This is the same purple I matched with the persimmon in the last dishcloth, plus “Lime Stripes.”

I worry that, with yet another dishcloth (12 in 17 days) I may start losing members of the audience. And yet I am helpless to stop.

How about some chicken news? People seem to like chicken news.

Ethel has molted a little tiny bit, at the back of her neck. Although you’d never know it to look at Her Royal Fluffiness.

Only half of what you see is chicken. The rest is all feathers. You would be shocked if you picked her up, and felt how small her body actually is, buried inside all that fluff.

Here’s a better picture of the bare spot, with a bit of the fencing wire in the way.

While I was going through my pictures, I discovered I had caught a perfect picture of chicken eyelashes.

I had no idea chickens had eyelashes!

OH I nearly forgot! Everyone please congratulate Lisa on her first sock!

Tags: Dishcloths, FO, My Peeps

Comments (13)

After pretty much finishing the Liz Lemon hat, and then ripping it all the way back and casting on again, I buckled down and finished the second version much more quickly.

First, another look at the original:

And now my final version, finished for real and gifted to the recipient, I won’t be ripping this one back, I promise!

(I clone stamped out some schmutz on the board which was visually distracting. I’m pretty sure you can’t even tell where. The key to successful use of the clone stamp tool is subtlety.)

I think the decreases look kind of neat on the inside.

At the top I did the same sort of decrease I use on 2×2 ribbing. The pattern is divided into two groups – purls and knits. I subdivide these into two more groups each; odds and evens.

Round 1: Decrease one stitch in each purl/odd column.
Round 2: Decrease one stitch in each knit/odd column.
Round 3: Decrease one stitch in each purl/even column.
Round 4: Decrease one stitch in each knit/even column.

Much better.

And here’s a look at that (corrected) turning row.

This is kind of hard to explain if you’ve never seen one before. But the next time you knit a hat with a brim, knit one full round after the cuff, but before you start the body. It makes the brim flip up just right.

Tags: FO, Liz Lemon Hat

Comments (6)

All day long it’s been raining and dreary and gray. Everything is sopping wet outside. I kept wondering, “How am I going to put on these socks, and trek out somewhere with good lighting, and take some nice pictures, without getting them soaking wet?”

Because there is a convention in knit-blog-land, that your finished socks are photographed on the hoof. We post pictures of the sock-on-a-counter during the entire “in progress” phase, and I guess some of us worry that you won’t understand what the sock will look like on a foot.

Well finally I decided, “**** it, I’ll just tell them that when it’s on a foot, it looks foot-shaped and do what I can. Sock puppetry would work well. At least it’s easier to get the angle right.”

What do you think, Mr. Sock?

Oh, I think that’s a great idea! But I’m not sure if the lighting inside is going to work and

OH GOD OH GOD THE CLAWS THEY HURT MAKE THE CLAWS STOP!

Okay, Mr. Sock, sorry about that! Let’s go outside. Feeling better?

Oh yes thank you, I think the bleeding will stop soon. Oh it looks like the pond’s filling in nicely.

Yeah, it’s crazy, right? It was almost dry like a week ago, and now it’s nearly overflowing. Pretty wet October.

Speaking of which, what do you think about the firewood?

Ooh it looks lovely! Did you re-split all of that firewood from earlier this year?

Yep, I had to re-split most of the last load I had delivered, because it was way too big. But at least I have some good dry stuff to start burning now.

Oh and is that the new stuff? That’s a pretty big pile! Gosh, that must have been a lot of work!

It really was, thanks for noticing! And thanks for your time, Mr. Sock, I really appreciate it.

Tags: Fancy Image Yarn, FO

Comments (14)

When I ran out of yarn knitting the second sock, Judy suggested that I rip back the first sock, use that yarn to knit the second sock up to the same point, then finish both socks with a completely different yarn.

This trick worked really well, and luckily I had some reasonably-matching yarn on hand. (Knit Picks Telemark, black.) Fancy Image Yarn has plenty of yarn per skein for a pair of socks, and I’m not really sure what went wrong. Did the feather and fan pattern eat up too much yarn?

The first sock weighed 62 grams before I ripped it back and added the Knit Picks Telemark. If I had weighed it when I finished it, I would have known what was coming. But who thinks to do that?

Anyway, this has motivated me to finally put together a toe-up sock recipe that I like and can memorize. I’ve tried a few toe-up sock patterns, and there’s always something that I like and something that I don’t.

One thing I haven’t yet found is a suitable heel. I have a wide heel, and when I’ve made short-row heels, they are too shallow. It’s like my heel is too tall, and the short row heel only goes halfway up, and I feel like I’m constantly walking out of my socks. Does that make sense?

I’m going to end every paragraph of this blog post with a question. Okay?

By the way, suddenly it seems like everyone is talking about the A&E show, Hoarders. Every time I hear someone mention it I giggle a little. I thought I was the only one who’d been seeing the ads for the last two weeks, and mentally marking my calendar OMG MUST WATCH THIS.

Well, my television died over the weekend, and I have no immediate plans to replace it. But I found that you can watch Hoarders episodes here on the A&E website, if you don’t have cable. I watched an episode at lunch yesterday, and kind of wished I hadn’t. The show is awesome, but it doesn’t go well with a meal, I’ll say that.

Tags: Fancy Image Yarn, Feather and Fan Socks, FO

Comments (17)

I’ve been meaning to write this up for ages. This is my go-to charity knitting pattern, such that I had to stop and think of a name for it. I’ve always just called it “a hat.” It’s quick to knit, and fits just about anyone.

Yarn: Cascade 220, or your DK-weight yarn of choice.

As written, The Easy Hat takes slightly more than one skein of yarn. If you want to use only one skein, knit for only 7.5 inches before starting the decreases.

Gauge: 3.5 st/inch over stockinette, with the yarn held doubled.

Instructions:

1. With the yarn held doubled, CO 72 stitches on two #11 needles held together.

2. Join to knit in the round, and switch to a single needle. Work in K2P2 rib for 9 inches.

3. Begin decreases. I like to do “fancy” ribbing decreases, then seam the top closed with a kitchener graft. But feel free to finish off the hat however you like – the ribbing is very forgiving.

My “fancy” ribbing decreases:

Round 1: [k2tog, p2, k2, p2]
Round 2: [k, p2tog, k2, p2]
Round 3: [k, p, k2tog, p2]
Round 4: [k, p, k, p2tog]
Round 5: [k2tog]
Round 6: knit around

Tags: FO, Free Knitting Patterns, watch cap pattern

Comments (2)