More Christmas Projects

Once I completed the unfinished Honey in the Comb Christmas dishcloth that I'd started last year, I found myself on a roll. I love the vivid colours of holiday yarn, and the untouched skein of Bernat Handicrafter Holidays Ombres Mistletoe in my stash just kept calling out to me.

Mistletoe iCord Necklace
Free pattern (for personal use only).

I started my holiday knitting binge by making iCord necklaces to gift my friends at our annual Christmas party. The necklaces turned out to be very popular.

Materials:

• 1 ball of Bernat Handicrafter Holidays Ombres yarn in Mistletoe Ombre


• preferred tools for making iCord (knitting needles, loom or French Knitting Bee – personally, I prefer the French Knitting Bee)


• tapestry needle


• small Christmas ornaments (I used the handmade glass pendants from a set of wine-glass identifiers)

Instructions:

Create an iCord 26-28 inches long using your preferred method of making iCord.

Sew the two ends of the iCord together and weave in the tails.

On the side of the loop directly opposite where you sewed the ends together, sew on one of your holiday ornaments. Be sure the ornament is heavy enough to hang properly without being so big or heavy that it weighs the neck down.

The example in the photo is a hand-formed glass candy cane.

Tie a piece of contrasting yarn around the sewing to hide it and make a bow to dress up the pendant.

Mistletoe Lily Dish Cloth
I used the free Lily Knitted Dish Cloth pattern from the Dishcloth Boutique. Actually, started it in a Handicrafter Twist, using the 4.5 mm needles called for. I was well into the project before I realized how incredibly wide the dishcloth was turning out. Then I messed up (knitted half of one row of instructions and then the other half of a different row). I only made matters worse when I tried to pick it out, so I unravelled the whole thing. At that point, I decided to change to the Mistletoe yarn, since there seemed to be plenty left in the skein after I finished the iCord necklaces. I also changed to smaller needles (3.25 mm). Finally, I wrote out the instructions in detail (no repeats), so that I could tick everything off as I went and not mix up the row instructions.

Oops. I guessed wrong about the amount of yarn left. I ran short after finishing the pattern, but with 12 rows still to go. I was just about to take apart the last necklace (the friend I’d made it for missed the party) in order to finish the dishcloth, when another friend called out of the thin blue air asking if I wanted to go with her to Walmart (way, way out in the suburbs) that Saturday. Since that’s where the Mistletoe yarn came from, I crossed my fingers and hoped I’d find another ball of it there, so that I could finish the dishcloth without having to undo the necklace… and sure enough, they did! [Happy Dance!]

It came out beautifully, don’t you think? I actually like the reverse side better than the actual front.

Mistletoe Christmas Tree Hot Pad

So, once more I had lots of holiday yarn leftover. This time I decided to do the free Christmas Tree Dish Cloth pattern by Barbara Breiter. To my surprise, when I knitted it up, it was way too small to be a dishcloth despite the pattern’s name and despite using large needles. So, I’ll be using it as a hot pad for holiday dinners.

© 2009-12-27 N0Nightowl

Honey in the Comb Dishcloth

In addition to the Mistletoe Dishcloth that I found in my stored Christmas decorations, I also found a second half-finished dishcloth that I am referring to as "Honey in the Comb" because it's knit using the honeycomb stitch.

Basically, this dishcloth follows the Honeycomb pattern in Sandy Scoville's Knit Dishcloth Sampler (American School of Needlework, publication #1309), except I used two colours instead of one. Why? Because last year I had leftover both mistletoe yarn (from the Mistletoe Dishcloth) and red yarn from a dishcloth that I had done for a friend with a kitchen decorated in red. Neither leftover was enough to make a dishcloth, but the two together produced this lovely Christmas kitchen accessory. I simply used the red for the border in the pattern and the mistletoe for the centre.

