You Can Never Have To Many Hats

Can you? Well maybe you can. But if you give them away then you don't have too many do you? This is my latest hat - the Thorpe pattern made for a friend who is going up to the snow. It's a great pattern that knits up quickly. I decided that instead of doing the garter stitch at the bottom and on the ear flaps that I would use seed stitch instead. I also used the same yarn for the crochet border because I thought there was already enough going on with the multi-colored yarn. I like how it turned out. I used Lorna's Laces Shepard Worsted but the pattern called for Malabrigo chunky. I think a chunky weight probably would be good to make this hat have more body. I think another one of these cuties is in my future so I'll try a thicker (or doubled) yarn for the next one. The long braids are really fun too.

Continuing with our hat theme I knit another Amanda Hat from the Katia Mexico yarn I got in Lake Tahoe. It's a beautiful, vibrant yarn that knits up nicely. I think it's just perfect for this hat pattern. I made it for the daughter of our friends who invited us to Tahoe but when Horsey Girl saw it she just had to have it. How could I say no? I'll make another one for Tahoe Girl. I tried to find some more in this color online, eBay and Ravelry with no success. I guess I'll just have to keep my eyes open.

I just love the way the Amanda hat comes together at the top.

And in the most important news . . . . look who may be coming to live with us soon. Isn't she adorable?

Hodge Podge

Before you read any further you HAVE to go to Wendy's blog and check out THIS! It is just hysterical. Remember to come back though - I'll wait for you . . . . .

OK so you're back. Did you love it? It just cracks me up every time I look at it. She always finds the wildest things to post on her blog. Next I want to belatedly thank Wendy (you're already seen how awesome her blog is if you obeyed my first request :-), Bonnie (check out her adorable quack hat and booties) and Marie (check out her blog for the most amazing cabled scarves, bracelets and more!) for nominating me for the Kreative Blogger award. I feel so special. Thank you ladies and I'm sorry that it has taken me so long to post about it. I guess I'm just behind in about everything these days.

Here are the rules for this award:

Copy the award to your site.
Link to the person who nominated you.
Nominate 7 other bloggers and link to them on your blog.
Then leave a message on their blog notifying them you have nominated them for this award.

It would be easy to list more than 7!! I did not list the wonderful ladies who nominated me (since they are linked above) and that gives me a chance to really have 10! What can I say, I'm a lawyer and like to find ways around the rules. So here goes:

Jennifer - is one of my best knitting buddies and is an enabler who often leads me astray.

Monica - is about the most prolific sock knitter I've ever seen and writes great patterns too.

Janice - go check it out - you're going to want to move in with her!

Lisa - check out her most recent awesome sweater and hear all about life in Alaska.

Kristen - is one of my more recent knitting buddies and manages to juggle work, home schooling and knitting!

Brooke - is one of my buddies from a long ago SP. She's going through a tough time - please go give her a virtual hug.

ADD Knitter - this is a new one for me. I don't really know her but found her through links on friends' blogs. I just HAVE to love someone who makes that many hats!

I also haven't told you about Stitches yet! Boy am I behind. Mom and I went to opening day for Stitches West in late February. The theme was Intarsia and it was so fun to hear all the different speakers. There was Nicky Epstein, Lucy Neatby and several others who I can't remember. They each showed some Intarsia knitting and their pieces couldn't have been more different. It shows you how many different interpretations there are of this kind of knitting. Then we took a class from Nicky which was interesting but I was a bit disappointed because even though it was a 3 hour class she really only had 1.5 hours of material. Also I guess I was hoping for some secrets to Intarsia but really didn't come away with any. However the next day Mom took a class on Shetland shawls and she can't stop raving about it. They made the cutest little shawl and then the teacher said they had all the basics and could now make a big one. I'll try to get it from her soon and post a photo for you.

Then of course there was the market. There seemed to be fewer booths this year due to the economy but I'm happy to report that it was very busy. I'm glad for the vendors as I want them all to stay in business! I tried to do my part but didn't really buy that much. I got the mohair above to make the Spectrum scarf. I've been toying with making it and now decided to go for it. The one thing the photo doesn't show is that the light colors are silver/creme and a great soft lavender.

