Starting Over: A New Cap

This weekend I had the guilties. I felt guilty for not feeling well, I felt guilty for laying around all day Saturday, and I felt guilty for spending all my stitchy time with knitting and not mixing in some time for crochet.

By the time Sunday rolled around I was feeling much better, and I wanted to make a replacement beanie for my son. You may recall that I shrunk the last one. This time I began with machine-wash-friendly yarn so I was confident there would be no shrinkage opportunities in this beanie's future. I also used a different pattern, which I found recently on Yarn Dharma's blog, called the Surface Braid hat. Once I got the hang of the stitch it worked up nice and fast.

[caption id="attachment_208" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Replacement Beanie"][/caption]

The yarn I used was Perfection by Kraemer and it's made from 70% acrylic and 30% superwash merino. I had two shades of brown leftover from previous projects, so I just started making the beanie without asking if he wanted a brown one. I figured it would probably be awhile before I found and bought any more Frog Tree Meriboo yarn like what the original beanie was made from, so it was probably best if I knocked the project out with something that was readily available. Plus, he's a fair-colored kid so brown is a complimentary color for him.

The Little Guy claimed to like it and was appreciative of the effort. I think I made it a bit big for his head, even with having him try it on periodically as I stitched it, but I'm not a good judge of how much stretch hats have in them until I get too far into the project. Maybe more experience with hats will help me to become a better judge of this.

It felt so good to crochet something again. I've been diligently working to finish the Orange Sharf project I started over the summer, and I'm determined to complete it before the weather warms up this spring. It's growing but just not as fast as I would like to report.

[caption id="attachment_209" align="aligncenter" width="224" caption="The Infamous Orange Sharf"][/caption]

 

I'm excited that today I'm supposed to have a few deliveries on my door step when I get home! I'll share all the details with you in the next podcast episode, so stay tuned!

The Incredible Shrinking Beanie

I told myself it would never happen. I thought that I was too conscious of treasured handmade pieces that there was no way I could shrink or felt something by accident. But, alas the words in my mouth have been replaced with crow. Or my foot. Or whatever should happen when someone says they'll "never" do something then they go and do it.

[caption id="attachment_200" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Beanie made from Merino & Bamboo Yarn"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_203" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The Shrunken Beanie"][/caption]

This is what happened when I was rushing to get my son's laundry done after we got back to town from our family trip. I washed and dried the beanie with the rest of his clothing, and even though the dryer was on a lower temperature, this is proof that a merino bamboo blend will definitely shrink and felt a bit.

I had to hang my head as I handed the beanie back to him and promise to make him a new one. Of course, I don't have enough yarn in these colors on hand to create an exact replica, but I guess this means a yarn purchase is in my future!

 

Episode 14: New Things for the New Year

The first episode of 2012 includes details of what's new so far in 2012 and what's yet to come.

I'm excited to share with you that I've added my yarn stash to Ravelry, which includes lovely yarn I was gifted over the Christmas holiday by my sister.

[caption id="attachment_199" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Araucania Budi yarn from Sissy"][/caption]

What's in my bag?

• Orange Sharf (with notes about my Addi Turbo needles)
  
  [caption id="attachment_202" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Orange Sharf In Progress"][/caption]


• One Skein Shrug

What's in my ears?

• [amazon_enhanced asin="B003VE4V3Y" /]


• Caithness Craft Collective


• High Fiber Diet

What's in my library?

• [amazon_link id="030758674X" target="_blank" ]Burda Style Sewing Handbook[/amazon_link]

Looking forward to:

• Sewing project bags


• Crocheting more Operation Gratitude Scarves


• Using my new Yarn Swift


• Purchasing new podcasting microphone, resources for my library and interchangeable needle sets

 

 

 

Food, Fun and Snow

I hope you had a wonderful holiday season and your new year is off to a great start! I'm really excited about the month of January this year because I have lots of positive changes in store for me and my family. I'll share more details as things come to fruition.

Until then, here are some pictures of me with some of my family members as we enjoyed our holiday break together. You can see our camouflage stockings adorning the hearth, my husband working his magic on our turkey preparations and a day in the snow with my son and my sister while we were visiting family in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

We had an amazing Christmas and New Year's celebration this year. So many good memories were made that it will make future holiday gatherings hard to beat.

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Best wishes to you as you get this new year started! And, don't forget to keep those hands stitchin'!