I'm still trying to conquer joining two colours cleanly. This was the first time I managed to do it without leaving any holes, but the joins aren’t always clean, plus I made one major booboo. Instead of running the change-over yarn back through the body of the knitting, I accidentally looped it around the outside. Oops! By the time I noticed the problem, I wasn’t in the mood to unravel all my knitting. Since I was doing this dishcloth for me and not as a present for someone else, I decided to leave it as it was.

My Honey in the Comb Dishcloth now makes a striking Christmas decoration hanging above my kitchen sink.

Tasselled and Warm

Free pattern (for personal use only).

A friend gifted me with some lovely silvery-grey yarn, and I knew I had to turn it into a winter hat. I decided to take the basic concept of my pattern for my Demonic Thoughts Tuque and adapt it to something slightly warmer for Canadian winters. The original tuque was done in traditional loom-knitting e-wrap (also known as single stitch), which leaves a somewhat airy result. I’ve since learned that the double stitch produces a tighter, thicker finish.

This hat is incredibly simple to make, but looks quite impressive because of the richness of the boa texture of the brim and the addition of the tassel.

Technique: French Knitting, also known as loom knitting or spooling

Sizes: Small adult (with instructions between brackets for large adult)

Materials:

• Knifty Knitter Round Loom -- green for small-adult size or yellow for large-adult size


• Knifty Knitter Hook


• 1 ball eyelash (boa) variegated yarn (I used a dollar-store generic eyelash yarn)


• 1 ball worsted-weight yarn (this was an unlabelled gift, so I don’t know what brand it was)


• Tapestry needle


• Optional: French Knitting Bee

Instructions:

Step 1: Using a strand each of the eyelash and the worsted-weight yarn held together, e-wrap the loom three times counter-clockwise. There will be three loops on each peg when you are done.

Step 2: Using the hook that came with the loom kit, lift the bottom loop on each peg over the top two loops and over the peg (this is what is meant by "double stitch"). When you have completed the entire circle, you will have two rows of loops remaining on the pegs. Push these loops to the bottom of the pegs.

Step 3: E-wrap the loom. You should now have three loops on each peg once again.

Step 4: Repeat Step 2.

Continue repeating Steps 3 and 4 until your knitting measures 5.5 inches (6.5 inches) long.

Step 5: Cut the boa strand, leaving a 7-8 inch tail, which you will weave in later. Do not cut the two strands of worsted-weight yarn.

Step 6: Pull your knitting through the inside of the loom to access the beginning edge. Place each loop from the originating row over its corresponding peg (hint: start by placing the loop to the right of the original loose yarn over the peg to the right of the outer tie-off peg and continue around the circle counter-clockwise until you have two loops on each peg -- the bottom loop being from the last row you knit and the top loop being from the edge).

Step 7: Lift the bottom loop over the top loop and over the peg. When you have completed the entire circle, you will have one row of loops remaining on your pegs, and the bottom and top of your knitting will have been knit together to form a double-thick brim.

Continue repeating Steps 3 and 4 until your knitting measures 7.5 inches (8.5 inches) beyond the brim. There should be two loops on each peg at this point.

Step 8: Lift the bottom loop over the top loop, so that only one stitch remains on each peg.

Cut your yarn (both strands), leaving 7-8 inch tails.

Step 9: Thread your tapestry needle with a 2- to 2.5-foot length of the worsted-weight yarn. Sew through each loop on the pegs, from bottom to top of the peg. When all loops have been sewn through, join the ends of the sewing yarn with a slip knot.

Step 10: Using the hook, lift all the loops off the pegs. They will now be strung on the yarn you sewed through them with the tapestry needle.

Step 11: Using your favourite technique for creating iCord, make a cord 6.5 (7.5) inches long, leaving a 3-ft. tail on end. Personally, I make my iCords using the French Knitting Bee. However, if you prefer to loom your iCord, click here for video instructions at the Knit Knot Purl Curl website.

