NuttyIrishmanKnits

Rrrribet.

Top Down Bonnet from Hello Yarn
knitted in Cascade 220 wool, bright green, with small amounts of cream and dark brown for embroidery
knitted on Crystal Palace 35" bamboo circulars, US size 6
Ravelers find it here.

I've got just a few more days before I start a cross-country KAL (more about that later) and I've been searching the old queue trying to find some fun projects that knit up in a jiffy.  I've had this Top-Down Bonnet queued for some time and am glad I finally got around to knitting it!  I've seen so many lovely bonnets out there on flickr, and I have every intention of getting my hands on some of Adrian's yummy fat sock yarn and knitting a few.  (Note to Adrian, can you just accidentally lose a skein on sale day?  A skein of Horse Chestnut?)  When I first saw Liz's version I was in love!  It's one of my all-time favorite knits.  But, since Lu just got a pair of froggie wellies, well... she had to have a matching hat!

This pattern is so versatile.  My mind's been running through the different options you could use in knitting it.  Instead of ears I opted for eyes, so I shorted my increases to three from six, and then decreased only three times, every row instead of every other row.  For the final row I grafted seven stitches together instead of four, which is the same number picked up for the beginning of the ear/eye.  And because I needed to have eyeballs in a tight space, I used loose embroidery rather than crochet.

Annabelle's not interested in taking this one off.  I told her it looked like a night cap with her pink flannel robe, so she's content to wear it all day, singing "Wee-Willy Winkie."  Annie's little friend next door, Shanley Ray was very interested while I was embroidering the face, and asked for one too.  I am happy to oblige, especially since it's such a fast, fast knit.  I can't imagine how quickly the newborn version knits up.  Following the baby pattern instructions, I used worsted weight wool and US size 6 needles to make a  child's size.  And it worked perfectly.

So after a little run this morning, I'm hoping today is going to be a fairly lazy Saturday, and I can cast on one more Froggie Bonnet for Shanley Ray.  Or maybe I'll do Hello Kitty... or a big purple dinosaur... or Elmo! 

Then there's Cookie Monster, with the crazy eyes...

Come Fly With Me

Butterfly Hat by Sofiya Cremin
knitted in Malabrigo Merino Worsted, Vetiver
knitted on US size 5 & 6 Addi Turbos
Ravelers find it here.

I really wanted to get one more thing in under the wire for Malabrigo March, and when I saw this pattern yesterday on Ravelry I knew I had my knit.  Since I saw my friend Shelly's latest knit with floats I have been looking for a pattern to test them out on. 

This was a simple pattern to knit.  And once I figured out the basic idea of a float it was gang-busters from there on in.  I was even able to sit back and watch a little TV while working on it.  Usually, on a hat, I have to stick pretty close to the pattern, but this design was really easy to memorize.  I wanted to make a child's version of this hat, so I shortened the butterfly repeat from four to three.  And because of it, I had to reverse all my decreases, but that was a simple adjustment.  So for Round 4 of the decrease, instead of k5, k2tog, k3 to the end, I did k3, k2tog, k5 to the end of the round.  And then you just continue to reverse every round until finished. 

If you've never knitted floats before here's the only advice I can give, when you knit the floats together with the next stitch on the left needle, use your right thumb to lift the floats up and over the needle as you finish the stitch.  In doing this, you can actually see your work and don't have to worry about dropping the stitch you are trying to knit (which can be difficult to see when you are knitting five strands of yarn together with one stitch).  But other than that, it's really an easy technique to pick up on.  And I think the end result looks really unique.

It's starting to warm up here in Kansas, but I think Annabelle can still get some wear out of her Butterfly hat  on chilly mornings this Spring.  Plus it's knitted in Malabrigo, which is so light and fluffy it's really hard to believe it's wool at all!

"Bea" is for Bunny

Easter Bunny by Barbara Prime
knitted in Cascade 220 wool, dark brown, chambray, soft pink, and hot pink; Nashua Handknits cotton dk, white
knitted on US 3 Crystal Palace 8" DPN's
Ravelers find Bea here.

