Tag: knitting hats

Startitis

~ Maggie ~ 4 Comments

Well, that was fun! I usually have only one, maybe two projects on my needles, but sometimes I just have to give in to the urge to start more. And so I did.
I have no less than four projects going right now and I’m actually thinking about casting on for just one more…

The first one I cast on for was Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Baby Surprise Jacket. No, there are no (grand)baby’s in my immediate future, but I’ve always wanted to make one. And I figured I’d better start practicing before I’ve got baby’s to knit for.  Or something like that. I just wanted to try this.
I have to admit though, that I almost gave up on it. I had to start over a few times because I didn’t read the pattern right. But now I’m well on my way and enjoying seeing it grow.

My second project will hopefully turn out to be a swimsuit (or bikini) cover-up. I’m winging it, so I hope I get this right. It is a lovely soft cotton yarn though and I love knitting with it.

Next project in line is a simple shawl, knit in a lovely shiny (but slippery) cotton on needles that are a size or two too big, to create a light and see-through fabric.

And then, of course, there’s a hat. This was actually the first project I started after finishing the cowl, but then I got distracted with all my other ideas. I was going to do something creative with that ribbing and I hope I remember what it was when I get to it.

So, two out of four projects that I can actually use myself and around here. Not too bad, isn’t it? The baby jacket is knit in cotton too, so I may find myself a baby on the island to gift it to.
I am running out of project bags, by the way (must make more), but luckily my knitting bag is big enough to handle them all and even more (yes, I always keep a book I’m reading in my knitting bag too, don’t you?).

A hat!

~ Maggie ~ 4 Comments

I’ve been browsing the blog to make sure, but this seems to be my first finished knitting/crafty project this year. Oy! No wonder I feel off…
Anyway. This simple hat actually took me a while to knit, but it turned out just as I wanted it to be, a simple k2 p2 ribbing, followed by garter stitch. I love it! If we had the right temperatures for it, I would be wearing it a lot.
Now I’m secretly hoping the beginning of May (when we’re in Holland again) will be chilly enough to wear it (nah, not really! – I’ll safe it for December).

What I did:

CO 80 st.
K2 P2 to end of round
repeat until desired height

switch to garter stitch (alternating K rounds and P rounds)
repeat until desired height

start decreases:
SSK to end of round (40 st left)
P
SSK to end of round (20 st left)
P
SSK to end of round (10 st left)
pull thread through remaining stitches, weave in ends

The last two hats

~ Maggie ~ 2 Comments

… of 2019, that is. Although I want to try to knit more things that I can actually use throughout the year, I don’t think I will ever not knit hats. I just love them too much.

The first one I made for my father to match the beret I made for my mother. Just a very simple hat, using up every last bit of that skein.

After that, I was still itching to knit, but not feeling capable of anything remotely complicated, so I cast on for another hat in the yarn I made that green cowl with.

Simple, but warm and soft. I think I’ll keep this one, to wear with the cowl when we’re in The Netherlands for the holidays. It doesn’t get that cold there (usually no snow, just lots and lots of rain), but to me, it felt very cold. And they sure can use some extra green in winter…

I feel like Goldilocks

~ Maggie ~ 2 Comments

Not that I’m house crashing with three bears, though. That would be… weird. To say the least.
But the hats I’ve been making for my mother did get me thinking about that fairy tale.
Remember? The first beret I made for her was too small. The second one was better, but actually a bit too big.
But now… I think I’ve got it. This one is juuuuust right 😉

(not posting pictures with my face showing today. Goodness, I’m suddenly all wrinkled up. Must be the cold or something.)