Step 12: Make the tassel. Wrap a single strand of the worsted-weight around your hand until you get an amount of yarn that you think would make a nice thickness for your tassel. I wrapped my hand 9 times, which makes an 18-strand tassel. Using a 10-12 inch strand of yarn, tie one side of the loops together with a square knot.

Step 13: Attach the tassel to the end of the iCord with another square knot. Then use the long iCord tail to wrap tightly around the top part of the tassel and the bottom of the iCord. Complete by sewing down through the inside of the wrap and cut off the remaining end of the tail. Cut off the loops at the bottom of the tassel.

Step 14: Turn the hat inside out. Pull the two ends of the sewing yarn together to gather the material for the top of the hat. Before you have completely closed the top, slip through the opening the top end of the iCord.

Step 15: Tighten the sewing yarn until the hole at the top of the hat is completely closed and tie off with a square knot. Then tie one end of the sewing yarn to the tail of the iCord with a square knot. Tie all loose ends of yarn together with one more square knot.

Step 16: Cut the ends of all the yarn tails approximately one inch from the knots. Optionally, you can weave all the tails into the knitting instead of cutting, but I find that it's easier just to leave the short, cut strands as they are on the inside the tuque and cannot be seen.

Step 17: With the tapestry needle, weave in the tails of yarn on the inside of the tuque where the brim joins the top of the hat.

Step 18: Turn your hat right-side-out, and your project is complete.

© 2009-12-08 N0Nightowl

Mistletoe Dishcloth

This year, for the first time ever, I wasn't looking forward to the Christmas holidays -- partially because I can't afford to travel to visit my family thanks to the economy, and partially because I have recently been diagnosed with diabetes, so will not be able to indulge in all the wonderfully delicious seasonal goodies. Determined not to give into depression, I pulled out all the Christmas decorations that I’ve collected over the years and decorated the apartment from top to bottom. The cat ran and hid, terrified I was going to stick a Santa Hat on him...

Among my kitchen decorations, I discovered this beautiful Christmas dishcloth that I had totally forgotten about. Then I remembered that I had started knitting it before Christmas last year but hadn't finished it in time to use during the holidays. So I packed it away, where it languished, unused and ignored, in storage. Now it has the place of honour, hanging above the sink and matching all my holiday-themed potholders, kitchen towels, Santa stove ring covers and vivid red rugs.

This dishcloth was knit using the free pattern for Alex’s Cloth designed by Vaunda Rae Giberson, and using Lily Sugar'n Cream Misletoe cotton yarn.

© 2009-12-07 N0Nightowl

Variegated Miter Coasters

Free pattern (for personal use only).

I wouldn't be surprised if there are tons of other coaster patterns out there on the internet that are similar to this, or perhaps even identical. I developed this "pattern" while teaching myself how to do miters. As soon as I had knit a test square, I knew that this technique would produce beautiful coasters, especially if done in a nice absorbent cotton, preferably a variegated yarn that would create striking right-angled streaks of colour on the diagonal of the square.

A second impetus went into the creation of this pattern--I tend to make a lot of dishcloths (there are so very many wonderful variations to explore), and there are usually fairly large hunks of yarn left over, though rarely enough to ever make a second dishcloth. A coaster is usually just the right size to finish off one of these leftovers. By sticking to variegated yarns, the coasters will still look like a set, even when the colours themselves are different.

The following pattern will produce 5-6 coasters per ball of yarn.

Note: Because of the difference in weight of the two yarns, the first numbers are for the Bernat yarn, while the numbers in brackets are for the Sugar'n Cream yarn.

Materials:

• 4 mm needles (U.S. size 6) [3¾ mm needles (U.S. size 5)]
  
• 1 skein Bernat Organic Natural Cotton (GET URL) *or* 1 skein Lilly Sugar'n Cream 100% cotton yarn (GET URL) (Note: You should be able to get at least four matching coasters out of a single skein.)
  
• 2 differently coloured place markers (I use pieces of red and green yarn made into a slip-knotted loop. I tend to forget which row/side of the knitting that I am on, so if I see a green loop is in place, then I need to decrease on that row; if a red loop is in place, then I don't decrease on that row.)
  
