ohmygoodknits! » knitting

oh my goodknits!

Lisa — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 23:53:57 +0000

check out my new header!

I finally knit goodknits! :)

the smell of loved woolies

Lisa — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 18:32:51 +0000

The first Elizabeth Zimmermann pattern I ever made was ‘Ganomy’ from Knitters’ Almanac. It’s also been the most used pattern in my repetoire. My copy of KA is in bad shape. It lived in the bottom of my bag for a while. I haven’t knit everything she gives pithy directions for, but I HAVE read the whole book–some parts more than others.

Anyway, what I meant to blog about is how much I love wool. I’m sorry you have to wash your handknit hat. I’m sorry you accidentally put it in your hamper and it’s a ball of fluff. I’m sorry it itched you when you first touched it and now lives in a box in your closet. Fact of the matter is: you never gave wool a chance! It took me longer to knit your hat than it will for you to wash it. You should not put something beautifully made in a hamper. If you would have given it a soak, it wouldn’t be itchy.

That first Ganomy was a rather quick knit. It isn’t perfect, as I was a newbie to knitting, but it fit and was pretttyyy in all its Noro Kureyon glory. It was also lost in a hamper, almost-felted, and hella itchy. But I kept putting it on my little one’s (now, 4.5) head, hanging it on a hook, or shoving it in my bag, when he wasn’t wearing it. I even soaked it in warm water + lanolin (the same tube I got at my baby shower–thank heavens for an easy start to my breastfeeding career) + baby shampoo to wash it when it got really dirty one day.

Three years later, it is the hat I love most. Soft, pilly, smelly. It’s never gotten quite as dirty as the first time it warranted a cleaning. Heck, it’s only needed a wash once since then. And because of that, it smells wonderful. It smells like their heads. A lovely mixture of baby shampoo and baby sweat. No, don’t wince! Babies’ heads smell gooood. I promise.

This hat has been loved. It will continue to be loved for the rest of winter and perhaps into Spring. Maybe Easter will be cold and Andy will wear it one last time, on his second celebration of the holiday, like Nate did in 2007.

Won’t you give wool a chance? In a few years, when my boys undoubtedly become obnoxious the way I was when I was little, I bet someone will find me crying on a closet floor, deeply inhaling the scent of my babies from this hat. It’s just a fact.

Happy New Decade!

Lisa — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 08:41:49 +0000

Any decade resolutions? Knit more, yell less.

My last project of 2009: a beret for…me! After the 14 handmade Christmas gifts, I finally made something for myself. A simple knit beret wit a few eyelet rows thrown in. A day after I made it, I added a big ol’ red pom pom on top. I feel it completed the look.

I hope everyone has gotten off to a good 2010. Feel free to share your resolutions. Do you plan to blog more? I do. I mean, I’ll definitely try harder to blog more.

Peek at Gift #9

Lisa — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 20:16:30 +0000

My needles are currently bare. I received a request for a baby blanket (I would be paid) and have yet to decide to do it or not! It’s needed by the 23rd and would take me 3-5 days to complete. I’m leaning toward YES because I could use some extra cash and…well, I’m kinda tired of making hats already.

By the way, the pattern I used for this hat is ‘Windschief’ by Stephen West. Check it out [[here on Ravelry]].

Christmas knitting detour

Lisa — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 22:00:23 +0000

I started gift #9 on Tuesday, but put it down on Wednesday (yesterday) to start a woolly hat for my four year old. His woollies have been passed down to his brother, so his ears are quite cold when we’re out. And that is just not acceptable.

I chose one of my all-time favorite hat patterns, Ganomy by Elizabeth Zimmermann. It’s found in the best $7 knitting book out there, Knitter’s Almanac. I’ve read it cover to cover, but I’ve only made a few items (mainly the babies’ things and hats). It’s a good read, with a bunch of classic patterns.

I used Paton’s Classic Wool in the “that’s blue” colorway. It matches Nate’s school colors and compliments his [brand new] jacket that’s a few shades of gray. I modified the pattern a bit, to compensate for the thinner yarn. I changed the cast-on to 98 stitches, stopping front increases at 4″, back increases at 6″, and then adjusting the decreases as necessary . Size US 8 needles. Less than two days. Success!