What I did:

CO 72 st., join in the round, k2,p2 – 6 rounds
Increase: K b&f 3 times, k1, repeat till last four stitches, K b&f 2 times, k2 (132 st)
K 15 rounds (stockinette stitch)

start decrease: 
(the decrease is done in 6 sections, knitting less stitches before ssk each time)

K 20, ssk – repeat till end of round
K entire round
K19, ssk – repeat till end of round
K entire round
etc.

keep alternating decrease rows and K rows until you did K10, ssk
Then stop the K rows and keep decreasing (k9, ssk; K8, ssk etc.) until you have 12 stitches left.
Use a darning needle to pull thread through remaining stitches and pull to close. Sew in ends.

A beret for my mom – part 2

~ Maggie ~ 4 Comments

As you can see this beret is a lot bigger than the one I showed you yesterday. I think this will be a much better size, though now I worry it’s too big.
But I’ve actually got photos of my mom (the girls sent me pictures of them celebrating Sinterklaas with my parents) wearing one of her store-bought berets and I think the size of this one is similar. I hope so.

Sidenote: I cried when I saw those pictures. In public (we were at a beach bar with friends). Because – as you probably know if you’ve been reading here for a while – Sinterklaas used to be a big thing in our family and I loved hosting and preparing for these loud and chaotic gatherings. And now I wasn’t even there. And I also cried because I hardly recognized my mom in those pictures. She aged so much!
But she’s still there. And I know now that I have some real friends here on the island. Because they sat next to me and hugged me and comforted me, without even once saying how silly (and selfish) it is to cry when my family (and most important, my mom!) obviously had a lot of fun.

What I did

CO 78 stitches (5 mm needle, worsted weight yarn), join in the round
1-10 garter stitch
11. Kf&b of every stitch (156 stitches)

12-16 K entire round
17 P entire round
18-22 K entire round
23 P entire round
24-28 K entire round
29 P entire round

30. K24, ssk, repeat till end of round
31. K entire round
32. K23, ssk, repeat till end of round
33. K entire round
34. K22, ssk, repeat till end of round
35. P entire round
36. K21, ssk, repeat till end of round
37. K entire round
38. K20, ssk, repeat till end of round
39. K entire round
40. K19, ssk, repeat till end of round
41. P entire round
42. K18, ssk, repeat till end of round
43. K entire round
44. K17, ssk, repeat till end of round
45. K entire round
46. K16, ssk, repeat till end of round
47. P entire round
48. K15, ssk, repeat till end of round
49. K entire round
50. K14, ssk, repeat till end of round
51.K entire round
52. K13, ssk, repeat till end of round
53. P entire round
54. K12, ssk, repeat till end of round
55. K11, ssk, repeat till end of round
56. K10, ssk, repeat till end of round
57. K9, ssk, repeat till end of round
58. K8, ssk, repeat till end of round
59. K7, ssk, repeat till end of round
60. K6, ssk, repeat till end of round
61. K5, ssk, repeat till end of round
62. K4, ssk, repeat till end of round
63. K3, ssk, repeat till end of round
64. K2 ssk, repeat till end of round
65. K1, ssk, repeat till end of round
66.  ssk, repeat till end of round

Cut yarn and use darning needle to thread through remain stitches and pull to close top.
Weave in ends.

A beret for my mom

~ Maggie ~ 4 Comments

It’s kind of silly to realize that over the years I’ve been knitting so many hats, but only one beret (over 12 years ago). 
It may have something to do with the fact that this style of hat went out of fashion. I’d never know that for sure though since fashion has never been my thing. But it’s a fact that I only knit one beret (and probably about 100 hats) in all those years.

I guess that I used a pattern for that very first one, I don’t remember.
These days I usually wing my knitting. So, when I dediced I wanted to knit a beret for my mother, I did just that. And that’s probably the reason that it turned out a bit small. As in ‘you can hardly see it’s a beret”-small.

I do have a big head. Most hats that are smallish on my head are perfectly good on other people. But if I remember correctly (from trying on her church hat when I was a girl), my mother’s head is even slightly bigger than mine. So I decided to cast on another hat and try again.