• Tapestry needle.

Stitches:

K = knit

K2tog = knit 2 together

SSK = slip 1, slip 1, knit two together (slip stitches knit-wise, insert the left needle into the fronts of the 2 stitches and knit together through the back loop)

Instructions:

Cast on 17 (15) stitches, put the 1st place marker on the left needle (I use the red loop), then cast on 17 more stitches.

Row 1 and all odd rows: K to marker, replace the red loop with the green loop), K to end of row.

Row 2 and all even rows: K to 2 sts before the green loop. K2tog. Remove green loop and place red loop on left needle. SSK. K to end of row.

Repeat these two rows until only 2 stitches remain on the needle. K2tog.

Knot off and sew in yarn tails.

© 2009-10-15 N0Nightowl

Fuzzy Headband

Instead of blogging, I’ve been knitting and looming like mad, trying to get all my winter projects done before the cold weather arrived. The cold came… and passed, giving me a short reprieve to catch up, except I ended up editing a book for a friend, instead of knitting. I did finish one set (matching mitts, hat and scarf) in time for a friend’s birthday, but almost everything else is behind.

One thing I did manage to complete was a headband for another friend. I’d offered to do her a tuque (that’s a traditional winter knit cap, to those non-Canadians reading this) to wear as she walked to work through Toronto’s winter cold, but she finds herself overheated with a hat. We were talking about earmuffs, when I remembered earlier thoughts that the Knifty Knitter round-loom cap instructions for making the brim of the cap could probably easily be turned into a double-thickness headband to keep the ears comfy warn.

Here’s the pattern I came up with.

Fuzzy Double-Thick Winter Headband
Free pattern (for personal use only).

Technique: French Knitting, also know as looming or spooling. This pattern uses double-stitch, which provides a tighter, more wind-proof finish to the headband, and the ribbing bind-off method.

Sizes: Small adult or large adult, depending on which loom is used

Materials:

• Knifty Knitter Round Loom -- green for small-adult size or yellow for large-adult size
  
• Knifty Knitter Hook
  
• 1 skein Bernat Boa Cardinal eyelash yarn
  
• 1/2 skein Red Heart Classic Black worsted-weight acrylic yarn
  
• Tapestry needle

Instructions:

Step 1: Using a strand each of the boa and the worsted-weight yearn held together, e-wrap the loom three times counter-clockwise. There will be three loops on each peg when you are done.

Step 2: Lift the bottom loop on each peg over the top two loops and peg. When you have completed the entire circle, you will have two rows of loops remaining on the pegs.

Step 3: E-wrap the loom. You should now have three loops on each peg once again.

Step 4: Repeat Step 2.

Continue repeating steps 3 an 4 until your knitting measures 6.5 inches long (7 inches for larger size).

Step 5: For the last row, do NOT add a third loop to the pegs. With only two loops remaining on each peg, lift the bottom loop over the top loop.

Step 6: Pull your knitting through the inside of the loom to access the beginning edge. Place each loop from the originating row over its corresponding peg (hint: start by placing the loop to the right of the original loose yarn over the peg to the right of the outer tie-off peg and continue around the circle counter-clockwise until you have two loops on each peg – the bottom loop being from the last row you knit and the top loop being from the edge.)

Step 7: Lift the bottom loop over the top loop, until only a single row of loops remain on the pegs, and the bottom and top of your knitting has been knit together to form a double-thick band.

Step 8: Cast off using the ribbing bind-off method.

8a: To get the proper length of tail to work with, wrap the working yarn around the whole circle three times, then cut. Thread the end into the tapestry needle.

8b: Starting with the peg to the right of the tie-off peg, run the needle and thread down through the loop on that peg.

8c: Then bring the needle and thread up through the loop on the peg to the left of the one you just did.