Next I got some Mini Moochi. It's a new yarn by Crystal Palace that is supposed to have colorways like Noro. I really don't like the feel of Kureyon but I love its colors. So I thought I'd give this a try. They folks said it is selling like crazy and they can't get enough of it. It is very soft and the colors are vibrant. These are two different colors to make the Brooklyn Tweed Noro scarf I keep seeing everywhere. Mom bought some too and has already started a scarf with it and it's oh, so soft.

I also got some Tonalita yarn which is a soft and colorful yarn to make scarves or hats or something - yes - I know - I should have a pattern in mind first but they were so pretty!

I leave you with some more signs of spring. My orchid is blooming again and that always makes me so happy.

Oh Baby Baby

Miss K's 6th grade teacher from last year had a baby in July and we have been meaning to visit her ever since. I made the pink sweater and hat for her baby shower. I realize it is pathetic that we haven't seen the baby until now but at last we got a chance to meet her today. She is absolutely gorgeous. Big blue eyes, a bit of blonde fuzz on her head and a smile that could melt a glacier. I took a break from knitting hats to make these adorable mary jane sock/shoes for her. I made the 6-12 month size but unfortunately they came out fairly large. Oh well, she can hopefully wear them when she is about 1 year old. I found these cute litte flower buttons at Joann's fabrics. Aren't they perfect? While we were visiting Mrs. R I saw this fabulous throw on her chair. Her MIL made it for her and I just loved it. The color combination was fantastic but I don't know how to crochet. Makes me want to learn! Does anyone know what stitch this is?

I spent a good part of the day driving the kids hither and yon and enjoying all the flowering trees letting me know that spring is in the air. I just had to stop and take a photo of this gorgeous pink tree which was surrounded by daffodils along the bottom. When I got home I finally planted the bulbs that have been sitting in my garage. Yes bulbs! They should have been planted in October but I never got around to it. They have started to grow in the bag so I figured I'll stick them in the ground and see what happens. I'll keep you posted!

Hanging at the Lake

The kids had the entire week off so we headed up to Tahoe on Thursday night. We have some friends who bought a cabin in south shore over a year ago and they have invited us up many times. Unfortunately we have never been able to make it - until now. I must admit the drive on windy Highway 50 was a bit scary at night but it was well worth the trip. The weather was amazing - crystal clear and 47 degrees! The snow was piles of powder and a fabulous time was had by all. The girls snow boarded with their friends and the Little Man took two days of ski school. It really helped and now he is making pizza (snow plowing) down the slopes.

I did not end up skiing on this trip. I had to take a conference call for several hours on Friday and Saturday I decided to hang out with my friend (the cabin Mom). She can't ski because she tore her knee last year. Instead we managed to find an adorable little yarn store called the Wool Tree where I bought yarn to make hats for her kids. We also found a great little scrapbook store where I bought stickers to add to my piles of unfinished scrapbooks! Someday, someday.

I found a little time to knit and I finished up my Calorimetry. (That's Horsey Girl's dirty hair in the photo - not mine :-) I had searched around on Ravelry beforehand and found that many people had said it was too long and too wide so I cast on only 100 stitches instead of 120 and didn't do as many repeats. I still need to find a button but I'm very happy with how it turned out. Now I have to go back to the cold so I can wear my matching headband/scarf set. The really weird thing about this pattern is that when I first came across the pattern on Knitty.com about a year ago I realized it was designed by the girls old swim coach. What a small world!

I also made another hat for myself, with some black feathery novelty yarn at the base and I used some gorgeous red yarn from the stash. The color doesn't show well at all in the photos. It is really more of a deep claret color. Then since I still had some of the red left I decided to make another Robin Egg Hat. Of course I ran out of the red so I had to mix in a little black to be able to finish. This hat currently is homeless but I think it will find a home soon.

I did find a little bit of time to read so I started the new book for my book club. It is called Bel Canto and I am really enjoying it. I highly recommend it and for the first time since this book club began it's a book that is less than 500 pages!

Also THANK YOU so much to Bonnie and Wendy for the Kreativ Blogger award. I'll do that in the next post so stay tuned . . .