To be continued…

What I did:

CO 78 stitches (5 mm needle, worsted weight yarn), join in the round
1. K till end of round
2-9 K1 (twisted), P1 –  repeat till end of round
10. K1, K1f&b – repeat till end of row ( 117 st.)
11-15 K entire round
16 P entire round
17-21 K entire round
22 P entire round
23. K18,  k2tog, K19, repeat till end of round
24. K entire round
25. K17, k2tog, repeat till end of round
26. K entire round
27. K16, k2tog, repeat till end of round
28. K entire round
29. K15, k2tog, repeat till end of round
30. K entire round
31. K14, k2tog, repeat till end of round
32. K entire round
33. K13, k2tog, repeat till end of round
34.P entire round
35. K12, k2tog, repeat till end of round
36. K entire round
37. K11, k2tog, repeat till end of round
38. K entire round
39. K10, k2tog, repeat till end of round
40. P entire round
41. K9, k2tog, repeat till end of round
42. K entire round
43. K8, k2tog, repeat till end of round
44. K entire round
45. K7, k2tog, repeat till end of round
46. P entire round
47. K6, k2tog, repeat till end of round
48. K5, k2tog, repeat till end of round
49. K4, k2tog, repeat till end of round
50. K3, k2tog, repeat till end of round
51. K2, k2tog, repeat till end of round
52. K1, k2tog, repeat till end of round

Cut yarn and use darning needle to thread through remain stitches and pull to close top.
Weave in ends.

Spiral up (or down?)

~ Maggie ~ 4 Comments

Another gray hat. I know… But I had this really big skein and it is actually a nice shade of gray. I think the men in my family will be happy to wear these hats. But I have to admit that I’m glad I’m almost done with it.

Almost two years ago, I was toying with the idea to start writing patterns for the hats I made. I actually published a few, but they never really took off. Also, pattern writing is a lot of work, especially if you want to sell them. I usually don’t bother with gauge and things like that, but I’d need to. So I decided to let go of that plan though I sometimes still think that it would be so great to make (some) money with knitting.
A few days ago I did realize I could just add some notes to my posts about the things I knit. Not really patterns, but just “what I did” in pattern language. So that’s what you got yesterday.
But then I moved on to writing today’s post and I realized that I have been very bad at taking notes these days and I don’t really remember the specifics of this one. It shouldn’t be too hard to explain in words what I did though, so let me try.

What I did:

I could write an intricate pattern for that spiraling ribbing, but the trick is to cast on one stitch less than you’d need for the ribbing you’re using. I did a K1, P1 ribbing, so I cast on an odd number (don’t remember how many – 79 probably, since that’s about the number of stitches that makes an adult-sized hat with this yarn) and just kept doing K1, P1.
When I thought the ribbing was high enough I increased the stitches (K3, K1f&b) and kept knitting till I had a nice slouchy hat. The top was finished by alternating k2tog and K rows until I had approximately 10 stitches left. Pulled the thread through the remaining stitches and wove in ends.

Crafty goals

~ Maggie ~ 4 Comments

Last week I actually did great on the knitting goals, if I say so myself (ah, the benefits of aiming low!). On the sewing, not so much (not at all, actually). I did (partly) clean up and organize the entry room though and I have now a table ready to sew on. So who knows what will happen next week?

Last week’s list:

Knitting:

✔ work on green cowl (actually finished it! – show & tell next week)
✔ maybe start a beret for my mother (started one, finished it – turns out to be wearable, but rather tight, so I started another one – sneak peek in pictures above)

Sewing:
X purse for daily use
X quilt (or maybe start small and make a table runner?)
X drawstring bags to use in my suitcase while traveling (I love the packing cubes like these that I see all over the internet and of course I could either order them or try to make them, but I think simple drawstring bags could help with the packing chaos too, so I’m trying that first).

This week’s list

 Knitting:

– finish second beret
– knit some of these slippers (the pattern is no longer online, but I have it written down in my notebook) to keep my feet warm when we’re in Holland
– decide if I could make more of them as gifts (maybe better than hats?)
– use up the rest of the Christmas yarn (granny square to use as decoration on the table?)