8d: Now, skipping the peg to the right (the one where you sewed downward) and holding the yarn behind the skipped peg, sew downward through the loop on the next peg.

8e: Sew the yarn up through the loop on the peg to the left (which will have already been sewn through downward during step 8b.

Repeat Steps 8d and 8e until all the loops have both up and down stitches.

8f: Remove the loops from the pegs and weave in the tail of the yarn.

Step 9: Roll the cast-off seam to the inside where it can’t be seen, and your headband is ready to wear.

© 2009-11-14 N0Nightowl

Six Degrees of Babies

In my post about the original Baby’s Joy Cap, I complained about not having any family or friends in the age group to have babies to knit for (all those baby patterns just look *so* cute, are quick to knit and don’t use huge amounts of yarn). Well, as it turns out, finding babies is like playing the game, “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon”. I may not have a first degree of contact with any baby mommies, but I’m finding I have a number of second, third and fourth degree contacts as my friends turn out to be aunts, great-aunts and grand-mothers, most of whom are looking for original baby gifts like hand-knit items. My little French-knit cap with the bow on top turned out to be a big hit. So, I just finished a second one, this time for an aunt instead of a great-aunt. I have enough Baby’s Joy sayelle in my stash to do one more of these caps before having to switch to a different yarn

Demonic Hands Mitts

Well, I am finally able to download pictures again (don't ask how I managed to break the USB bus on the new camera – I'm still embarrassed by that), so I'm once more back to posting to my blog.

These mittens are intended to form a set with my Demonic Thoughts Tuque and Demon Lengths Scarf [TBD] projects. The mittens are also inspired by the TV show Supernatural, and their name refers to Dean's actions during his sojourn in Hell.

The mitten pattern I used is one that I was given back in the 1970's when I was first learning to knit (Patons No. 303, Beehive Publications). I doubt it's still in publication. I've knitted so many pairs of these mittens over the years that I've lost count.

This time I improvised the cuff. Instead of using a single strand of worsted-weight yarn as called for, I added a strand of Bernat Boa Cardinal eyelash yarn to the strand of Red Heart Classic Cherry Red and used the doubled strands to knit the cuffs. Once the cuff was complete, I switched back to a single strand of the Red Heart and finished the rest of the mitten as per the pattern instructions.

The cuffs are a bit loose, as I realised upon completing the first mitt and trying it on. I should have used smaller needles to do the cuff ribbing since I used a double strand of worsted and boa there. I'll know how to do it right the next time.

And yes, I'll be doing more mittens. Having lived in Northern Quebec, where temperatures tend to be much colder than here in the south (comparitively speaking, southern Ontario is the "Deep South" of Canada -- indeed, Toronto lies south of Washington, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire and much of New York and Michigan), I discovered that hand-knit mittens, paired with the tiny, super-stretchy gloves, are the best thing for driving when a car's steering wheel is a solid block of ice. I have tried leather gloves, fur-lined gloves, and even ski-wear gloves and mittens, but nothing keeps the finges warmer on a cold steering wheel than mittens over the little stretchy gloves.

Camera Battles

I’ve been very frustrated lately trying to get a clear picture of my knitting projects to post… well, that and getting a shot of my cat Sheldon that doesn’t look like a moving blur, as he seems to think the sight of the camera being aimed at him is an invitation to immediately hop in my lap and lick my nose.

So, I finally bit the bullet, raided this month’s grocery budget, and went hunting a new electronic camera to replace my old, barely functional piece of cheap junk. I found a good deal on an Olympus FE-20 with a useful macro function and stabilizer right before Polaris Con this past week-end, and so promised myself lots of nice pics of this year’s Masquerade costumes. I also frantically designed and knit up a fuzzy camera case for my purse since the salesperson told me modern cameras are extremely fragile and shouldn’t be kept loose with all the usual crap in a big, full handbag.

I tend to joke that Murphy of Murphy’s Law is stalking me, because, if anything can go wrong around me, it will. It certainly did when it came to the new camera.