The Easter bunny came by our house this year and delivered Annabelle a new little friend.  Meet "Bea," short for Beatrice, and named in honor of Aunt Bea from the Andy Griffith Show.  Aunt Bea is currently Annabelle's favorite TV personality, and she spends most days quoting Andy and Opie's favorite aunt.  So when it came time to name Annabelle's new bunny, it was a no brainer.

This is my second toy I've knitted from one of Barbara's patterns, and they are such a joy to knit.  I just started Bea yesterday, and even with all the added touches Annabelle and I came up with, I was still finished before the kids got up this morning.  For this bunny, we decided to embellish her quite a bit, but at the same time, keep those embellishments simple.  We decided on little blue shoes with white lacey socks and a pink and blue striped dress to match.  And of course, Bea had to be a chocolate bunny! 

Adding extras on to one of these little patterns is pretty easy.  The trick is in the finishing.  To really make for a clean bunny, anywhere I picked up stitches I came back later and added a single chain of crochet along the edge to clean it up.   And for me, picking up stitches off of the body of the bunny is much easier in dress making than making a separate dress. 

As for the lacey socks, before seaming and stuffing, I picked up stitches along the edge of Bea's shoe in a smaller dk weight yarn, making sure I had an even number of stitches.  Then I knitted in stockinette for four rows.  After that I used a two-stitch picot edge bind off*.  That's it!

Annabelle is beside me right now asking if I want to watch Bea do her happy dance.  So I guess I'm off to a dance recital!  Knitting these little toys is so much fun.  But to hear your little girl in her room, playing with all her knitted toys... why, that's just Bea...utiful!

*Two-Stitch Picot Edge Bind Off:

At the beginning of your work, on the left needle, cast on 2 stitches using the backward-loop.
*Bind off 4 stitches, and place last stitch cast off back onto left needle.
Cast on 2 stitches and repeat from * until all stitches have been bound off.  Weave in any ends.

Take Me to the River

Annabelle's Pinafore, based on Denim Pinafore by Erika Knight
knitted in Cascade Cotton Rich, 150 grams emerald, 150 grams sage, 100 grams cream
knitted on US 6 Crystal Palace circulars and US 6 HiyaHiya DPN's
Ravelers see it here

I knew before we headed to the river that I really wanted to knit Erika Knight's Denim Pinafore for Annabelle.  But there was a problem; no denim yarn, instead several twists of Cotton Rich.  Having never used this yarn before I really didn't know anything about it.  But I did know that in using it for this pattern I would end up having to modify the pattern to work.  The original calls for dk weight yarn and Cotton Rich is no dk weight, with instructions to be knit on size 7's.  So after a couple of hours of revisions and a few "prototype" rows, I had a pattern that, on paper, had very little to do with Erika Knight's pinafore.  But in the end, I hope looks somewhat similar.

Annabelle's is a more fitted pinafore, and is a bit shorter, being only twenty inches long rather than twenty-four.  And of course the obvious difference:  I opted for stripes instead of a solid color.  Mainly because I would be bored out of my mind if I had chosen a solid.  I also decided to knit it on circular needles to the armholes, and then knit back and forth thereon.  This was a brilliant (!) decision for me.  I doubt I would have finished it if I had knitted two separate pieces as denoted in the pattern.  My disdain for knitting something more than once runs deep... (notice the lack of socks in my FO's)  and I really think it knitted up much quicker because of the circulars.   And of course, the noticeable lack of seaming  goes without saying.

Overall, I thought this pattern was a good jumping off point to design my own pinafore.  The basics were there, and because it is so simply written I was able to easily modify it to suit my own knitting style.   But I must say, I am in love with the new Crystal Palace bamboo circulars.  The new design is great, and bamboo fits my tendency to knit tightly better than anything else (yeah, even including Addis, which I still love too!).  I think when I become stressed my knitting tends to tighten up.  And I can better tell when my gauge may be changing because of the bamboo.  I even practiced my Continental-style knitting on this project, which is great for making a tight knitter loosen up a bit as well.

As for the yarn, well, what can you say?  It's cotton.  Period.  Like it or lump it, it just is what it is.  No memory and splices like crazy.  I don't think I've met a cotton project that didn't have a mind of it's own.  Ballband Dishcloths not withstanding.  But it certainly is workable, and of all the thicker cotton yarns out there, I do like it a lot.  Much more than that mess I used for Baby Tart.  Blah.

