design class covers fit and sizing, working with textured motifs, appropriate design choices for the sock architecture, tips and tricks for achieving desired results, marriage of elements, charting, and pattern writing. Students will draft a sock pattern using a knit/purl stitch of choice. Students should have experience in sock knitting and be proficient with multiple needles (DPN's, 2 circs, etc.) and be comfortable with increases and decreases. Materials list will be emailed to participants prior to workshop.

I received the list earlier this week, and there is also a bit of homework:

Materials Needed: paper, pen, calculator, graph paper, stitch markers, one skein of sock yarn for project work (100 gr.), sock needles appropriate for yarn of choice. Additionally, students should bring a book of stitch patterns, and have several 4-6 stitch patterns marked as possibilities. Students should choose several stitch patterns for possible use in their design and work swatches in the chosen yarn to determine needle size.

A book of stitch patterns… I only have one true stitch dictionary, a Christmas gift from Steven and Jeff a few years ago (if I didn’t have that, I guess I would have gone to the Charlene Schurch books or put a call out to my local knitsibs for help).  I took one pass through the whole book and flagged a bunch of designs.  Then I took a second pass through the flagged pages and moved only 5 post-its to the side – those are my finalists:

And then I started swatching the Gulls and Garter pattern.  Here is what it looks like in the book: Here’s my swatch (the yarn is Dream in Color Smooshy in colorway “Night Watch”).  Gulls and Garter is at the very bottom.  Then I decided I didn’t like the Garter so much, but I thought Gulls could fly in a checkerboard pattern.  Oops, at first the gulls are too far apart.  Move them closer.  Nah, put them back in nice neat columns and throw some other stuff (not garter) in between them.  Hmmmm. Then switch to diagonal rib stripe.  Re-remember how to do a 1x1 right twist cable without a cable needle and without letting a loop hang.  Decide to make them all go left and learn why the left twist diagonal rib stripe is not in the book at all.

Then decide to wait until class to knit any more – I have 6.5” on this, which is practically a full sock leg’s worth.

But this is exciting, no?

I love homework. 

Tickle Me Spring

Undulating Rib Socks in Spring Tickle
Originally uploaded by JLW in PA

This pair of socks knit up pretty quickly - I started them at a conference on 3/11 and finished a little more than one week later on 3/22. These are almost identical to my mom's undulating rib socks, except the length of the foot is a tiny bit longer on my pair.

The modifications: I cast on 60 stitches and used my own slipped stitch heel and a star toe. I reinforced the inside of the heel flap.

The yarn is Dream in Color Smooshy in colorway Spring Tickle. I have always loved this yarn. It is that gorgeous apple green toned down by some orangey-brown bits. It looks exactly like spring leaves popping up through the brown leaves that have been rotting all winter.

I have a ton of yarn left over, too - 51 g (the socks themselves weigh 70 g). A hank of Smooshy is very generous. Just think of all the groovy Christmas balls I can make with this leftover yarn!

Happy Day

Birthday yarn goodness
Originally uploaded by JLW in PA

It's my birthday today, and so far it's full of yarn goodness. My kids each gave me a skein of sock yarn. They're hard to see in this photo, but I'm clutching Dream in Color Smooshy in colorways "night watch" and "spring tickle" (I've longed for spring tickle for a while now).

My Rogue sweater is on its maiden voyage today. I finished this sweater last June and it was much too warm to wear it then. This morning the thermometer was at about 40 degrees and it seemed like the perfect day to wear it. (Those begonias from a couple of days ago are withered black now, as are my tomato plants, but the mums sure look good!)

And finally, just another random pair of handknit socks on my feet. I bought this particular yarn at WEBS in Northampton, MA, a few years ago. That is such a neat store. I definitely want to go back there one day!

Happy Forest, Happy Feet

Today I finished my "work socks" (meaning, the sock project I work on at the office). This is my second pair of Sidestream Socks, one of the new "sockitectures" from Cat Bordhi's New Pathways for Sock Knitters, Book One. (To see the first pair, check Flickr or Ravelry.) I love how simple and elegant this structure is.

This pair knit really quickly, probably because it's mostly stockinette (when was the last time I knit a stockinette sock?) and because the midfoot stitch count is only 56 (normally I knit socks at 72 or thereabouts). They fit like a glove. Cat's master numbers work! I chose the whirlpool toe, which is pretty, and the reinforced heel.

I adore this Dream in Color Smooshy sock yarn. It's soft and springy (4-ply merino), with plenty of color variation (for a semi-solid) but NO POOLING. I tire of pooling.

In spinning news, I finished filling a bobbin last night. I'll start another tonight and work toward plying again. The new bobbin is much smoother than what I did last week.