To start with, I read the first part of the camera instructions while knitting the camera case, which I finished assembling about two hours before heading out the door to the con. Reading the rest of the instructions during the first panel of the day on Saturday, I discovered an instruction that I personally think should have been at the very beginning of the booklet – you need to charge the battery for at least five hours before using the camera for the first time, even if the camera was shipped with a partially charged battery. Well, at least I had been smart enough to bring the charger with me. What I hadn’t been smart enough to do was distinguish between the electric cable and TV connection cable. [Sigh.] So, no lovely Masquerade or TV star pictures this year.

Once home, I located the proper cable for the battery charger, figured out how to pry the battery out of its wedged-in death-hold on the camera, and gave it a full charge. Then I took several pictures of a couple of my knitting projects while trying to make the pamphlet’s user instructions make sense. I even chased Sheldon around the apartment and got a couple of shots that weren’t blurs or half a cat face and a tongue licking the camera lens. All that was left was to download the pictures to the computer where I could see them full size and determine if they were acceptable quality. This should have been simple, because according to the pamphlet, all I had to do was plug in the furnished USB cable and the camera would turn on and the computer would see it as an external drive. Everything seems to connect properly, but the camera does not turn on… and there’s absolutely nothing in the trouble-shooting directions of what to do if that happens. [Double sigh.]

So, tomorrow I call the Help Desk. Hopefully they will have an answer and I can start downloading. I’ve got lots of on-going knitting projects that I want to upload to this blog once I get them on my computer. I can’t wait to show you what I’ve been working on lately… well, besides trying to get the blasted camera to work!

Baby's Joy Cap

When a friend told me she was about to become a great aunt, I quickly volunteered to whip up a baby cap for her. At my age (don’t ask), I don’t know many folks with little ones to knit for, so this was an excuse to pull out my trusty set of Knifty Knitter looms and pounce on the smallest one, used for making caps for newborns and small babies. I find it wonderfully restful to sit and watch TV while creating a cunning little cap in no time flat and with very little effort or thought. Yes, this type of French knitting (also called "looming") is that easy.

I've used the little blue Knifty Knitter loom and the cap-making instructions that come with it to make a number of baby caps already, but this time I wanted to experiment a little. I'd seen something called the "double stitch" on a number of looming websites, so I decided to try that, otherwise I followed the pattern exactly as set out in the pamphlet. Double stitching consists of wrapping the pegs three times instead of twice, then lifting the bottom loop over the top two. This produces a tighter, thicker knit.

The yarn I used was a remnant from my stash – Zeller’s Baby sayelle in a variegated colour called Baby’s Joy. I could not find any references to this specific colourway anywhere on the net, so I am assuming it is no longer in production. I acquired it a long time ago for a crocheted edging project that I never finished and then forgot about.

I loved the multi-coloured stippling of the finished product, but it still felt a little incomplete when I looked at it. I don't like adding handmade pompoms to baby caps because I find that the cut yarns can come apart too easily if the baby tugs on it. Then I thought of the pattern for a knit bow that I obtained as part of a pattern for knitting slippers. So, I knit up a bow (using 3.25 mm needles), and that turned out to be the perfect finishing touch.

Quick and Easy Is Good

I get bored easily, so I like knitting projects projects that are quick and easy... but still provide a bit of a challenge... or at least something new. Sometimes it's just trying to knit a charted design I've never tried before, like the dishcloth I just finished using Barbara Breiter's free butterfly pattern. I used Lily Sugar'n Cream Swimming Pool 100% cotton and 4.5mm needles (the pattern actually calls for 5mm needles, but I prefer my dishcloths slightly denser). It took me approximately four hours to do. but that's because (1) I'm a slow knitter and (2) I tend to knit while watching television and thus get distracted easily.

There's enough yarn remaining that, by combining it with leftover Swimming Pool yarn from another dishcloth project, I'll probably be able to get still another small dishcloth out of it... or maybe a couple of mitered coasters.

