Rip-it

I have a friend...who looks fantastic in green...who has been not so subtly hinting that she would REALLY REALLY like a hat made for her, by me. I've ben hinting that with everything going on, her chances of getting one aren't that high. At the yarn shop in Manhattan Beach a green yarn spoke to me. I started a hat for her. The pattern, needles and yarn didn't get along. It came out tightly knit and way to small. Not like the slouchy warm goodness it should have been. Unfortunately for my friend, it's getting frogged.

to frog- a verb-frogging is the term used when you rip out a whole project and start over, either because you were knitting the wrong size, decided you didn't like the pattern, or for some other reason.

We'll see what happens with the yarn...and for the friend who wants a hat.

What are you knitting now?

Thats what Charlotte and Levi asked me on Monday at Monday Night Football dinner! Can I just say it warmed my heart that they knew I was knitting!!!
It also warmed my heart to see these pictures of the two of them in the hats their Grandma (find her blog here) bought for them!

 Levi with his bulky dino hat and Charlotte with her hat made to match her American Girl Doll's Hat!

Here's Charlotte's doll's hat.

Hootin' Roarin' Good Time

over at Two Adults and One Brown Baby (and her now big brother!) Two hats went to live with these cute kids:

 Ezra

and Iris!

Though I was informed by K in the most classic K wording that: "The picture of Iris should come with the caveat, though, regarding her fairly pissy looking face and that is that it was near bedtime when I shoved the precious owl on her melon. : )"

Now you know why I'm one of her loyal readers. I kid you not every time I read that I chuckle.

Happy hat wearing and thanks for sending pictures!

Serendipity at Starbucks

Last Saturday I went to knit with my cousins Tanya and Kim at Starbucks. I started a baby hat since I seem to know tons of people having babies these days. I made a newborn version of the hat but the whole time we were not quite sure if it would actually fit a child. They get big so fast its hard to imagine their heads actually being that small.

It was just our luck though that a family came in with their new baby boy. We asked if we could just sort of look compare the hat to the babies head and explained our dilemma. They told us they had wished they had a small enough hat when he was born because all that fit him were the hospital hats. Done deal! If the hat's gonna fit,

I can make another!

Just enough yarn! Aren't they fun!

The hat pattern is called Serendipity and can be found on Ravelry.

Where's Wanda

Our (Val's first then mine) friend Laura invited me to go look for a hat a socks for her Halloween costume. She had made plans to be Wanda, Waldo's Girlfriend. In my experience scoping out knit items in chain stores I knew that there wouldn't be too many striped items, let alone red and white stripes. She said she'd just wear a red or white beanie, and being the authenticator in this whole deal I just couldn't have that.

I also couldn't resist the challenge.

2 skeins of bulky yarn later (one red and one white) and I had this bad boy ready to go to San Francisco with her this morning.

Where's Wanda?

On another note, at lunch today with my friend who shall remain unnamed to avoid bashing, I started showing her pictures of my latest Etsy projects. She was going through the pictures and in a disbelieving voice says: "These are good Jess." Tsch. Ye of little faith.

On that note, check out my Etsy shop HERE!

Open for Business

My Etsy store is.



Do come and check it out!

I've been hemming and hawing about pricing quite a bit.  I personally wouldn't take waltzing out and buying a hat more than $20 lightly. However, I use high quality yarns with natural fibres (see here for a few reasons I'm drawn to them other than how enjoyable they are to knit) and I spend quite a bit of time making sure the item is a quality item, made to withstand being passed down to friends and family alike. If I was charging an hourly wage, these hats would be hundred dollar hats, but it brings me great joy to share them with you and I have tried to set prices that will cover costs and a bit of time. Thank you for checking out my wares, and for supporting me in my craft!

Last Sneak Peak

before I open my Etsy store! I should have it open tomorrow!

Roar. I finished one more.

Yep. One more dino hat.

 49ers colors!

International Hats

My friend Alex (au paire from Germany) brought clothes appropriate for the season she was to arrive in the US. For her Summer. Unfortunately for her, winter is coming! Eek! I took it upon myself to make her a winter hat!

 Then I found out my dear friend Cindy found a steal of a deal on an American Girl Doll to give to her grandaughter Charlotte for her birthday. Since I knew I would have some extra yarn, and LOVED making Alex's hat, I decided to make a doll size version. So now I have a German Girl Hat and an American Girl (Doll) Hat.

 Then...my imagination started to get to me...Charlotte's doll would need mittens! American Girl is all about the ensemble right?

 (Of course now I'm working on Alex's mittens haha.)

 I've got to say I had so much fun giving these to Charlotte! I confess I'm pretty happy with how they came out! AND with the fun I hope Charlotte has dressing up her new doll Molly!

 Aren't those kids cute! I just couldn't cut that happy little guy (Charlotte's brother Levi) out of the picture!

