Super chunky quick hat....

I was cleaning out a cupboard where my stash of crafty stuff kind of drifts to, and found two balls of unknown super chunky yarn. The bands were gone, but I knit a swatch on 10 mm needles and then whipped up this in about 1.5 hours! I knit it on straight needles and then sewed a back seam, because I did not have 10mm double points in stock, and it would have taken me longer to drive to Fonthill and Rose's Fine Yarns to buy some than it took to knit the thing!

Pattern:

Gauge: 2 stitches to the inch on 10 mm (US 15) needles. Yarn: bulky, super chunky or 2 worsted yarns held together, that knits to gauge.

Cast on 41. Work in stocking stitch for 7 inches (the rim will roll up naturally). Decrease top by [Knit 4, Knit 2 together] repeat across, on first row. Purl next row. [Knit 3 knit 2 together] repeat across row. Purl next row. [Knit 2, knit 2 together] repeat across row. [Purl one, purl 2 together] across this row. [k 2 together] on last row and gather remaining stitches and sew up back seam!

Very quick, very easy, kindof cute.

Knitting, sewing and grommetting?

I have added curtains to the last minute Christmas gift knitting. Like I needed new projects to occupy my vast hours of leisure time? But when the urge to redecorate hits, suddenly you HATE the old curtains and my eyes keep moving to them and replacing them in my mind, until I just do it. So I found such a good deal on this burgundy taffeta drape fabric, that I plunged in and you can see the project on the go. I still need to hem the bottoms, but will do that this weekend.

The simple design requires no pletes, but uses Grommets to weave across the poles and it causes an easy gathering at the outer edges of the windows, but draws easily across the windows to cover for privacy at night. The grommets are really easy to install, as you can see from the photos, just cut to the pattern hole included, and snap into place. It brought to mind my favourite animated character Gromit from Wallace and Gromit. (Check them out if you don't already know the work. )

Also, at the same time, I finished my Moebius...

and also am well on the way to finish these Christmas socks...And here is a scarf made with lace weight mohair and an occasional row of Noro Yarn (leftover from stash)... knit on 8mm needles to give a open airy appearance.

Moebius Ring Scarf

I have a fascination with knitting (obviously) and mathematics (what??). I have not disclosed previously on this blog, but my post-secondary school education primarily involved a bachelor of mathematics degree from University of Waterloo. (I minored in knitting, as it was in these years that I balanced my life with fiber and yarns and taught myself to knit.) That being revealed, my knitting group wanted a group project and Jane brought a new book, The Treasury of Magical Knitting. The magic is the MOEBIUS.
For those who are new to the term, it is a ring or tube that has one twist, and if you follow along the outside edge of the tube, you will find it wraps around the tube twice and ends up at the starting position, basically it is a 2 sided object with ONE edge and really ONE side??!! Cool.
The starting point of knitting this miracle is to cast on over long circulars, effectively wrapped into 2 circles and twist once at the end so that you will knit into the top on the first round and the bottom on the second round. The ring then grows from the center out as wide as you like....photo so far...

I love this project and will help the other knitters in the group to start their versions of this scarf.

I also cast on a simple ribbed scarf with Merino wool and sequin knitalong. The sequins will be in the first 12 inches then plain until the last 12 inches, when I add the knitalong again. Easy. The yarn is the last from the summer tent sale at Needle Emporium. I managed to squeeze the 2 sequin balls in the $75 bag, and the regular cost of each of these balls was about $20!...nice

Sun and Sunscreen?

I just got back from a sunny week in Mexico. Not much knitting, other than at the airport and on the plane, but what a nice time we had. It was 87 F every day and we golfed every morning and swam in the pool and ocean every afternoon. The evenings were a balmy 74F, and the walk on the beach at night was wonderful. Here's a few non-knitting photos.... First Rick para-sailing...the pool...

This one is a shot of the crocodile we saw in the pond on the golf course. The Marina Vallarta golf course is home to lots of these guys but they were hard to find in the mornings. (too much tequilla the night before?)

one of many cool statues in old town Puerto Vallarta...Sunset over the Pacific Ocean....

Productive Knitting

The Christmas projects are coming along well, and of course I cannot fully disclose, but thought it may be fun to do teaser photos of the first two...

Not enough to give away the final results, but you can see I have been busy.

The patons Stretch Cotton socks are finished, and I enjoyed doing them on the one long circular needle. I will do a few more, now that the cold weather is here, they are pretty much all I wear.

Interlude...

Since I cannot show photos of knitting in progress (projects to become Christmas gifts, so not to be revealed here until later!) I will take this opportunity to show the latest art work...And I finally framed and hung on the wall, my bicycle painting from spring. I like it here.

And on a completely unrelated note....
This new game for Nintendo DS, came out recently. Prey the Stars. It is an all ages game of cool monsters eating everything in sight and competing against other cool monsters. The game is the first I have played since Intelevision in the eighties (not a game-junkie) but I mention it here because my son was part of the team that created this game for Koei Canada (his first game at his new job after graduation from UofW with a computer science degree).
Proud Mom moment...

Sock Talk

I was delighted to find Patons Stretch sock yarn on SALE at Michaels' this week. So I bought two more colours, a tan mix and a grey mix. I am already working on the green colour mix and like the results so far. The pattern is the same as my stand by sock pattern, but this yarn is 41% cotton, 39% wook, 13% nylon and 7% elastic (very stretchy) so these all year round socks hold their shape really well.

The other thing new to me is the abandoning of the traditional 4 double point needles for ONE circular in 3mm. It is a 36" Addi turbo, and I observed a clever knitter, standing, and knitting on one of these. I stared at the way she moved the cables to two big loops and the stitches to two halves of the sock, and I had a eureka moment.... no stitches slipping off the tips of the DPN's, no dropped into the sofa twilight zone needles.... miraculous really. I couldn't wait to get home and launch my first ONE NEEDLE sock...

Here are a few photos of how the sock looks at various stages...