Another Little Boy's Hat

I'm in the second week of a two week vacation and I'm knitting on several projects. Socks: almost finished with first sock of a pair that were started around Christmas time. Scarf: working on a hexagon project that hasn't "settled down" yet. I'm not liking the way that the hexagons join, so it is still an experiment. Child's Hat: Ah, this one is finished and you can see the photo with this post. Afghan squares: This one will be a charmer! I'm playing with Lamb's Pride worsted -- all those luscious colors -- and the Log Cabin Afghan pattern by Carol Anderson. This project will be in the Studio Store by mid-February so watch for it soon!

About the Little Boy's Hat in the photo: I used a DK weight yarn with US #4 circular needle. The pattern is an interrupted rib (k3,p1) that's set off by rounds of garter stitch ridges. Don't you love the funky earflaps! I added them so that the hat didn't have to pull down over the little boy's eyes. The earflaps are bordered with 3 garter stitches on each side and end I-cord knots that should be shoulder danglers. The tot who wears this hat can easily remove it by grabbing a knot and flinging the hat off. Good for car seat kids, don't you think?

By the way, the circular needle that I used (a Clover 16" bamboo) survived being chewed on by Mr. Griffin Henry Clark, my number two grandson. Over Christmas holidays, Finny walked into the kitchen with this needle in his mouth. "Oh no, Finny! Not my knitting needles! Don't bite," I exclaimed as I rescued the wet needle from the toddler mouth. The needle survived unscathed and Finny got a hug for his curiosity and understanding. That bamboo is really quite hard!

The recipient of this hat will be Action Jackson who turned one in late January. Action Jackson is my granddaughter Hannah's cousin. The yarn in this blue hat is the same as in Hannah's Sunshine Sweater and Hat set, only a different color. So the cousins will have hats from the same yarn, just of a different design. Such fun! Knitting for the little ones!

Tuesday Night Knitters, I will miss being with you this week. Danielle will send you an email so be watching for her knitterly words of wisdom. My emails to you will resume next week and sometime during this week I will update the blog with photos of the projects that you have been knitting. Thank you all again for agreeing to have your photos placed on the GW Blog! See you soon.

Keep knitting,

Wanda

Knitting By the Sea

It's a weekend and I'm knitting by the Pacific. The weather is cool and sunny in San Diego after torrential rains hit the West Coast last week. While I'm getting some time away the Tuesday Night Knitters will be meeting at Joe's Pizza in Caseville. Sounds like fun! Enjoy the knitting and I will see you soon.
Wanda, from cool California

PS Here's the link to one of the Zelda Hat kits on our website!http://www.graywooddesigns.com/product.php?id=51

Tuesday Night Knitters -- January 12

Several of you have wanted to learn how to pick up stitches and knit a fringe onto the ends of a scarf. I will demonstrate this technique on Tuesday. If you want knit along with me have this swatch ready to go:

Using worsted weight yarn and straight needles in US # 7 or 8 or 9, cast on 20 stitches. Knit for about 2 or 3 inches and stop. Bring this swatch with you. For fun you can bring another color of similar weight yarn and we'll put one color of fringe on one end and the second color on the second end.

The fringe technique is easy to do. It's a variation of the rosette on The Zelda Hat and uses cable cast on (our favorite!) and bind off.

See you on Tuesday. . .tomato bisque soup is on the menu. Mmmm!

Two Socks on One Needle Class

Class: Two Socks on One Needle

Date & Time: Wednesday, January 13th -- 4 pm to 8 pm

Place: Graywood Designs Studio Store, 44 South Main Street, Pigeon, MI

Class fee: $15, includes supper

Call 989-453-2311 to register -- Limited to 6 students

What you will learn:

How to wind two balls from one skein of self patterning yarn

How to cast on both socks

How to manage the long needle

In addition -- Chain stitch heel edge (Wanda's favorite method -- a bit different)

Square heel -- also a favorite of mine

Two easy patterns for the leg of the socks

You will need to have a 40" circular needle and sock yarn. Also bring double pointed

needles in the size of your circular needle. Bring the book, 2-at-a-Time-Socks, if you have it.

15% discount on class supplies and on purchases made on day of class

Tuesday Night Knitters on January 6

Ah, the push of wrapping presents and preparing meals and entertaining is lessening. Now there is a little time here and there for a “knit-sit.” I hope that you are able to fix a cup of coffee or tea and get some time, even fifteen minutes, to knit.

UPDATES from the Studio Store: The holidays took over and I haven’t done any more tweaking on the website. That will be January work, so do be patient. There are more yarns and needles coming from Skacel in Seattle. Danielle and I will be busy beavers in early January as we update the website and add these items to the Studio Store. Remember, for those of you in the Thumb Area, that we resume regular hours on Wednesday, Jan. 7th.

