FYI, we were supposed to do the 25km ride, but we just kept going and scored ourselves an extra 25km … I’m a little tender in the posterior, but I totally earned my donations this year! If you wanted to donate but didn’t get around to it it isn’t too late – my brother is only $12 ahead of me, I think that needs to be rectified …
Me & my father at the half-way point on a particularly wet & cold Ride for Heart.
Ride for Heart
Some of you already know that every year I do a charity bike ride with my father. This year I managed to drag my BROTHER along, so all three of us are riding 25km up, and then back down the Don Valley Parkway (a local highway).
Anyway, the purpose of the even, besides getting out of the house and getting some exercise, is to rise funds for the Canadian Heart and Stroke association, who does A LOT of important work helping EVERYONE improve their cardiac health (after all, scientific research has no borders). According to an article in the news yesterday women are TWICE as likely to die from a heart attack than men. This is NOT GOOD, because I know from computery data stuff that 95% of the people reading this are WOMEN! Sure, I’ve got a vested interested in keeping you alive, many of you reading this are my clients, but I also feel strongly that the world needs women, as many as it can get. And as women, we deserve to be strong, healthy, and happy.
So not only am I going to ask you to donate to my ride for heart, but I’m going to ask you to write to your own Heart Health organization and ask them to fund research into women’s cardiac health (if you are Canadian it is the Heart and Stroke Foundation, if you are in the United States I believe it is the American Heart Association).
Thank You SO MUCH! ~ Haley
P.S. They symptoms of heart attack in women are often different than those seen in men. Women can have chest symptoms (the ‘Hollywood’ clutching of the chest & sweating), or any of the following:
profound nausea and vomiting with palpitations
lightheadedness
extreme fatigue
discomfort in the neck, jaw, shoulder, arms or back
Great Hera!
Since I’ve been talking about women’s health, who better to invoke than the head amazon herself, Wonder Woman. I’ve actually seen this hat in the wild, on some dude in the subway, and it was AWESOME. Sure, you can still wear your Pussy Hat to protests, but sometimes you want something a bit dressier for your day-to-day lady needs. The pattern isn’t free, but it’s only $3, which I don’t begrudge to have someone else do the work of charting the symbol.
To make things easier, I’ve pulled all the suitable colours off the shelf and come up with colour combinations that work well together (you can never really tell online which shades are actually going to look good). I personally like a darker, more sombre colour combo with a dark red, gold and blue, but I know that everyone has different Wonder Woman Toque needs, so I chose colours that were both thematically on cue and look great together. By the way, if this project appeals to you, you might want to bookmark or Pinterest this post for future reference – you’ll want to revisit the colour numbers!
Since this is such a cool project, and it is in honour of a charitable fundraising endeavour, we’re offering a one time discount of 10% Off Online orders of the yarns we think will work best (discount is applicable to all colours, you can have your order shipped or choose to order online and pick-up your order in store): Use code WONDERHAT at checkout.
Cascade 220 Superwash is a soft, machine washable, 100% Peruvian wool, it comes in a bunch of colours, and the price is very reasonable. You’ll need 1 skein in each colour plus optional 1 ball for pom-pom in colour 817 Aran:
Berrocco Vintage is a super soft, machine washable blend of wool and synthetic, and the price is right at $9.97/skein. You’ll need 1 skein in each colour, plus optional 1 skein for pom-pom in colour 5101 Mochi:
Clear Colours Combo: 5150 Berries, 5121 Sunny, 5143 Dark Denim
Medium Combo: 5181 Black Cherry Heather, 5127 Butternut, 5143 Dark Denim
Dark Combo: 5181 Black Cherry Heather, 5192 Chana Dal Heather, 51182 Indigo Heather
Malabrigo Rios is a hand dyed, SUPER soft, machine washable merino wool, and while the price point is higher at $23.97/skein, comparable hand dyed merino yarns tend to run north of $30/skein. You’ll need 1 skein in each colour, plus optional 1 skein of off-white for pom-pom in Manos Alegria Grande in AG2800:
Brighter Combo: 611 Ravelry Red, 96 Sunset, 415 Matisse Blue
Medium Combo: 611 Ravelry Red, 96 Sunset, 150 Azul Profundo
Dark Combo: 33 Cereza, 96 Sunset, 150 Azul Profundo (the dye lot of 33 is darker than the picture)
Believe it or not, you’ve still got a little bit of time to get a project done. I suggest making something small and simple, knit with super bulky yarn, and your last minute gift’s in the bag!
Photo: dandiliongrl
Avery Slouch Hat
Keep it simple silly! Hats are fast & easy last minute gifts, and this one is almost brainless – no purling!
A neckwarmer is a perfect gift for men and women, in a cold climate everyone can use one – and on those blustery days that you do need one, they’ll be thanking you!
Fleece Artist Merino 2/6 is a soft, 100% Merino wool hand-dyed fingering weight yarn from Canada. It makes beautiful socks and shawls, or any other kind of project you can think of!
No two skeins are exactly alike, so if you are working on a project that uses more than one skein we suggest you work with 2 skeins and alternate strands every other row to assure an even distribution of colour. Colours tend to be variegated or semi solid.
I made some quick Rikke Hats for my niece & nephew last fall, but getting pictures of those squirrely kids took substantially longer. Pictured above, Ben has adopted his as an inspiration cap, and wears it during his creative endeavours.
The hat is very stretchy and elastic, a great garment that has grown with the kids! Also an added benefit, garter stitch is an excellent way to deal with yarns with colourways that pool.
This hat looks great, I’m so happy with hour it turned out. I think I’ll turn the buttons around, they’re a bit shiny for my taste. Liane says this pattern knit up beautifully in Berroco Vintage Chunky.
I made this one for the hell of it – I think it would be great for people with big heads & lots of hair (dreads especially). The yarn is super-duper soft & airy – a very atypically friendly mohair.
I really, really, really like this hat. It looks great on my little head and i think it’ll also look great on all sizes. It was easy, fast, and it looks great – I’m going to make it my go-to fall hat. The yarn is really cool, it has a core of silver wrapped in an outer layer of super soft cotton-candy-esque baby alpaca & merino. My photo does not do it justice.
We’ve put together some kits for Shibui’s sumptuous Slouchy Toque, minimistically named “Mix no. 6.” The creatives at Shibui are big on blending, combining, and experimenting with their yarns. This particular hat combines their delicious Baby Alpaca DK with the soft & luminous Silk Cloud, to form a soft fabric with drape, warmth, and a lovely depth of colour + texture.
Kit Includes
1 skein Shibui Baby Alpaca DK
1 skein Shibui Silk Cloud
pattern
clear zipper project bag
currently available in Nude (pink, see below), Ivory + Graphite
$44.97
Kit does not contain knitting needles or other notions required: 3.75mm-16″ circular needles, 4.5mm-16″ circular + double pointed needles, stitch marker, darning needle.
We made our adult sized sample to the pattern directions and used less than half of the yarn. One kit should furnish 2 medium sized slouchy hats (21-22″ head), or one large slouchy hat (23-24″) and one child sized hat. You can see our project notes on Ravelry. Shibui Baby Alpaca DK 100% baby alpaca, 100g/233m, made in Jeru Shibui Silk Cloud 60% kid mohair + 40% silk, 25g/300m, made in Japan