Sewing:

The fact that I’m not sewing doesn’t mean I’m not thinking about the things I want to do. I keep adding to that list… Oh well, we’ll see.

– hem that plaid cotton I bought to use as a tablecloth
– make placemats (the ones we’re using are stained and not washable – not my smartest buy)
– purse for daily use
– quilt (or maybe start small and make a table runner?)
– drawstring bags to use in my suitcase while traveling (I love the packing cubes like these that I see all over the internet and of course I could either order them or try to make them, but I think simple drawstring bags could help with the packing chaos too, so I’m trying that first).

I’m hoping for a productive, creative weekend, though there’s also this other list of things I need to do…
Wishing you all a great one too!

Simple hats for the win

~ Maggie ~ 4 Comments

I feel like a broken record when I talk about how much I love knitting hats and about how simple patterns are all I can manage these days. But that’s the way it is right now. So. another hat, another simple pattern (k5 p3 rib). Yes, I loved making it. And I’m sure someone will be happy to wear it too.

So, I’m off again. Making more simple hats (this was # 4 of the 20 before 2020 by the way, so no, I suppose I’m not going to meet that goal. Then again, there are still a few weeks left. Hmn…)

Sidenote: I sometimes feel like I’m exaggerating when I talk about not having the headspace for a lot of things etc. But yesterday we were having dinner and T. was hinting gently that he felt it wasn’t quite enough. So I was thinking about what I had (we really need to get some groceries this week) to make as an extra for him. It more or less went like this: “I want to save the minced meat for tomorrow, but this afternoon, when I took today’s steaks out of the freezer to let them defrost I found some chicken that I forgot about, but that is frozen solid and…. wait! Today’s steaks?”
Um, yes. I somehow totally forgot about those. Ate my roasted veggies without even realizing something was missing (we always eat steak with roasted veggies)… So yeah. Headspace.

Crafty goals

~ Maggie ~ 4 Comments

Though it feels more logical to post to-do lists at the start of the week, I’m going to try to post my crafty goals on Friday. Always the one going against logic… Well, actually not. This morning I realized that I do most of my crafting at the weekends (because I try not to work and to stay away from the computer on Saturday and Sunday), so it would actually make sense to think about what I’d like to do on Fridays. And it would be fun, looking forward to the weekend (and the weekdays after the weekend) like that.

So here it goes.

Knitting:

– I’m still working on that cowl. It’s going rather slowly, but I changed the needles I was using and I think that makes a difference. The ones I was using weren’t slippery enough for acrylic yarn and the thread was twisted too much. I won’t say I want to finish it this week since I think that would be too much, but I really would like to get a lot further than I am right now. I used one of the three skeins I had and I think I need to use one and a half more to make it the size I’d like. And I would really like it to be finished in time for me to use it when we’re in The Netherlands next month.

– The cowl is actually the only project I have on the needles right now. I finished a hat last week and haven’t cast on for a new one yet. Because of the above, I’m not planning to start another project. But well… you never know. I want to make my mother a beret since she told me she’s wearing them every day now to cover her balding head. She says she likes the berets better than fitting hats these days because she feels her head is so small now (she lost a lot of weight). But I keep worrying about the yarn (good quality not available here) and the pattern (no headspace for intricate cables or things like that). Which is silly, since she’s my number one knitting fan and she’s been wearing and saving every single hat I ever made for her.

Sewing:

I don’t know if I’ll be able to sew, but I’d love to. On my list of things I’d like to make:
– purse for daily use
– quilt (or maybe start small and make a table runner?)
– drawstring bags to use in my suitcase while traveling (I love the packing cubes like these that I see all over the internet and ofcourse I could either order them or try to make them, but I think simple drawstring bags could help with the packing chaos too, so I’m trying that first).