Tuesday Night Knitters: We will meet at the Studio Store on Tuesday, Jan. 6th from 5pm to 7pm. There will be something hot to eat and something sweet for a finish. Anybody want to bring fruit or veggies? Let me know. Bring your projects. Also, we will be doing burn tests on different kinds of yarn to determine the fiber content. This is a really cool science type experiment that will give you some basic idea of how to identify the odd yarns that you might have in your collection. Bring along a snippet (4-6 inches) of something that you can’t identify and we’ll do the burn test with it.

Photos: Did you take any photos of projects that you finished? Kathy Kent sent me a great photo of a kid’s hat that she did. Let’s talk about permission for posting those photos on the GW blog. I have several ways that I can do that. We can do it for a limited time, too. We’ll talk about that, okay?

What I’m knitting: I’m working on another scarf design. This one uses fine yarn with larger needles and has an open work stitch pattern. I’m using Trekkiing Tweed in a rich red and brown and am knitting on US Size 5 bamboo needles. I’m also finishing the Top Knot Hat (working title) in a larger gauge. This one is knit on US Size 6 needles using the Addi Turbo 16” circular and Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece yarn in a soft pink. Very nice! Also have one sock on two circular needles going. That’s right – one sock on two 16” circulars. Just wanted to try this method.

Two Socks on One Needle Roundup: For those of you who want to learn how to knit two socks on one long circular needle, the date for this technique class will be Wednesday, January 13th from 4 pm to 8 pm. Give us a call at 989-453-2311 to sign up for this class. Class fee is $15 and includes supper.

Happy New Year!

Our New Website is UP and RUNNING!

We're live! The new Graywood Designs  website went up on the web late this afternoon and, wow, is it a grand feeling to see the work that's been going on for months finally come to the web. We'll be tweaking the site to get the glitches out. Your comments here or your emails to me will be graciously appreciated.

I have to finish color charts for yarns yet. We have about ten colors and kinds of sock yarn in the Studio Store that are not on the site yet. Some knitting needles need to be added. And fabric. . .we have lots of fabrics from our collection that will be added, too.

We think that the navigation is much improved on this new site. (Navigation is what you do as you click here and there. Good navigation should be almost instinctual so let us know what you think about that, too!)

Publishing a website is a lot like publishing a book. I've been pretty tied to my laptop and my desktop comupter both these last few weeks. So, it's so good to be ready for you to take a look and enjoy the Studio Store Collection that's on the website.

FREE PATTERN: Twin Rib Scarf

What's on your needles in December? I'm currently knitting hats and socks and am about ready to cast on another scarf.

The humble scarf gets a lot of bad press. Even though a scarf is often the first project that we accomplish as a knitter, we often get the feeling that we should "grow up" and get beyond scarves. Well, you could knit a long time and never run out of great scarf ideas and patterns to knit. I always have a few scarf projects going -- some with more difficult stitch patterns, often in lace or cables, and one that is an easy-to-remember-no-brainer for the times when I want to knit but don't want to concentrate.

So, in honor of the scarf (and with the hope that you'll want to cast on yet another project!) here's the quick version of one of my favorite scarves:

Twin Rib Scarf

Use a needle size that is suggested for the gauge of the yarn you choose.

Cast on 29 stitches.

Knit 2 garter ridges.

Row 1: K1, *k3, p3,* ending k3, k1 -- 29 sts.
Row 2: *K1, p1,* ending k1 -- 29 sts.

Knit to desired length. End by knitting 2 garter ridges.

NOTE: Text in red added 3/8/2010. Thank you to anonymous knitter who did the math and pointed out a most helpful text edit.

That's it! Simple knitting without complex pattern. I've knit this scarf for my Dad who likes a wool scarf as a neck warmer. For Dad's scarves, I one skein of Lamb's Pride worsted (190 yards) on US #9 needles and knit until the yarn is used up. This results in a scarf about 36 inches long and 5 inches wide. Dad's scarf is knit in charcoal gray with black stripes at each end. Handsome, isn't it!

For my sister Heidi, I used a lighter weight yarn -- a silk/wool blend -- and knit two skeins (220 yards) on US #6 needles. Her scarf is longer than Dad's and matches her Zelda Hat. Heidi likes her scarf and hat set which I knit in green, one of my favorite colors to use when I'm not sure what color to use. I let the recipient know that if the hat doesn't fit quite right, since it is green, you can wear it when you are doing "green" activities like taking out the recycling or gardening!