Demonic Thoughts Tuque -- my first pattern

Free pattern (for personal use only).

This tuque (Canadian variation on the word "toque" for knitted hat) doesn't actually cause the wearer to indulge in evil thoughts. The name comes from the design's inspiration, the television show Supernatural, where one of the main characters, Dean Winchester, has been to Hell and back and is now caught in a battle between Hell (thus the colour red) and Heaven (feather decoration for the angels).

This hat is incredibly simple to make, but looks quite impressive because of the richness of the boa texture of the brim and the unusual feather decoration.

Technique: French Knitting, also known as loom knitting or spooling

Sizes: Small adult (with instructions between brackets for large adult)

Materials:

• Knifty Knitter Round Loom -- green for small-adult size or yellow for large-adult size
• Knifty Knitter Hook
• 1 ball Bernat Boa Cardinal eyelash yarn
• 1 ball Red Heart Classic Cherry Red worsted-weight acrylic yarn
• Tapestry needle
• Two leather laces with feathers attached. I used the laces and feathers from barrettes after detaching the barrettes.
  

Instructions:

Step 1: Using a strand each of the boa and the worsted-weight yarn held together, e-wrap the loom twice counter-clockwise. There will be two loops on each peg when you are done.

Step 2: Using the hook that came with the loom kit, lift the bottom loop on each peg over the top loop and over the peg. When you have completed the entire circle, you will have one row of loops remaining on the pegs. Push these loops to the bottom of the pegs.

Step 3: E-wrap the loom. You should now have two loops on each peg once again.

Step 4: Repeat Step 2.

Continue repeating Steps 3 and 4 until your knitting measures 5 inches (6 inches) long. There should be only one loop on each peg at this point.

Step 5: Cut the boa strand, leaving a 7-8 inch tail, which you will weave in later. Do not cut the worsted-weight yarn.

Step 6: Pull your knitting through the inside of the loom to access the beginning edge. Place each loop from the originating row over its corresponding peg (hint: start by placing the loop to the right of the original loose yarn over the peg to the right of the outer tie-off peg and continue around the circle counter-clockwise until you have two loops on each peg -- the bottom loop being from the last row you knit and the top loop being from the edge).

Step 7: Lift the bottom loop over the top loop and over the peg. When you have completed the entire circle, you will have one row of loops remaining on your pegs, and the bottom and top of your knitting will have been knit together to form a double-thick brim.

Step 8: Add a second strand of worsted-weight yarn to the original strand of worsted-weight yarn (remember, it was the boa yarn that you cut off) and kit the remainder of the tuque with the two strands of worsted-weight held together.

Continue repeating Steps 3 and 4 until your knitting measures 6 inches (7.5 inches) beyond the brim. There should be only one loop on each peg at this point. Cut your yarn (both strands), leaving 7-8 inch tails.

Step 9: Thread your tapestry needle with a 2- to 2.5-foot length of the worsted-weight yarn. Sew through each loop on the pegs, from bottom to top of the peg. When all loops have been sewn through, join the ends of the sewing yarn with a slip knot.

Step 10: Using the hook, lift all the loops off the pegs. They will now be strung on the yarn you sewed through them with the tapestry needle.

Step 11: Turn the hat inside out. Pull the two ends of the sewing yarn together to gather the material for the top of the hat. Before you have completely closed the top, slip through the opening the ends of the leather laces with the feathers attached (the feathers and 2-4 inches of lace should be on the finished outside, while the ends of the laces should be inside and should be long enough to tie into the tails of your yarn). I like to leave the outside laces different lengths to add visual interest to the finished product.

Step 12: Tighten the sewing yarn until the hole at the top of the hat is completely closed and tie off with a square knot. Then tie one end of the sewing yarn to one of the tails of wrapping yarn with a square knot. Tie the other end of the sewing yarn to the other tail of wrapping yarn. Now, tie the ends of the leather laces to the yarn tails with square knots.

