Ballband Tea Towel

Finito!  sadly, it only needed about 6 more rows to finish, poor, neglected ballband tea towel!  on the upside, prettly little tea towel has been receiving a very warm reception around here. it would make a fabulous table runner and i've cast on a baby blanket in some pastels (no pics yet).

freebie for a freezing day!

i thought this freebie pattern for a hot water bottle cover was so cute and apropos - it feels like a meat locker out there!

Big Bad Baby Blanket

Liane is working away on a new Big Bad Baby Blanket for the store. We're using the Estelle Cadenza, which is in the kits. I love the yarn's spongy texture once knit up, and this is still my favourite baby blanket of all time!

freebie radiant sweater

freebie pattern for radiant sweater. good for people with narrow shoulders, small boobies. i must be feeling more like myself, i seem to be slipping back into pattern seeking mode.  :-)

ninotchka hat

i finished me ninotchka hat last night! i feel cool wearing it, but i guess, looking at the photo, that it looks a little weird. que sera, it's not like i won't be more hats in my future. ;-)

when bad things happen to good knits

I'm sorry to report that sometimes bad things happen to good knitters. The Hideout Coat we made for the front window unfortunately didn't work out as expeceted. The body is WAY too big, there is at least an extra 14" through the waist. The shoulders are also a few inches too wide. The collar looks great, but this coat is made for someone with a broad frame.

so sad, too bad. onward and upward!

new freebies!

allaboutyou has updated their free patterns for the new year and it includes this simply styled jacket

before ninotchka there were flappers ...

before ninotchka there were flappers ....



before i started working on the strange looking 1940s style hat i set my sights on a crochet cloche. it did not work out the way i wnated, but it is not the fault of the pattern. i chose the completely wrong yarn for this project.  wrong colour, wrong texture. i thought a smooth surfaced merino was the way to go but it needs the opposite, a heathered neutral with a slight halo. i will give it another go in ultra alpaca, but i had to put it down for a rest. i also kind of screwed up the ridges on the front, which i think i prefer pronounced.

anyway, i'm not crazy about it, so i'm donationg it to the Shop For The Cause Haiti Fundraiser, this Saturday.

good news! i got my cast off!

good news!  i got my cast off! bad news ... it hurts to knit. better news, i can crochet a bit!  modestly poopy news, the things i've been working on haven't been working out, so there isn't much to show/off.



my primary project is the slanting stitches hat. i wanted something that is a little 'ninotchka'. i've been using berroco ultra alpaca in a medium heathered grey and a 4mm hook. so far the body of the hat is a really nice stitch that isn't too kitschy because of the yarn's slight halo and the heathered colouring. but the top section is made with a double crochet, which is way too kitsch, so i'm continuing the base stitch all the way up.  i'll have to improvise something for the brim too. i really don't know how this project is going to work or what it will look like, but it's really an exercise in exploring new things.


here's the hat in progress.



for reference, here's a shot of the kooky hat worn by Greta Garbo in the 1939 movie. the movie wasn't really all that fantastic, (3 stars), but it gets marks for hattitude. the premise (for the hat) is that garbo is a stern soviet state employee sent to paris on official business. Melvyn Douglas falls for her and helps loosen her up. in the process, she passes a store window and falls for the rediculously impractical hat (and the guy too).

good news! i got my cast off!

good news!  i got my cast off! bad news ... it hurts to knit. better news, i can crochet a bit!  modestly poopy news, the things i've been working on haven't been working out, so there isn't much to show/off.



my primary project is the slanting stitches hat. i wanted something that is a little 'ninotchka'. i've been using berroco ultra alpaca in a medium heathered grey and a 4mm hook. so far the body of the hat is a really nice stitch that isn't too kitschy because of the yarn's slight halo and the heathered colouring. but the top section is made with a double crochet, which is way too kitsch, so i'm continuing the base stitch all the way up.  i'll have to improvise something for the brim too. i really don't know how this project is going to work or what it will look like, but it's really an exercise in exploring new things.


here's the hat in progress.

babette blanket 2

Babette Blanket 2
finished! i'm not sure i like the final round of poppy around the perimiter but i'm notg prepared to deal with it at the present.

BTW, i'm suypposed to be getting the cast off on monday, so wish me luck!  i'm really looking forward to being able to knit again. i've been trying to crochet but complicated stitches are a little too hard on my left hand.