Hat, finished and Scarf, interrupted

I bought the book 60 Quick Knits from my "local" yarn storn in Lexington (two hours away).  It's sixty patterns knit with Cascade 220.  I thought it would provide a helpful reference for patterns using standard worsted wool - scarves, hats, and mittens.

I have knit Twisted Toque hat:

Yarn:  Black Wool of the Andes from Knitpicks. 

Needles:  US size 7.  I started with double pointed needles, but switched to two circulars, and found that much easier and faster.

Pattern:  Twisted Toque in 60 Quick Knits

I blocked the hat on a bowl, and I think it's blocked too large.  I think I need to reblock it smaller.

I also started the Ruffled Scarf from the same book, using Knitpicks sugarbunny yarn in a pale blue.  I like the ruffled boarded, but the scarf body rolls.  And the yarn is very hairy.  I'm not sure I'll finish it. We'll see.

Pink baby hat

July is purple month. Purple can be a great color, although I don't knit with it very often. When we were at Disney in March, I saw bunches of purple, so here is a sample.

Some purple flowers (pansies?) and a purple castle.

On the knitting front, I have been a BAD knit blogger. I haven't posted since the end of May. But since this is "knitting journal," so to speak, and because I can do what I want, I added posts to June, back-dating them. Today's post, though, is "live."

I'm not working on anything purple, though. I'm making another baby hat, this one for a member of a small group I belong to at church. This hat is for Rachael.

It is also made with the Dreambaby DK yarn, this time in a multicolor yarn with pink/green/blue (202) and a soft pink (119) for the stems and leaves.

Just so you'll know, I hate these needles. I need to pick up some bamboo ones. These keep slipping out of the stitches. This yarn is so SOFT, that it has almost no body and lots of drape. It drapes right off these aluminum needles. And who needs that aggravation? Not me.

Plum Hat

I finished the plum hat. It is as cute as any hat I have ever made. Actually, I've never made a baby hat before, but this one sure is cute. Look at the top -- don't you love those leaves?

The pictures aren't that great. I finished it late at night, and needed to wrap it, so the color is off and the photos are kind of blurry. But take my word for it -- it's cute.

The yarn photo is a better representation of color, since it was taken outside

Yarn -- Plymouth Yarn Dreambaby DK in purple (112) and green (111). I used more than half of the purple skein, and not much of the green skein.

Needles -- Size six double pointed aluminum.

This hat is for a little baby girl due in July (?) to Niccole and Mark. May the Lord bless her and keep her.

Baby hats and Boat bag

While at the beach, we went to Pawley's Island, and I went into Island Knits. I really like this store.

While there, I picked up, of course, some yarn. I received a shower invitation, and thought baby hats might be fun to knit.

I bought Dreambaby DK from Plymouth Yarn -- so soft, I can't describe it, and washable. I bought a purple and kelly green (112 and 111) for a plum hat, and a pink/green/blue (202) plus a pink (119). The pattern is by Ann Norling -- fruit cap pattern.

While at the beach, I bought a new bag -- for knitting, of course.

Kind of fits with Blue month, doesn't it?

Felted wool hat

I finished a hat for my mom using Baabajoes Wool Pak yarn, 14 ply, from New Zealand in a neutral taupe using a Fiber Trends pattern for a felted wool pak hat. Pre-felting, it was one of the ugliest things I have ever knitted. Doesn't it look like a character from Fat Albert? Felting helped alot.

Hints and FO

I was reading Knitting with Laura today and found a very nice list of "glove hints" that any knitting gloves might enjoy. Turning the fingers into the glove so that they don't get into the way while you are knitting the others -- why didn't I think of that???

I finished knitting a (project named removed to protect the gift recipient) today for (name removed). Have you ever knit something so ugly that you don't want to ever see it again? Hopefully, felting will help, and I'll post pre- and post- pictures after Christmas.