Hinagiku

One of the items on my agenda this fall was to make a hat out of some beautiful plum-colored handspun 2-ply I made a few years ago.  A couple of weeks ago I spent some time perusing the hat patterns on Ravelry, and had just about decided on Tears of Bronze by Po Lena.  Then Evelyn reminded me of the Hinagiku Hat pattern that had been in my Ravelry library for a couple of years, and I realized it was exactly the kind of textured pattern I'd been wanting for this yarn.  So I made one.

This is such a great pattern; I highly recommend it.  Very well-written and easy to follow.  It even includes a couple photos showing how to do the daisy stitch, so I think it's beginner-friendly. 

The hat is a beanie with just the right amount of slouch.  The twisted rib is wide, to cover your ears.  And just look at that texture!

I won't lie - working the daisy stitch every other row is time consuming.  But I think there's a big pay-off.  I wouldn't hesitate to knit this again in another color.

The crown is decreased quickly, to give that gathered look at the top:

A very satisfying project.  And one of the best parts is, I still haven enough yarn left over to make some matching mitts!

A big improvement.

Today's FO is a feat not of engineering or workmanship, but of overcoming lethargy.  I finally made a needle case for my DPNs.

I know, it's kind of ridiculous for someone who has been knitting for 40 years to not have made one of these sooner.  What can I say?  Pure laziness.

Previously, most of my DPNs were housed in a felted knit pouch, along with my crochet hooks, short circular needles and stitch holders.  Every time I wanted a set of DPNs, I'd have to take everything out of the pouch and dig through them all.

Much emptier now!

And as you can imagine, since the fabric is felted knit, the needles were always poking through.

Since I've been making a lot of mitts lately, I've been having to dig out the DPNs, and it finally got to me.  This morning Hubby had to go to a workshop, so I took the opportunity to round up some scrap fabric and make my needle case.

Now, as far as needle cases go, this one is nothing special.  And if you look closely, you'll see a lot of wonky stitching, since I'm still trying to figure out Mags' tension settings.  But it gets the job done, and it only took me an hour to make.

I stitched channels for the needles, and also for the fold lines to keep things neat.

Recognize these fabrics?

Even though it's not perfect, I'm pretty happy with how this turned out, and I'm sure I'll be very happy next time I need to get out a set of DPNs.  I'll need to make at least one more of these, and I  know some of you knitters are looking for easy projects to get started with sewing.  So if anyone wants me to document my next one and do a little tutorial, let me know!

For Mom

Over the weekend, my mom reminded me that I had promised her a "winter outfit" for her Nook after I made her the floral one over the summer.  On Tuesday I was able to make it to JoAnn's to pick out some fabrics and get the rest of my supplies, and yesterday I sewed it together. 

I stuck with quilting cottons because I didn't want it to get too bulky.  There's a coordinating fabric on the inside, and I made the one-pocket version again:

This is such a great pattern.  I was able to cut everything out just using my rotary cutter and ruler.  The outer piece is interfaced with fusible fleece, so the end result is nice and squishy.  I spent some time pondering how I wanted the fabrics arranged, but even so, this is just a two-hour project!  So fun to make!

QOMB Progress

Here's a peek at how my new quilt is coming along.  These two photos were taken from above:

And here it is draped over the railing:

Can you tell I'm liking it? 

The strips run width-wise, and I've got 26 inches so far - a little over a third of the total length I want.  I made 4 more strips on Monday, and then ran out of strips of dotted Swiss and had to wash another piece.  But now that's done, and I'm hoping to get a little more sewing in today!

Mitt Romney? My vote is for Mitt Alpaca.

I hope I haven't offended anyone.  Truth is, I'm probably one of the least political people you're ever likely to meet.  But seriously, if your first name is synonymous with a type of hand covering and your  last name is a breed of sheep, you have to be ready to have a few knitters and spinners poke fun at you.

Anyhoooo . . . I made another pair of mitts.

And this pair is the best.  I call them Fuzzikins.  Because they're so fuzzy.  And so soft.  Too bad it's going to be 70 degrees here for the next few days.

These guys are made from Blue Sky Alpacas Brushed Suri.  I picked up two balls of this stuff last week when Alicia and I visited Nina, and I'm so glad I did.  It's like knitting with a cloud.  I'm so in love with this yarn.

Look how fuzzy!

After I finished these on Sunday night, I spent some time just petting them.  This color is called "Toasted Marshmallow."  I also got a ball of "Agua."

Look at the little alpaca face!

And then I got really crazy and bought 3 more balls off another Raveler's destash!  I'm going to make a little sweater . . .

Eventually it will get cold, right?

I did buy the print pattern for these mitts, because it was there and I was too lazy to figure it out.  I'd say this pair only took a half ball, so although the yarn is on the expensive side (I paid $14.50), for 2 pairs, or a pair and a small cowl, I think it's reasonable.  They would make a great gift.  I did end up adding length to the palm and the thumb, because my hands are on the larger side.  Even so, each mitt only took about an hour - another reason they'd make a great gift!

Osaka Garden at Jackson Park

I wanted to share some pictures of the beautiful park we visited on Saturday.  Jackson Park is on the south side of Chicago, in the neighborhood called Hyde Park.  It lies just to the south of the Museum of Science and Industry (one of only two remaining structures from the 1893 World's Fair) and just to the east of the University of Chicago.  Within the park is a beautiful little Japanese garden called Osaka Garden.

 In another section of the park is Chicago's "Golden Lady."

Saturday was one of those perfect autumn days:  warm and breezy, sunny with brilliant blue skies, and spectacular fall color.

I'm so glad we spent it in the park!

Allegheny Mulligan

Gosh, it's been well over a month since I finished my Allegheny dress, and I finally had a chance to wear it yesterday, although I ended up being too hot later in the afternoon.  But a lot happened in that time.

When I originally posted about the dress, I explained that I'd chosen to work a rib at the bottom rather than a folded hem, and that I'd chosen not to make the dress so short.  A couple weeks later, on the day I had a massive "photo shoot," I took pictures of this dress as well.  And I wasn't crazy about what I saw "on film."  The dress was just too long, and it looked frumpy:

So I set it aside, and a couple weeks after that, I sat down and unraveled a good four inches from the bottom.  I had planned to work the rib again, but in order to have the cable land where I wanted it to, really the only good solution was the turned hem. 

The instructions do include a couple of rounds of decreases on the hem section that is turned to the inside, to reduce flaring.  To further reduce it, I worked the hem in a needle one size smaller.  And to minimize the ridge you get when sewing in a hem, I didn't cast off, but rather sewed the live stitches to the inside, one by one.

You can see one of the decreases here.

Yesterday we finally got some chilly but sunny fall weather, so we decided to go for a walk in beautiful Jackson Park,  just to the south of the Museum of Science and Industry.  And I wore my dress for the occasion.  Here are a few of the pictures Hubby took in the Osaka Garden:

Wearing it with my new mitts and my Neep Heid hat.

I think this above-the-knee length is more flattering, and I was mostly able to avoid the hem flare.  I wore a shirt under it yesterday because this wool is a little scratchy, but I actually prefer how it looks without a shirt.  And I normally wouldn't wear these off-white tights with it, but I wanted to make sure the new length was easy to see in photos! 

One of these days it will be cool enough to wear it again.