Step 13: Cut the ends of all the yarn tails approximately one inch from the knots. Optionally, you can weave all the tails into the knitting instead of cutting, but I find that it's easier just to leave the short, cut strands as they are on the inside the tuque and cannot be seen.

Step 14: With the tapestry needle, weave in the tails of yarn on the inside of the tuque where the brim joins the top of the hat.

Step 15: Turn your hat right-side-out, and your project is complete.

© 2009-07-01 N0Nightowl

Patterns and Recipes

I must be more excited about this blog than I thought I was, because, despite going to bed extremely late (as usual), I woke up bright and early after only four hours sleep with a blog topic spinning around in my head -- patterns and recipes.

Comparing knitting to cooking is probably nothing new as a concept, but it's not a comparison that I'd personally ever considered before. Yet, now that it has popped into my head, it seems so very obvious. After all, a pattern is a recipe for knitting a specific item while a recipe is a pattern to be followed in creating a specific dish. The process is the same even when the products are quite different.

Both recipes and patterns start off with titles, followed by a list of ingredients / materials. Milk, flour, sugar versus needles, yarn, finishings. Measurements are given in cups and spoonfuls... or needle sizes and balls of yarn. Then the instructions are set out step by step. If followed exactly, you end up with a duplicate of the item created by the recipe / pattern writer. If you make substitutions, you end up with a similar product that -- hopefully -- works as well as the original, but which may be better... or worse.

Success lies in the cook's / knitter's experience and depth of knowledge of the ingredients / materials. When you've been cooking for a while, you know when you can or can't get by with substituting margarine or olive oil for the butter, or when you can thrown in that extra spice to enhance the flavour without ruining it. Once you've developed experience as a knitter, you're able to achieve the same gage when using a different yarn than the one called for in the pattern. You can use different stitches and adapt the patterns to different sizes.

Eventually, you become confident enough in your skills that you start cooking / knitting without the recipes / patterns, and you start creating your own. The cook buys some lovely seasonal strawberries and suddenly has an idea for a brand new dessert. The knitter falls in love with a yarn and visualizes a garment for which she has no existing pattern. Each in turn then sets out and creates something totally new.

When I was growing up, both cooking and knitting were equally esoteric. I took home economics in high school and learned to follow recipes. Later, when I was out on my own, I started adapting recipes to the ingredients I had on hand or that were seasonal. Then, one day, I threw the cookbook aside for most of the things I was making and just cooked.

Now the same thing is happening with my knitting. I took an adult-education class back in the '80s and learned to follow patterns, which is all that I did for years afterwards. Slowly I started adapting them, firstly by using different yarns than the ones called for, then by changing the stitches. This past year I finally picked up my needles, pulled a yarn from my stash, and just started knitting with an idea in my head but no pattern on paper to follow... and it worked.

So, I guess my next step is to teach myself how to take the things I’ve knitted without someone else's pattern and recreate those steps so that someone else can make the same item. Tomorrow I hope to present my first ever pattern for others to use. Wish me luck in writing it up tonight.

My Newest Passion

Knitting, knitting, and more knitting! Yup, the Nightowl has a new passion and is spending her late night hours (hey, there's a reason for the nickname) doing... guess what? Why knitting, of course. So, I decided it's time to start a blog dedicated specifically to my knitting adventures, ponderings, and grumblings.

I spent a fair amount of time looking for a catchy name for this blog, but I discovered that knitting is so popular, most of the kewl names have already been taken. I finally decided to do something using my oldest and most popular nicks, Nightowl, because the 'n' sound of 'nightowl' goes so well with the 'n' sound after the silent 'k' in 'knit' -- and I discovered that there are already other knitting nightowls populating the net. Never one to give up on a good pun, I decided to add the silent 'k' to 'Knightowl' and, while I was at it, to 'nest' as well. Thus Knightowl's Knitted Knest is born. Welcome to my new nest.