Marsan Watchcap

Originally uploaded by oh_hello

A quickie hat that I made for Brian with extra yarn I had. This is the first hat I’ve ever made him, can you believe it? He didn’t wear hats before, but now that he doesn’t have a mane of hair to keep his head warm, a hat is essential. I was happy to oblige.

I’ve been churning out tons of small knitted things lately. First up, a hat & mitten set as part of my sister’s Christmas present. I gave her the hat early.

The hat pattern is the Icing Swirl Hat by Ysolda Teague. It’s meant to look like a swirl of frosting. Cute. I want one.

These mittens are another thing I want for myself. Just a basic mitten pattern with wool “thrums” added. The top mitten is what it looks like on the inside – those V’s make little fluffs of wool on the inside, which keep your hands toasty. They’re like Uggs for your hands.

I bought the white wool at a craft fair. The farm is in Tolland, CT and the woman had a photo album of her sheep and even the one that this wool probably came from. How cool is that? For non-knitters, wool roving is cleaned, prepared wool that you would then spin into yarn. I have plenty of wool left for more mittens, but making the fluffs before knitting them was a pain in the ass.

Up next… I knit this entire sweater during my 6 day Thanksgiving vacation. Record time!

The Liesl sweater, also by Ysolda Teague. The buttonholes ended up too close together for me, so I just buttoned into the lace hole and it is fine. Although the armholes were loose and fit when I separated them, the sleeves themselves are tight. I’m gonna have to do some bicep curls to make it better.

I’m kind of on an Ysolda spree right now, and I’ve got quite a few of her patterns queued up.

I’m trying to find ways to winter-remix my summer dresses. I think I’m committing some kind of fashion crime here by wearing a white cotton dress to a holiday party in December. I’m not one to live by fashion rules anyway.

This is the “Cropped Cardigan with Leaf Ties” from Fitted Knits. I made this sweater to wear with summer dresses, but I didn’t finish it in time for summer. It doesn’t really fit with my style so I think I’m giving it to my mom. It fits her better too. It’s cute, just not on me. It’s been sitting unfinished for so long, I’m glad to finally have it out of the way.

My niece modeled this sweater for the official website & pattern, so I had to make her one for herself. You can see how big she’s grown and how different she looks from when she modeled it! I think she wore the 3 months size for the photoshoot (it was snug) and here she is wearing 12 months and it fits her perfectly. Which means she won’t fit it in about 2 months. It took me longer than I expected to knit.

Surprisingly, it’s only the second sweater I’ve knit for her. But there are some very cute patterns that she modeled for next season’s Berroco collection that I might make. Now I have to look for toddler patterns because my “baby” books only go up to size 12 months.