(writing this from the Netherlands, but the pictures were – obviously – taken on Curaçao)
I finished these just in time to take them with me. I have to admit that the color really, really isn’t me. I bought this on the island, and there wasn’t a lot of choices. I do like the color as is, but it doesn’t go with any of my clothes. Still, I’m wearing these almost 24 hours a day (yes, I wear them in bed). We do have heated floors in our Airbnb, but I still get cold feet.
I used a pattern that I had written down in my knitting notebook. I thought Ravelry said it was offline, but I found it here. I love how simple, yet effective it is. I did make one change though. I found previous versions were very slippery, so I decided to knit the whole sole (1/3 of the stitches) in garter stitch, instead of all stockinette after joining in the round. I do feel it works (or maybe I’m just walking more careful these days).
Remember that Christmas yarn? (I made T. a hat with it). I used up the last of it (not enough to make a matching hat for me), to make a little circle. I was going to crochet, but I decided to try knitting a circle for the first time. The middle part (where you start knitting) was a bit fiddly, but the rest was actually rather easy. That’s really all there is to say about it. But I do like how it looks under our tiny tree. I used the very last bit of it to crochet a little garland, but I’ll show that tomorrow when I’m posting our Christmas decorations (ha! don’t get too excited).
So, that thing I learned about me not having a clue about how much time things take? Also applicable for crafting. I thought those slippers were a quick knit. Turns out they weren’t really (I think it has something to do with having to use dpn’s) and of course I needed two of them. But I did finish them this morning. Something about checking off that list that makes me want to keep going 😉
Last week’s list: (I’ll just repost the knitting, since there wasn’t any sewing again – that thing about time, you know)
✔ finish the 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 – done! ✔decide if I’m doing handmade gifts and if so, what I need to knit (or sew?) – decided not to. But it’s still in the back of my mind. / knit a hat (or more slippers) – cast on for a hat yesterday X start knitting another cowl? (I have this great pattern that I can’t wait to try) – decided to wait until I can buy some really nice yarn for it
I also rewrote the “patterns” on the berets (so if you saved them, please go back and get the right version). Now I remember why I decided not to do patterns anymore… I forgot to write out the first rows before the decreases, so I added that and had to renumber all the other rows. I think I’ll stick to wordy instructions next time, that’s how my mind works anyway. I usually “translate” patterns for myself to “just do this and then that for a while, and decrease along the way”. That’s also why my knitting is still really basic. I rarely work up the energy to knit row by row patterns.
This week’s list:
We have a busy weekend ahead and on Monday we’ll fly to the Netherlands. I will take some needles and yarn with me, but I have no idea how much time I will have to knit. I usually don’t knit with company (feels like I’m not giving them my full attention) and there will be a lot of that. Not that I mind 😉 Sewing is not an option since I won’t bring my machine. Well, hand sewing maybe, but no, don’t think so.
– knit a hat, because that’s what I like to do – shop for yarn, fabric and embroidery material
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.
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.
Well, that was some week! But that’s what I say, write or think almost every week, so I guess it was a normal one after all. I did finish most of the bigger deadline work I had on my plate and that’s a big relief. I’ve also prepared most of the things I need to do when I’m in Holland and I’m looking forward to next week. Last week before we travel, not too much computer work to worry about, so I’m going to clean the house and do some gardening. Bliss! I may even get to my sewing machine.
Last week’s goals:
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 (started one this morning!) – decide if I could make more of them as gifts (maybe better than hats?) ✔ use up the rest of the Christmas yarn (knit my first circle, fun!)
Sewing: Not at all, I’ll just copy and paste my list to next week…
This week’s goals:
Knitting:
– finish the 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’m doing handmade gifts and if so, what I need to knit (or sew?) – knit a hat (or more slippers) – start knitting another cowl? (I have this great pattern that I can’t wait to try)
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).
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.
A few months ago, I felt unhappy because all the yarn I had left to knit with was gray. Rather depressing. But buying yarn is not easy here. There are a few shops that carry it (as far as I know) and none of them has a lot. At that moment I even thought there were only two shops that carried it. But I was in town and decided to pop into a fabric store I discovered that day. And there, right in the back they actually had some yarn. Acrylic, of course (they love their polyester here – clothes, sheets, fabric, and yarn), but there was this green that I loved (still my favorite color, it seems). I asked if there were more skeins than the three on the shelve and they dug through a few boxes for me, but alas, no luck there. I bought the three skeins anyway. Just because they were there. And they weren’t grey.
And then they just sat there, because I didn’t know what to do with them. A shawl? But I don’t like how they slip off my shoulders constantly. A cowl? But I had plenty of yarn to work with and it would be nice to cover my shoulders.
I found inspiration on the internet (where else?). I already had this cowl in the back of my mind, but more recently I’ve been admiring Chris’ design and Jeannie’s version of it. Could have waited for the pattern to be released, of course, but I was impatient and made up my own version. I can always knit another one when the pattern is there. Since really, you can’t have enough cowls (oh wait, maybe you can if you’re living in the tropics and only visit colder regions a few weeks every year. But let’s ignore that little fact.)
So I cast on some stitches (better description below) and used a stitch pattern based on Soulemama’s hat pattern. When I thought the neck section was high enough I doubled the stitches and just kept knitting from there. I have to admit, it did get frustrating after a while. That stitch pattern is perfect for a small project like a hat and even a cowl, but it was very slow (and hard on the arthritic hands) knitting for the shoulder part. But I do love the result.
I also love that the stitch pattern turned out to be reversible. I may even prefer the inside…
What I did:
CO 102 stitches, join in the round knit three ridges of garter stitch (alternating K and P rows)
Stitch pattern: 1. k1, yo, k2tog – repeat till end of round 2. k1, yo, k2tog – repeat till end of round 3,4,5 P all stitches
Repeat pattern 6 times
Increasing: 1. k1, yo till end of round (204 stitches) 2. K all stitches 3,4,5 P all stitches
Return to stitch pattern, repeat 9 times + first two rows once knit three ridges of garter stitch Cast off
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!
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.
NOT A STATION 