He didn’t really want to pose for me, this afternoon. He said he would “sleep through it.” It being my snapping pictures of him. He gave up and started playing with cars soon after.

Let sleeping gnomes lie.

It’s December!

Lisa — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 19:11:55 +0000

And it’s finally cold here in Houston! Hu-freakin’-zzah! I was getting kinda worried for a bit. Thought we’d have to dress the boys in shorts and sleeveless shirts for Christmas. That would definitely put a damper on any cute photos. Not like I’m super obsessed with holiday photos anyway. My camera slept in my diaper bag pretty much all of Thanksgiving. I took it out once to show my father-in-law and to snap this photo + a few others.

Then away it went! I just didn’t feel like taking any photos indoors. I had seen (re: EATEN) enough food and really, that’s all anyone cares about on Thanksgiving anyway, right?

I finished up gift #8 on Friday. I have yet to start #9. I took a little hiatus from my needles to put together some Christmas cards. I was happy with the overall look of them despite the color being completely off on the prints (they came out way too warm). I suppose it’s my fault for being so impatient and choosing a 1-hour service instead of spending a little more and, y’know, waiting a week or so to get prints from an online service. Ohhh well. They’re in the mail already! I’ll post it later on this week. It epitomizes my children.

Gift #8 as wall-art:

My gift stack looks like THIS, now. 2 berets are stretched over embroidery hoops. The inside ring of a 10″ hoop is perfect for beret stretching! I need to make some 10″ circles to put them on when I give them away. I’m thinking maybe scrap cardboard or maybe some wire hangers.

Handmade gift pile

Lisa — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:55:30 +0000

On Sunday, I added two gifts to my pile. They were easy peasy, as most comments on my pattern can attest to.

Since then, I’ve added two more. As of today, I have 7 gifts complete. I started #8 this morning. I lowered my list by 1, but I think I’m going to re-knit #3, so I’m back to the 14 total. 7 of 14 complete means I’m halfway there!

Here’s a sneak peek at gift #6. It took me about 2 days to complete, which isn’t bad at all. I was able to finish it so quickly because my boys were sick, so we stayed in all weekend. Movie are great for knitting. Gift #7 is just a plain crochet beanie, so he won’t get any time in the spotlight of my camera.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving! I’m hoping the nagging cough both my boys have is kaput by Thursday morning. I’m going to have a hard time feeling comfortable anywhere but home with two little ones sounding like they’re hacking up a lung. They had fevers all weekend, but those are gone, so I’ve set their status to “on the mend.” Let’s hope it stays that way. Andy’s suspicious coughing episode this afternoon had me worried for a bit.

peek at gift #3

Lisa — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 04:32:47 +0000

I actually finished this a couple of days ago. Since then, I’ve completed 2.5 others! That’s right. I’m on my way to having 6 complete gifts. That would leave me one gift shy of 50% of my goal. And there’s 30 days left!

I chose the Slouched Tuva pattern for this. I cast-on less stitches and increased to 110 because most of the slouch hats/berets have started at 75-80 stitches and increased to at least 120 stitches at their widest. Welllll, this ended up being pretty darn big. Personally, I like it. I’m really into the big ol’ slouch hats, at the moment. If I have time, I’ll make a backup gift to replace this one if the recipient isn’t too in to it. The texture is awesome.

a peek at Gift #2

Lisa — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:05:47 +0000

Where’s gift #1, you ask? Well, that would be the pair of granny square slippers I made a few weeks ago. My spreadsheet was off by 1 because I forgot I made those as a gift. This morning, I completed a toddler beret I started yesterday evening and updated the spreadsheet. I now have 2.9 days per project. That’s pretty decent!

I chose the February Lace Beret from sockpixie. I modified it a bit. I only cast-on 56 stitches and made a stst brim, so it rolls. I increased to 91 and did 8 repeats of the gull lace. I used her pattern for the decreases, but omitted some garter ridges here and there. Overall, I dig it! It’s purple and totally cute.

Beret for Etsy

Lisa — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:49:06 +0000

100% wool, ready to toast your head. The absolutely electric color (”lemongrass”) is sure to add spunk to any dreary fall day.