Some Knitted Hats 'n' Things

Some of my winter thingies!!

First up is a hat I knitted last fall. I havent really worn it much, though I LOVE it. It needs to be stretched a bit as its snug on my head. I HATE having anything squeeze me head, so I dont wear it much. But one of these days I will carve myself a wooden head for stretching/blocking hats!

For this hat I used this pattern - http://www.fibertrends.com/viewer/patterns/AC59.html and some gorgeous Lopi yarn - http://www.camillavalleyfarm.com/knit/lopi.htm This yarn wouldnt be great against the skin as its rather rough, but the chunkiness and colors and everything makes me LOVE this yarn! Though it was the first time I've tried intarsia and the first time Ive ever knit in the round using a circular needle the pattern was very clear and it wasnt very hard to do! I recomend this pattern to anyone with a little patience. At first it seems very hard but with a little effort, you *get it* and its very easy. But boy, my fingers hurt!! Rough yarn and tight stitches equals raw fingertips!!

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This next one I used the same pattern but added 20 stitches (one more repeat of the intarsia pattern) and used different yarn. This one is much more comfortable to wear, bigger and softer. The grey is Cascade Ecological wool in 8087 and the red is some Highland wool Sari silk yarn I found on Ebay. Both are awesome to work with. Quite soft and it doesnt dry out your skin like some yarns do.
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I made these fingerless mittens to go with my hat. Same wools but the pattern is based on this one - http://cache.lionbrand.com/patterns/kwec-2NeedleMittens.html?noImages= But I changed it (obviously). Its knit on two straight needles and says to make the palm and back the same width, but doing this you end up with the side seam coming around to the back of the hand. It looks crappy. So I made the palm side with less stitches and the back with more. I used the intarsia design from the top of the hat on the back of the hand and added ribbing to the thumb, fingers and wrist. Its really pretty easy. Theyre very comfortable to wear and I like the color combination alot.
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This is my most recently knitted hat. Its made from Banana silk! I didnt even know what Banana silk was until a few weeks ago. Im in loooove with this stuff. I bought the orange from Ebay and the green from here - http://www.recycledsilk.com/banana.html (vine). This stuff has gorgeous shine and wonderful weight. It hangs so well! I wish I could afford enough for a sweater or something.
Now I just have to finish my Mothers hat and mittens!! Then get started on all the xmass prezzies.... I have so much to do!!

More Yummies!!

First up is some gorgeous alpaca roving. This stuff is SO soft and light. I cant wait to try spinning it! There is a bit of VM as you can see in the pic, but nothing I cant take care of. Theres a full 10 ounces here, 30 yards! And I got it for a mere $18 :)
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This next is some shiney banana silk yarn from http://www.recycledsilk.com Its color is Vine and I bought it to go with the banana silk I bought off ebay (see previous post). Ive knit a hat with them and its just so pretty! Ill try to get a pic of me in it today.
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This is a full fleece I got off ebay. Its Jacob and just full of lanolin and Ive discovered that I adore the scent of sheep! It looks a little yellowed and dingy here but I took a handfull and washed it and after a bit o cleanin it sparkles like new snow. Its really beautiful!

That fleece came from the ewe below. They sent her picture with it. Her name is Valentine :o)------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is some Cotswold wool. I guess people use this alot for doll making. For bears and wigs and things. Its quite pretty though this bunch seems to have been washed to death. It feels dry and is a little dusty. But I think I can come up with SOMETHING to do with it!

Some Yummy Yarns...

These are some yarns that I bought off ebay recently and well, Im in love with them!

This top one is recycled sari silk and wonderfully eyelashy. And the warm tones make me feel all cozy! I bought 2 skeins and it was just enough to knit up a skinny scarf for myself. Its not thick yarn, but its heavy and has a wonderful weight to it. Though one skein was in 5 different peices tied together, it was fuzzy enough for me to hide all the ends well. Ive decided that these will be my xmass presents this year!

The color of this one was labled as Kathmandu Recycled Sari Silk Yarn in the color 'sunshine'. The two skeins differed a bit, one was very eyelashy and the other was more smooth. But I knit them together, 2 rows of one, 2 rows of the other, and they blended wonderfully. The seller was Aubelsbeth's Little Merchant Shop and they shipped very fast and packaged all the yarn I got in cute little celophane bags and wrapped in yellow tissue paper that had bees printed on it. Oopening the box was like xmas!
This one (also from Aubelsbeth's Little Merchant Shop) was labled as Kathmandu Banana Silk Yarn in 'mango'. But looking at the photo in the listing, I could have sworn it looked familiar. So, being the weirdo I am, I spent the next hour searching on the net for it. I found it here - http://www.recycledsilk.com/sarisolids.html The yarn in the photo in the ebay listing is actually recycled sari silk, not banana silk. BUT, the actual yarn I got IS banana silk and I looooved it. So they still got posative feedback from me. I liked this yarn so much that I bought two more skeins!

Vintage 1966 Knit Barbie Fashion Patterns

Gads, those scans of the patterns are small! I have them scanned large but I cant get them to show up here as anything but tiny and unreadable. Ok, so, maybe later I'll figure out how to change that but for now I'm posting them in my Deviantart scraps.

Slacks Suit - http://www.deviantart.com/view/27842224/

Bathing Suit - http://www.deviantart.com/view/27842315/

:o)

Vintage 1966 Knit Barbie Fashion

My mother let me borrow these McCalls patterns from their Spring-Summer 1966 magazine. Took me ages to scan, each page needed 4 different scans and then I had to stitch them together in photoshop! I have more patterns I will post soon. I just dont have the energy at the moment.

But I am knitting! I'm almost done with the slacks from this pattern. Theyre white and looking good so far. I dont have size 2 needles though, so I'm knitting them on my 3's. When I'm done I'll post a good photo of them. Also, I'm working on a coat from here - http://barbiebasics.tripod.com/knit50.html I'll post that, too, when I'm done!

Slack suit -


Bathing suit -

First Post!

Ok, well, Ive decided to make a new blog. I havent kept up any of the others and I was thinking that maybe because I just need some new scenery.

But I cant post anything long right now. My boyfriend, Shane, wants the computer to play EQ2, BAH!!

Oh well, I can do more tonight.....

Jes