Bon Ami Scarf

I finished my scarf and I'm naming it the Bon Ami scarf. Why? Well this is the scarf I made with the yarn Bonnie and I bought when she was visiting San Francisco. She finished her scarf recently (check it out - it is so cute!) and named it the friendship scarf. However she said she wasn't that happy with the name. So I thought about it some more and since her blog is "Tres Bon Babble" I came up with the Bon Ami scarf. Sort of a play on words. I'm thrilled with how it turned out. It is so soft and I'm happy to have an off white scarf since it's not a color I normally pick. I cast on 27 stitches, used a size 9 needle and knit in mistake rib until it was along as I wanted. Then I decided it needed a little somethin somethin on the end so I added a slight ruffle. I knit in to the front and back of each stitch doubling it to 54 stitches, knit one more row and then bound off. In the photo you'll see the cast on edge is still straight but I later went back and picked up stitches on that and added a similar ruffle.


I finished it last weekend when we went to Ojai for a horse show. We really got lucky. The weather here has been extremely rainy lately and I was worried that we'd have to drive down the 5.5 hours in pouring rain and then spend the horse show slogging through the mud and trying to hide under whatever cover we could find. But the heavens smiled on us. The weather was glorious on the drive down. Blue skies with rolling white cotton clouds. The drive is spectacular as you pass rolling green hills, golden fields of mustard flowers, horses, cows and ultimately find yourself driving along the ocean on the Santa Barbara coast. I wanted to stop every mile and take a photo (but I restrained myslef)!


We stayed at a cute place called the Blue Iguana Inn which has lizards and iguanas all over the place and is decorated in south western style. It was Mom, Horsey Girl, the Little Man and me. Hubby was in New York and Miss K was smart enough to find a friend to stay with for the weekend. We had a 2 bedroom unit with a cute little family room. It was great. Saturday night the Equestrian team all met for dinner and when we arrived we were shocked to seem them all sitting on the patio of the restaurant - in 35 degree weather! However there were some heaters, I went back to the car and got every jacket I could find and we ended up having a lovely dinner.
The horse show went well. Except for the fact Horsey Girl had to be there at 6 a.m. and it was only 30 degrees. By the time she had her first ride (around 9:30 a.m.) she was shaking so hard she couldn't stop. But by the end of the day she had earned enough points to go back for the regional finals at the end of March.

Now that my Bon Ami scarf is done I'm again working on my "re-do" scarf from the yarn I frogged in Oregon. I'm much happier with it this time.

Spring is Springing

We are starting to see many signs of Spring in California. I think it is because we had some warm spells in January but I fear that now that we are having a normal winter with rain and cold it will knock all the buds off the trees. Here is a picture of my cymbidium orchid which always thrills me when it decides to bloom.

I have been knitting several scarves which I hope to finish and show you soon. In addition, I made this Robin Egg hat for my friend. She has invited us to her house in Tahoe next weekend to go skiing so I thought it would be nice to show up with a gift. Not only will it keep her warm in the snow but I made it in the colors of the San Jose Sharks hockey team because she is a big fan. I love this pattern. It is quick and really makes an unique hat. Funny thing is my friend Jennifer also made one and we hadn't even mentioned it to one another! Hopefully she will like it. Horsey Girl gave it the nod of approval so I think that's a good sign. She even said my friend's teenage daughter my steal it - I take that as the ultimate complient.

Here's a hat I made for the Little Man when we were in Oregon over New Year's but I forgot to post. When we got up there I realized he didn't have any hats made by me - only store bought ones! I couldn't let that be the case so I found this great Diva yarn and whipped up this little diddy. It went perfectly with his olive green jacket (not planned but a happy coincidence) and he loved it.

Tote*ally Awesome

Here is my favorite Christmas present. A gorgeous tote that Mom made for me. Isn't it awesome? You may wonder why I am showing it to you now but it took a little while to find it's way to my home. It wasn't quite done for Christmas but Mom did finish it early January. However after all the work she just had to show it to her friends at the guild. Wouldn't you want to show it off? Then it did find it's way to me about a week ago but I finally had a chance to photograph it this weekend. I wanted to be sure to have a bright sunny day so I could show it in all it's glory.



