Wool & Wood & Want

the branch of hats

While I wanted to start blogging with gusto in September, I am finding myself straying. Not far, don’t worry. I am just busy crocheting & knitting and preparing stock for GOODKNITS 2011. I thought I’d share a little peek with you.

These hats are my favorite. Made of soft wool in a few different lovely colors. They are slouchy, but still ultra warm.

I’ve also knit up some hats for the MEN. Shocker, I know. I became quite smitten with stranded knitting, though! I had to jot down a few designs for the boys. I’ve come up with a few different colorwork designs and am on the fence on whether I’ll be writing up patterns. I love sharing with my fellow knitters, but it takes quite a bit of time and effort to turn my notes into real instructions. We’ll see!

Do you like my hat rack? A yarn wrapped branch pinned onto my wall. The branch had just the right curvature to make a lovely rack for the hats.


The August Break 22 (winter sneak peek)

hats1
Photo taken with my Lensbaby

Last week, I learned color work knitting and I got a smidge obsessed. I started drafting new designs immediately and knit up test hats. There were a lot of lonely late nights, last week. The husband was preparing for his business trip, so after the boys went down it was just me, my yarn, and Season 1 of Angel. Learning to knit English style has made these super quick to whip up, so a word to the wise: LEARN BOTH METHODS OF KNITTING!

And if you’re already knitting English style, learn Continental and you’re half way to learning crochet. :)


The August Break 16 (knitting!)

The August Break 16

I got Second Sock Syndrome (BUT if I hadn’t messed up the first time, I’d have a complete pair. boo), so I took a break and knit a hat. I FINALLY learned English knitting, so the colorwork was actually enjoyable! I am going to be carrying my graph paper notebook to jot down ideas for more hats. This one matches Nathan’s school uniform, so it’s his. He likes it.

I used the color pattern practice hat instructions from Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Knitting Workshop. I messed up a bit on the last color repeat, but it’s hardly noticeable. It was a super easy knit. I realized Zimmermann’s books read like blogs. There are diagrams to help you out and asides on how to make things bigger or other ways to knit it. Love.

augbreak16b

228.365: the first...