Hard Hats

Okay...maybe not literally. But DEFINATELY stretched my knitting skills.
This blue one makes me think of the Aliance logo (World of Warcraft reference) It is called The Inga Hat and the pattern was created by Sheila Macdonald. Modifications by HelloYarn found HERE. I made it for Luke's brother Jay.This is Jared Flood's Koolhaas Hat. I made it for Mark. Beautiful pattern. Fantastic, truly. Kind of a pain to figure out and knit. Most others haven't had the trouble with it that I have...but I don't know. This one put a stall in my knitting because I wasn't quite so anxious to get to work. Maybe it scarred me.
I'm sharing these ones a little late, because I had to hold off til Christmas!

Kool Mittens and MossCap

Remember this yarn?My friend (Valerie's friend) Laura commissioned me to make her some mittens. Here they are fairly big and bulky.I washed and dried the wool mittens and they shrunk down, and tightened up to fit a bit better. They're not quite felted...but almost.I made her this hat to match. As I was finishing the mittens the yarn spoke to me and told me that they couldn't go on to fulfill their lives without a hat to make them a set. The hat was improvised. Lets just say I learned a lot. My mom tried to swipe Laura's hat. I guess that means there MIGHT be one in order for her too. Good thing I like knitting so much.I also finished this hat a while back. It's the Foliage hat. I love the pattern. I couldn't think of a purple dragon so I named this hat Barney...but I don't think Barney has scales...any suggestions?

Under 1 Generals Fan

Not to mean that there is less than one generals fan. Just that THIS fan is under the age of 1. Henry's Dad John is a coach and henry needed a blue and gold hat to wear to games. I was up to the challange. Henry's Auntie Jill and I picked out a pattern at Monday night football. Then I forwarded some yarn choices I'd gotten from the ever so helpful Wendy...shoot I think that's her name...at The Websters in Ashland OR. (Pretty good yarn store folks.) The day I got the yarn in the mail I started the hat!

But then I though...Henry cant just have a hat! I have left over yarn. He needs something else.

Mittens! Henry needs mittens! Having just picked up the book Knit Mittens by Robin Hansen from the library for Miss Moss's mittens, I was well equiped to make Henry's. (This book is fantastic by the way.)

And now Henry has a set to wear when he cheers the Generals on!

Fire and Ice Slippers

Dear Little Spouse on the Prairie,

For you. Colors of fire and ice to keep your toes from freezing! Made of wool and rather thick. No buttons per specifications.
AND just for you in appreciation for all those buttons you've been sending, a coordinating knit hat. This one is the bulky yarn version of my Vandal Fall hat. The leaf pattern makes me think of scales while it's being knit, so I'm calling it Saphira after the beautiful blue dragon in Eragon.

The scarf I am making in the same pattern to go with my Vandal Fall Hat will probably be called Thorn after the villainous dragon in this book. Hmmm this naming thing is growing on me! :) The slippers will be on their way this afternoon!

Vandal Fall

I loooooved fall in Moscow. There were football games, the air was crisp, and the leaves! Oooooh the leaves. They were fantastico! Color therapy everywhere I went! I just wanted to hug the trees! I took this picure on one of our (Jess and Luke) first outings to the arboretum. I keep it on display by my bed,and it isnspired me to ask for this handyed yarn from Lynda at Keep Me in Stitches in McCall.

I was holding out for the perfect pattern when I came across the foliage pattern on Ravelry. Ding ding ding ding ding! An alarm went off in my head an I did the little giddy dance. PERFECT!

This is how it turned out. I love it.

Youll have to pardon my dishevled look. I had to share my masterpiece with the world. No time to get ready for the day! Haha. Mom took this picture of me while on our morning walk!

Hermione Mother Hat

Alrighty then. Title explanation...it really is clever I promise. So I made this hat for my mother. The hat pattern is found on Ravelry and is called the Hermione Hat. It is called this because Hermione wears the hat in one of the Harry Potter movies. (I have no idea which one, I haven't watched the movies recently, if you know, please comment.) J.K. Rowling gave Hermione that name because it is pronounced her*my*own*knee meaning that the character is hers. Since my mother is my own...(I share her with my sister, but that's not the point.) It's my Hermione Mother Hat. Or MAYBE its a HermyONLY Mother Hat. Ooooh I like that! Ill change the name I gave it on Ravelry, but if I change the name of the post the whole explanation gets well more muddy than it is.

Here is Val modeling the hat at our college group picnic. She couldn't model it at home because we were late. I didn't want to forget to take a picture in the daylight. I asked her to model it because her dark hair shows off the lace! Wooh! I only messed up in two places and not a soul can tell!

I really liked how the hat decreased. The flower star shape makes me pretty happy. If attempting this pattern definitely read tips on Ravelry. I did the add 12 stitches option because...well...we all have large heads.

New story connected with this hat:

I've discovered why people started wearing rings. They were knitting, and they lost their stitch marker, and they couldn't get up or they'd lose count or momentum. So they took off their ring and used it instead. Thanks Luke for this glorified stitch marker! ;)

Ps. I found the lost one when I got up to take a picture!