And as for our trip to the river?  We had to evacuate!  Can you believe that?  We were in that section of the country that was experiencing record level flooding!  Not so good when your front door is fifty yards from a raging current!  Thankfully we were uphill, but the road leading out of the resort was not, so Tuesday night, after helping the owners carry mattresses and mini-fridges to higher ground, we got the heck out of Dodge ourselves.  And by 1 a.m. my three were all piled in the only king-sized bed in the only hotel room left in town, snoozing loudly.   They always say it's darkest before the dawn, so I'm thinking Annabelle's little pinafore is the dawn of a very dark trip.  But only for the purpose of this post.  Rain makes for great conversation, and we hung out on the porch swing laughing at my dad's old stories for hours!

After returning home I discovered I have been tagged by Molly.  Thanks Miss Molly!  I'm going to have to read up on the rules of being tagged and do a little research to have some facts about myself to post.  So Molly, I promise I'll have something soon... be looking for it! 

This morning we took pictures of Annabelle's pinafore before blocking it.  So now I'm off to give it a gentle spin in the washer.  I'm always terrified I'm going to ruin a finished knit, so when there is a washing machine involved, there will always be pictures first.

Spring is in the Air...

Easter Eggs by Little Cotton Rabbits
knitted in Rowan Wool Cotton, #954, #941, #951, and Rowan Handknit Cotton, #205
using US size 2 (2.75mm) circulars, knitted back and forth
Pattern Modification:  for the mini-eggs, I cut Julie's original pattern in half both length and width, and worked 8 pattern rows instead of 12.
Ravelers see them here.

It's getting to be that time of year... my herbs from last year are starting to poke their heads out from their pots, I'm noticing tulips appearing around town, and the park was a virtual madhouse yesterday with kids covering every possible surface.  Spring!  And that also means Easter is just around the corner. 

When I saw Julie's adorable Easter eggs on Flickr way back in January I queued them then.  Both her photography and design were way too cute for me to resist wanting to knit them.  And now that we are beginning preparations for the holiday, I knew it was definitely time!

Tonight at our LYS I'm teaching a class on stranded-colorwork and Shelly, the shop owner, wanted something that could be finished in the two-hour time alloted.  Hmmm.  Colorwork in under two hours.  What colorwork pattern can be finished, beginning to end, in two hours?  Aha!  And I was off to my Ravelry queue to find the Little Cotton Rabbit's eggs from two months ago.

The kids and I have been crafting the last couple of days.  Actually, they've been crafting.  I just buy the kits.  We've had little foam chicks and eggs all over the table, and now I've just got to stick them to craft paper cards, assign each a name, and they are ready to be delivered at school tomorrow.  Spring break is coming up next week and we are heading to the river for a few days of relaxation and fly fishing.  But before heading out, they wanted to make Easter cards for all their buddies. 

So between the chicks, eggs, yarn, filling, and goodness knows what else, our kitchen table has been barely visible for a while now!  But I've really enjoyed knitting Julie's pattern, and still have several more eggs to knit.  The egg is knit flat and then seamed (yep, there's that word again) using a mattress stitch.  Thankfully with all the toys I've been knitting lately I'm really getting to practice my finishing. 

And I am really getting a kick out of all the emails and links you guys have been sending me regarding toys and amigurumi.  I really need to knit something else for a bit, huh?  Actually, you're just giving me more patterns to add to my ever-expanding queue!  I'm so addicted to them!  But with Easter just around the corner I've still got a few petit fours and eggs to finish.  Not to mention a Easter Bunny.  Okay, after that, I really am going to turn my attention to wearables again.  Oh, I nearly forgot!  I did cast on the Brea Bag by Berocco the other night.  And have completed exactly four rows.  That should count for something, right? 