The story starts even earlier than that. You see Mom and her freind went to a PFQ (PQF?) Well a big quilt show that is like Stitches and there they found this really cool tool to make cords. They were so enamoured with it they decided to buy one to share. My Mom's friend had it first so she brought me a magazine that had a photo in it and a bag where the handles were made with the cord maker. I of course fell in love with the bag! Mom looked around and found fabric that looked almost exactly like the bag in the photo and viola! I got my favorite present. Look at the cool dragonfly lining!!!

In knitting news, I made this yummy purple scarf. I got this yarn when we were in Oregon for New Years. It was just one skein of about 150 yards. I think they had made it with odds and ends of fabulous purple yarn. Since it was three strands together I decided to make a scarf the long way using size 17 needles. I've rarely made anything using needles that big and it was so cool how fast it goes! The scarf was done in a jiff and it is long and snuggly. In fact so snuggly I must send it somewhere cold so it can get the wear it deserves. I'm sending it off to my mother-in-law in Delaware for Valentine's Day. Hopefully she will enjoy it.

Let's Make A Deal

At last photos of the Ice Queen I made for my sister for Christmas. I finished it in December but it has taken me awhile to get the photos up and posted. I hoped that she would like it - she e-mailed me the pattern in September and asked if I would make it for her! At first I said no - I really don't like knitting with beads and the lace looked fussy. But then the idea grew on me and I remembered I had yarn and beads left over from my Secret of the Stole so I really had no excuse. This is actually the first time I was able to use leftover yarn to make a "real" project. I was very proud of myself! It looks great on her and I hope she will enjoy wearing it.

My spring cleaning continued this weekend. I really need to clean out my closet but every time I go in there it overwhelms me. So I decided that I will remove 10 pieces of clothing per weekend. That shouldn't be that hard right? Just 10 items? I figure that over time it will get cleaner. The first 10 were easy. I know that it will get harder each time but I have to try something. I also photographed my bag of yarn for eBay and plan to list those items this weekend. I only hope my motivation continues long enough to make a dent!

On the knitting front I promised myself that I will finish one UFO before starting something new and that I will knit from the stash for at least the first few months of the year. However I already find myself making deals with - well - myself! What if I start something new out of the stash? That shouldn't really count should it? Do I have to finish something before knitting from the stash? Also there is a yarn swap at one of the LYS' this weekend. If I swap yarn does that count as not buying new yarn? I mean if it's a net balance it shouldn't count right? What do you think?

I have been working on my scarf. It is now 42" long. Check out Bonnie's. It turned out beautiful!

How I spent my Sunday

The weather on the West Coast has been unseasonably warm. Perhaps that is what lead me to start some spring cleaning. Or perhaps it was because everywhere I turned there were bags, boxes and piles of this, that and the other. I should have felt pretty good. My Christmas tree is down, the ornaments and decorations have been put away. My friend's tree is still up! But the piles are beginning to get me down. This is the first weekend in a long time that we've basically been free and at home. So I decided to put it to good use and try to make some headway on the disaster that is my house.

On Saturday I worked on cleaning the Little Man's room. He is growing like a weed and quickly outgrowing his clothes and toys. We cleaned out 3 garbage bags full of stuffed animals, almost 2 laundry baskets full out out grown clothes, a basket full of toys he no longer plays with and 1-1/2 garbage bags of - well - garbage! His room looks much better although I could probably go through the entire drill again and find more stuff!

Today I decided to take on the stash. I didn't go through the entire thing - but I got a few new storage bins (thanks Mom!) and I wanted to try and put things away in some form of organization. What you see here is only about a third of the stash. I had bags and bags of yarn stuffed in various corners of the house that really needed to be properly stored. I think to properly organize things I would have to pull out everything and that is not something I can face. But at least I made a little progress. I truly have reached SABLE (stash accumulation beyond life expectancy) probably for my life and my kids! I did come up with a bag of yarn to sell on eBay and a bag for Goodwill but they are fairly small compared to the volume!

The photo above is a bin or feltable yarn. I really love the tie-dye yarn and need to think of something fabulous to make with it. Next we have a bin of Malibrigo and Jasper. Most of the Malabrigo is single skeins but I have a few colorways where I have 2 skeins. Next we have a bin of cotton. There are lots of fun colors of Sugar n' Cream but those are below the other skeins.

