Brambles finished

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Originally uploaded by bean counting knitter

Brambles from Knitty

I loved knitting this hat. Blocking it was almost as fun. The directions say the following for finishing:

FINISHING
Weave in ends and block. The body of this hat grows and achieves its shape through wet blocking. Dinner plates were used for medium-length and long hats shown. The short hat was blocked using an inflated balloon. Both methods work well.

To prevent stretching the ribbed hat band, waste yarn was basted in a running stitch along the round between the ribbed band and the hat body. After the hat was soaked and placed over the blocking form, the waste yarn was cinched, to firmly stretch the cabled hat body. The ribbed band was then pulled vertically by hand and left to dry for a perfect finish.

Brambles

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Originally uploaded by bean counting knitter

Saturday morning I had 90% of my existing hair cut off. That left an inch of hair remaining at the longest parts. It is the dead of winter here now and I learned really fast I need hats.

I was still craving cables so I cast on Brambles Beret from Knitting Deep Fall 2010. I am really loving this pattern. I am in the decrease rounds. I hope to block this hat tonight or tomorrow so I can wear it very very soon.

I stash busted for this project. I am using Berroco Vintage.

I dream of cables....

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Originally uploaded by bean counting knitter

I have been bitten by cables again. Perhaps it is my husband's impending trip to Ireland for work that has me so worked up about cables. Or maybe it is my love of cables. My Mom and Grammy loved to knit cables and I think I acquired that gene from them.

Earlier this week I received Knitting at Home and I can't stop looking at this book. Seriously there are 60 patterns in this book and I want to knit at least 16 of them.

The top of the list are these socks. I have to knit these socks. Never mind the fact that I have 10+ projects on the needles and they all have to be finished or frogged by the stroke of midnight on 1/31/11.

UGH!

Snickerdoodles for my birthday!

This post begins with a prayer. Last Tuesday my father-in-law passed away from complications due to cancer. Jim had been fighting cancer for a couple years now and he is no longer suffering. God please let him rest in peace.

Jimmy and I left for Huntington early last Tuesday after getting the call from his mom. While we were packing he turned to me and said something like, "make sure you get your knitting projects in order and pack them."  If anyone wonders why I love this man this is a good indication of one of the many reasons. :-)

We spent a lot of time sitting with family, in waiting rooms, and just car riding, which afforded me a ton of knitting time. I worked on two projects while we were away. First, was the 3.14159... Shawl and this sucker has grown to over 1,000 stitches per round. Yeah this is a great knit, knit, knit and more knit stitch project when you don't want to concentrate but need to keep your hands busy.
 
Second, was the Snickerdoodle Luxe Sweater. I spent a fair amount of time knitting on this while in the hotel and at my Mother-in-Law's house with family.  Sunday I finished the knitting and seaming on this beauty. Last night I finally finished weaving in the many ends. Tonight I plan to soak and block it. I hope it will be dry so I can have wear snickerdoodles for my birthday. I will take some pictures tonight while blocking and post.

Saturday I took a break to The Yarn Shop to knit and buy some yarn for a couple projects I have been wanting to knit. First, I purchased some Jo Sharp Alpaca Silk Georgette to knit The Vine and Leaf Beret. This hat is on the cover of Fall 2009 Vogue Knitting and I fell in love hard. I wanted to knit this hat right then and there. Well I contained myself. Saturday I decided it was time to purchase the yarn.

Picture obtained from Vogue Knitting Website.

I have been itching to knit Bella's Mittens. I love, love, love these chunky cabled mittens. Bonus, the pattern was created based on the mittens Bella wore in the movie version of Twilight. I didn't care for the movie and probably wont see New Moon unless I become so utterly bored someday and just need a good laugh. I will keep the book versions alive in my head at least for now. Anyway these mittens rock. At the time of writing this post I have finished the first and working the cuff on the second. The yarn I bough for these Reynolds Andean Alpaca Regal. This yarn is amazing and the first mitten fits me perfectly.

 

Komet Socks 100%

Komets 100%
Originally uploaded by bean counting knitter

These socks went so fast. Well I did cheat a little bit by ending the pattern mid foot and finish them in stockinette stitch. Tuesday is going to be a great day! What day wouldn't be amazing wearing new hand knit socks?