Gus the Octopus

Octopus by Hansigurumi
knitted in Lion Brand Wool, paprika and sage
using US size 3 Hiya Hiya DPN's
Pattern Modification:  picked up stitches along CO edge of tentacles and knit together using 3 needles rather than seaming CO and BO edge with whip stitch.
Ravelers find Gus here

Maybe you noticed above that I modified this pattern.  Not much, just enough to avoid seaming!  The idea of whip-stitching eight tentacles gave me chills, so instead I decided to pick up stitches and knit together with the tentacle, then bind off the whole caboodle.  It worked great, and saved me a lot of time! 

I am on such a toy kick lately.  I can't help it.  I'm in serious need of instant gratification and toys rock that arena out.  And it's also a great opportunity to work on my, dare I say that nasty four letter word?  Okay yeah I will,  the dreaded seam.  You know it's funny, I've been reading your funny comments and emails and everyone says the same thing... seaming stinks! Maybe it's because;

    •it takes as long to seam as it does to knit, and

   •if you're a good knitter (which you all are) it can really be a let down to not have your finished object look as neat as you think it should.

I know for me I can relate to both.  I'm not saying I'm all that and a bag of chips when it comes to knitting, but my stitches are uniform and I can read a pattern pretty well.  And to have a cute little toy go and sit up on a shelf gathering dust just ain't right!  They are meant to be gifted, played with, or at least put within view on that shelf.  (Y'all know what I'm talking about.)

All that said, I'm really pleased with how Gus turned out.  I think I should have started with this pattern, as it was much easier than the Dumbo Octopus, and it really makes me want to reknit the other now that I understand Hansi's instructions a bit better.  And he was stinkin' fast to knit.  I mean really fast; a few hours at most!  Certainly modifying the tentacles saved time and I cheated on the eyeballs, opting for the plastic safety eyes instead.  But I think they give him a sort of soulful gaze, or maybe that's all part of his strategy, to tug at my heartstrings and then... gulp.

I used Lion Brand Wool on this project.  And I've got to say, I'm not the biggest fan of this wool.  It tends to overwork really easily, getting fuzzy quickly if you need to tink.  I ended up re-knitting the head and mantle because the wool became so worn looking when I needed to redo a couple rows.  Gus looked like he'd gone a few rounds with a sea turtle before he was even finished.

And both Ben and Annabelle thought he was Squidward from Spongebob Squarepants, so I guess you know what's next... yep, Squid-a-licious.  But I think I've gotten my fill of toys for a few days.  I really want to cast on something else.  I've queued Anouk by Kate Gilbert on Ravelry.  Now may be a good time to get started on it.  It's sixty degrees here today and such warm weather makes me wishful for Spring!  But first, it's laundy and coffee time.  And now that I think of it, did I even make the beds this morning?  Hmmm.

Dumbo? Who you callin' a dumbo?

Dumbo Octopus by Hansigurumi
knitted in Cascade 220 wool, periwinkle and turquoise
knitted on HiyaHiya DPN's, size US 3
Ravelers see him here

Who are we calling a dumbo?  Certainly not this little guy!  Grimpoteuthis, also known as the "Dumbo Octopus," is a pretty crafty little sea creature, hovering just above the ocean floor to find snails, worms, and other goodies.  Known for their distinguishing fins or "ears" they use jet propulsion to get around.  How's that for ingenuity?

And speaking of ingenuity, let's talk about Hansi Singh.  I can't even begin to imagine how she came up with all these adorable sea critters, or how she figured out how to knit them!  Dumbo being my first Hansigurumi pattern I was a bit nervous, there are some great looking creatures out there.  And once I got started on my eight legs (with webbing!) I was pretty much in awe of Hansi's eye.  The stitches are so well defined, especially when using Cascade 220, and the pattern is easy to follow with great diagrams to help you along.  But these patterns are certainly not for the faint hearted.  I had to use several knitting techniques that aren't in my daily repertoire; grafting, picking up stitches, M1L and M1R, just to name a few.  I had to spend some tutorial time on knittinghelp.com just to figure out the difference between M1L and M1R.  The difference is slight, and even Hansi admits only the pickiest of knitters will notice. 

But I must say, I think I could easily become a Amigurumaniac (maybe I should start a group on Ravelry...).  These toys are so unique and would be a blast to collect.  Plus, with so many friends having babies or with small children they would make really unique and funky gifts.  Not to mention great learning tools.  Annabelle and I had a little science lesson this morning while playing with Dumbo. 