We also have a bin filled with Iceland yarn in fabulous bright colors. 2 skeins each of 4 gorgeous hues. I think I'll make a huge bag with those. Any other ideas? Snuggled next to it are several skeins of Blue Sky Alpaca in multiple colors and sizes. I have no idea what I'll make out of those. A beautiful bin with lots and lots of Socks that Rock and a few skeins of miscellaneous sock yarn. I love all of this yarn even though I don't knit socks. Really makes you want to start doesn't it!

And last but not least the bin of left overs. I actually managed to throw a few bits away. I told myself I could only keep what would fit in a single bin. It was tough. The bin is chocker block full and I could barely close the lid but I managed to stick to one bin!

If I keep this up my house might actually be clean by spring!

Psycho Internet Friend

One of the best parts of the holidays was that I finally got to meet my friend Bonnie in person. Bonnie and I "met" a few years ago after the International Scarf Exchange when we were introduced in cyberspace and we started the International Tote Exchange. We instantly hit it off and became fast friends who had never laid eyes upon one another. We all know how that goes out here in the knitting blogisphere. We had been wanting to meet for awhile and came close about a year ago but finally the opportunity presented itself. Bonnie, who lives in Cincinnati, was coming to the San Francisco area with her daughter for a cheerleading event. I was so excited! We arranged to meet for lunch in San Francisco near a yarn store of course! We had a fabulous Hunan lunch and then went down the street to ImagiKnits. Everything was perfect (except for the parking ticket Bonnie got . . . .) We got along really well and hope to see one another again some day. I feel so lucky that we got to meet each other in person. So why the title? Well my daughters thought it was so weird that I was meeting someone I had "met on the net." I tried to explain why it is different than my continual warnings to them about meeting people on-line. I think they understood but they kept referring to her as my, "psycho Internet friend." Bonnie was a good sport about it and doesn't seem to mind now when I start my e-mails, "Dear PIF"!
At ImaginKnits we decided to both buy the same yarn. It is Azapa by Arunca Yarns and actually the photos on their website do NOT do it justice. It is very soft and sort of rustic. I got an off-white color and Bonnie picked a soft turquoise blue. We are both making scarves and I can't wait to see hers. She is doing 2x2 rib and I am making mine in mistake rib.

I also bought some gorgeous yarn for which I promptly lost the label. They told me it was from the Black Forest in Germany which sounds very exotic. I just fell in love with the vibrant turquoise and white colors and immediately set to work on a hat for Horsey Girl on our car ride up to Oregon. I made up the pattern myself and unfortunately did not take in to account how tight and unstretchy it would be. As you can see I got very far along but have ended up tearing it all out and starting over. I do still really love the colors.

New Beginnings

The new year is a time for new beginnings. For new promises to yourself and for renewal. When we were in Oregon for New Year's I brought several scarves with me since I would finally have the weather to wear them. One was this pastel scarf which is one of the first things I ever made. I love the yarn and the colors but the scarf was horrible. It was an undulating scarf that was wide then narrow then wide again. A neat pattern for the right yarn but clearly not a good choice for yarn that is very floppy. So whenever I wore the scarf it just looked like a pile of yarn around my neck. I decided to do the unthinkable. Something I have never, ever done before. I cut the end of the scarf and unraveled the entire thing! I decided the yarn needed a new beginning. It needs to be a gorgeous scarf that I can be happy wearing. It was pretty scary at first but then amazing how those hours of work could so quickly be undone. I've started it's new life and will show you soon.

On the flip side you could say there was an ending. I FINALLY finished the cool market bag I started making for Miss K in the summer of 2007! The entire bag was knit, I just needed to finish the i-cord and assemble it. Then recently I bought one of those i-cord makers so decided to put it to good use. I quickly finished a nice long cord and was able to finish the bag. It is adorable and she loves it. Now we just need summer!

It felt so good to finish my long forgotten project that as part of my renewal for the year 2009 I have decided to keep trying to finish those UFO's that are hanging around. I am making a promise to myself that before I start anything new I will finish at least one UFO. We'll see how long it lasts but I'm really going to try. So now for a CONTEST. Anyone who posts a comment in the month of January mentioning a knitting goal they have set for themselves in 2009 will be entered in a drawing for a wonderful prize filled with yarny goodness. Let the resolutions begin.