We went to the fair with our oldest daughter — really fun!  She saw a hat hanging in the Creative Activities Building and loved it…so, mama had to knit it!  It was easy to find on Ravelry: Beeswax Hat.  I had yarn in stash (Madeline Tosh DK) in a perfect gold color.

I admire clever designs and this one truly is.  You think the honeycomb is continuing along its merry way, but in reality it becomes the perfect shaping for the crown, which ends in a beautiful flower motif.  Lovely!!

Here is the one we saw at the fair.  If it’s yours, let me know (I couldn’t see the name!):

Enjoy your Labor Day!!! 🙂

Barbara asked if I entered anything in the fair this year (thanks for asking, Barbara!!).  Usually I post right away but this time I forgot!!  I entered quite a few smaller projects.  I got 5 blue ribbons (3 in regular knitting, 2 in senior), 1 second, 2 thirds, and a 4th (a couple did not win anything 🙂 ).  Some of my entries were a from last year, but placed in different competitions.

The displays leave a lot to be desired!!

Winston, Snowfall (Peppermint Stick), and Briocherub won blues.  Snowfall also won a special MKG award.

Big Love won a 3rd place ribbon (the color is much prettier IRL), and Pickpocket a 4th.

Time Trades won a blue in the senior category.

PS regarding the Splashdown Cowl I wrote about: Apparently some of you are having trouble finding it on The Yarnery website.  Call them directly to ask about it (651-222-5793).  They have more yarn, but will not be restocking so they aren’t listing it on the site.

A couple of weeks ago at The Yarnery, I spotted a new cowl called Splashdown made out of unusual yarn: Lang Splash.  Shelley, co-owner of the shop, had put it together in kits with a simple bias pattern ($41 from The Yarnery).  I took the bait!!  My color (oo7, purples) has purple and raspberry dots on a pale gray background.  The yarn does it all — you just knit!

It knit up quickly:

It goes perfectly with my Ouzo, which will take this lil beauty into fall!!

Math.  A knitter’s best friend and worst enemy (we all know knitters can’t count!).  I taught a class yesterday on Tips and Tricks and thought I would share something I put together long ago.  It is based on something I learned in a workshop along the way on how to figure out equal spacing of increases and decreases.  It looks complicated and maybe it is, but it does work!

Calculating Increases and Decreases

Hope you find this useful!!

PS to Tobie: I feel really stupid!  I found this calculator quite easily with Google and it showed almost the identical results to what I did “by hand!”

Knitting Increase and Decrease Calculators on Worldknits website

These titles are getting worse!!

I finished my Winston cocoon cardigan and really like it.  The yarn is butter!!  Anne asked if the yarn pills.  Not that bad for such a soft yarn.  I can’t say it doesn’t pill at all.  Most natural fibers pill somewhat as they shed the shortest hairs in the ply.

On to the next!!

Okay.  That is really, really bad!!  🙂  I have been working on my Winston Cardigan for weeks now and am just ready to bind off the neck/body band.  Hundreds and hundreds of sts with short rows to boot!!  Egads!

I am using Carol Sunday’s yarn yet again because it is the perfect choice for acres of stockinette knitting.  It is soft and in the case of Angelic, has a very nice halo.  My colors are lighter, as if you reduced the saturation in the pictures above.

I hope this fits and looks cute — it has been a long, slow knit!!

Hey, more about Ouzo!  Pam asked me about the pockets.  I said that the original pattern called for patch pockets.  These are knit separately and then sewn down to the RS of the sweater.  We did this for most of the pockets on The Rainey Sisters Pickpocket Sweater Pattern.  That was because the gauge was very different for many of the sts and more than one color was usually used.

Typically, a pocket is knit with a lining as shown below.  You knit a pocket lining by casting on the number of sts needed for the width of the pocket and knitting the full length of the pocket.  This lining piece is set aside.  It is a great gauge swatch!  You knit the sweater as directed to the TOP of the pocket – shown with the bold line.  You then work across the row to the position of the pocket, bind off the pocket sts and complete the row.  On the NEXT row, you substitute the lining sts for the ones that were bound off.  Then you just keep knitting.  Later, invisibly tack down the lining to the inside of the sweater.

PS to Kathy W.: You missed me wearing my Ouzo last week at Panera.  This week is the holiday and next week I am off to knitting camp!!

PS2 to Pam, who wrote, “So the difference is when you knit, and what is on “top” — a patch pocket, the “extra” piece is on the outside of the sweater. A “regular” pocket the “extra” piece is inside (and the is knit first so you can carry on with the lining stitches. I get it. Thank you!”  That is it in a nutshell.  The pocket lining could be knit when it is needed as well and then attached, but it does need to be there when it is needed!  For Pocket #1 of my Ouzo, I did knit the lining separately, but I picked up the lining at the top of the ribbing for Pocket #2.  I wasn’t sure exactly where the pocket would fall when I knit the first one, but I knew exactly where the sts would be needed on Pocket #2.  So, there are different ways to get it done, but the idea is the same!!

Sometimes, sometimes, something actually works!  I started knitting Ouzo designed by Baby Cocktails out of Malabrigo’s new yarn, Susurro.  I wanted lineny, drapey, loosely knit.  That is not my usual knitting style!  I like my knitting to be kind of firm.  But, I soldiered on because I knew the outcome that I was looking for.  I love the yarn!  It is lovely to knit with, has beautiful drape, and comes in a ton of gorgeous colors.

I liked the casual style of Ouzo, with its fun lace panel across the back shoulders:

It is knit in stockinette with reverse stockinette only on the back shoulders above the lace.  It has an open front with lace trimmed pockets.  The pattern has you knit the pockets after the sweater is finished and then sew them on as patch pockets.  I knit mine the traditional way with a lining.  It was putsy because I knit the lace and ribbing sts of the pocket on a 6 while knitting the rest of the front on a 7.

Pocket close up:

I lengthened the sleeves a couple of inches and adjusted the shaping to my body type, but made very few other changes.  I thought I would need 6 skeins but only used 4!  Yay!!  I love this sweater!!

I finished my Harriet’s Hat.  To recap, the proceeds from sales of this hat pattern support the Shetland Island MRI fund.  It is $5 well spent!!  I used yarn from my stash so this is a cheapie.

I have a big head.  This hat starts with 136 sts and then increases to 144.  Not enough for my melon!  I cast on 160.  The main snowflake chart and the crown require an 18-stitch repeat so I added 2 sts for the snowflake section.  For the crown, I decreased 16 so I was back at the 144 in the original.  So my crown shaping is identical to the original.  It worked smashingly well.  I may use this trick in the future.

The crown is so pretty.  I may add a tassel but will not cover the top with a pom!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO SUSAN!!!!

Yes, it’s that time of year again.  (How does that happen?  Every single year!)

It’s Susan’s birthday today.  Wishing a wonderful day to my partner in crime and all things yarn.  (You knew this photo would make its annual appearance!)