I am excited that I went ahead and ordered the collection of four patterns from Hansigurumi, which includes the dumbo octopus, octopus, squid, and cuttlefish.  These fun little patterns should keep me busy for quite a while! Goodness knows I have plenty of Cascade 220 in my stash.  And at only $6 a skein, I can certainly pick up any additional colors I might need.  So, kudos to Hansi!  These patterns are adorable and a lot of fun.  And I think I could even get used to all the seaming that is involved because the end result is well worth the effort.  Although, in the wee-hours of this morning, I found myself emailing and surfing patterns on Ravelry rather than finishing my last eyeball!  I am a mediocre finisher at best.  On a scale to 10 I'd give myself about a 5, and that's being generous.  In the future I might cheat and use black plastic safety eyes rather than knit the eyeballs.  Certainly, the knitted one's are the best, but I so stink at placement that I really work myself into a tizzy.  Who knows what I'll do... but I do know I've got three more patterns to figure it out on!

Tastes Just Like Chicken

String Beanerina by Emily Stoneking (aka Crafty Hedgehog)
Malabrigo Worsted Wool, apple green, Cascade 220 wool, soft-pink, and Yarn Bee Airy, tutu pink
knitted on US 3 HiyaHiya DPN's
Ravelers see Olivia here

No, this isn't an episode of Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmer.  But where I come from, frog legs are certainly a delicacy!  While I finished Olivia today, her legs and arms hung out in a mason jar until ready to be assembled.  And here she is...

Meet Olivia, my String Beanerina, and a prima ballerina to be sure.  Yesterday I discovered the yarn I was wanting to use for Olivia's tutu on SALE at Hobby Lobby, so I knew it was time to knit her.  There's just something about paying $5.88 for novelty yarn that I can't bear to do.  Especially when I know it probably won't be used again.  So when I saw it marked down to $.99 I was all about making my beanerina.  Then last night I was reading Alice's post on her froggie and was officially inspired.  So today, I give you Olivia.

I love knitting Emily's patterns!  They are so well written and fast!  I started Olivia last night and finished her by noon today.  And I thought Alice's idea of adding pipe cleaners to her froggies legs was brilliant.  But not having any of my own, I got Andy to cut strips of coat hanger for mine, and now her arms and legs can be bent in any number of combinations.  (Believe me, I know, I've been playing with the toys again...)

I didn't make any changes to the pattern.  It knit up so quickly, by the time I would be getting a groove on for a particular section, it was time to shift gears and move on to the next.  What I really love about this pattern is that there are actually three patterns for the price of one; String Beanerina, String Bean, and Marcel the Mime.  All adorable, and amazingly, each with their own personality. 

And it looks like I may actually be on the mend from last week's flu.  This little girl certainly improved any lingering foul mood I may have been experiencing.  She is sweet to look at, fun to play with, and anxious to meet Miss Annabelle at the door when she arrives from school today!

Are You Dead or What?

Baby Hyde by a doped up Jennifer Adams

Are you dead or what?  This is the oh-so polite question asked of me by my son, Ben, last week as I lay grunting and moaning on the couch.  Ugh.  Double ugh.  Influenza.  And not just me, the whole lot of us have been down with the flu for several days now.  Our doctor thinks I caught that lovely strand that is wreaking havoc on the West Coast, and subsequently passed it on to everyone in our house.  But thankfully Andy and the kids were able to catch theirs in time and get on the wonder drug, Tamiflu. 

So that's where I've been!  And am thankful I'm not dead or what.  But I am ashamed to say my knitting has been DOA.  I haven't knitted diddly-squat in over a week.  But I'm hoping inspiration struck early this morning and I've been working out a pattern using more yummy Malabrigo.  Check back later this week for more details.

As for the little guy seen above.  I don't know.  Really I don't.  It's some sort of Baby Whatchimacallit-Thingermagig for Annabelle.  He was the first attempt I've made in over a week regarding knitting.  Or maybe he's Hyde to my Jekyll!  Andy's always said I turn into a grumpy monster when I'm sick...