Finally a moment to myself … this project is LONG overdue for blogging, I apologize to you and to it! It’s an On the C Train that I made for my new beau … his first knitted gift. It didn’t really fit him, he turned out to have a surprisingly large head and required more slouch … this is why people date, you need to learn about each other (hat size being crucial for a knitter).
Fit notwithstanding, it came out beautifully! I used Fibre Company Road to China Light and held two strands together, so it is nice and dense and warm. The yarn is OMG WTF DROOL!!! It’s a blend of cashmere, silk, camel and baby alpaca, and it’s totally to die for. I made the hat, but I still hadn’t had enough of it for I made a cowl (below) and after that I cast on for a sweater (still in the works). I was also thinking about making a wrap with it, maybe a Night Shift.
My second project with Fibre Company Road to China Light … a Pashmina Cowl. I found the pattern in one of my favourite older books Last Minute Knitted Gifts, which can be accessed digitally though the public library. The pattern is so dead easy anybody can do it, it’s very beginner friendly. Check out my project notes on Ravelry for direction. I like it because it’s all about the yarn, which kind of deserves a party thrown in it’s honour.
Fibre Company Road to China Light is the sexiest yarn I’ve ever come across. Seriously, it’s ambrosia! Some clever person thought to combine cashmere, silk, camel and baby alpaca and it feels like … joy and gratitude and unconditional love. This yarn is seriously stashable, but even more knittable! Two skeins makes a Cowl (see above).
With the holidays coming up I’m going to try to focus on smaller projects that make great gifts (hats, cowls, scarves, slippers, sockies, mitts, leg-warmers, etc). What are you making for the holidays this year? I received a reprieve this year, only one hand knit required, so I’m developing my self-love and making myself some new leg-warmers and a new sweater made with the new Fibre Co. Cumbria. I’m looking forward to sharing that project with you, the results so far are great – I’ve gone off-book and am trying a new experiential experiment with it, fingers crossed!
Beloved
I was originally thinking of using a sightly heavier yarn for this, some Cascade Eco+ Merino that was leftover from our Felix Pullover, but I kind of wanted to experiment and see what the hat would be like with Drops Air, a lighter, airier yarn. I think it made for a really nice fall hat or something for people who have a lot of hair. Now that I’m sitting down and giving it another thought, I’m having a “what were you thinking?!” moment and realize that it would look sensational made with the Malabrigo Mecha (smack forehead). Thankfully, there’s always another hat on the horizon! It would be interesting to make the same hat over & over in different yarns and see how they turn out …. maybe that will happen some day, when I’m no longer a person with a DaVinci-esque attention span (he was notorious for not finishing his work, once DaVinci solved a puzzle he lost interest and moved on).
Notes
If you mke a pompom for this hat, don’t kill yourself making it dense. I did, I got all perfectionisty and packed it tightly, which made it look smooth and dense. Unfortuantely, this made it smooth and dense. This hat looks great with a “hand-made” looking pompom, and light and airy is definitely better. If you like a tight pompom, go for a smaller size pompom maker, like the yellow one from clover.
Design Hack: Want a quick pick-me-up for a dull hat? Add a fur pom-pom or a hand made pompom in a contrasting colour!
Another experiment with Drops Air, Antler turned out super light and cozy. Like, super-duper light and cozy. I just tried it on, and it’s so cozy that I’d kinda like to crawl into a matching onesie made with the same yarn … that would be quite a sight, quite possibly the ultimate in ‘cocooning’ (something to think about for halloween next year). I’ve completely lost my train of thought … that’s how cozy it feels!!! Oh yeah, wear it with your Infinitude cowl, you’ll never want to take your outerwear off.
Notes
We made the brim of our hat short so it can be worn like a slouch, but it was designed with more ribbing and you can take it either way, depending on what looks nice on you.
This is a pattern I came up with YEARS ago, but I don’t seem to have ever published it to Ravelry. I came across this utterly DIVINE yarn, Phildar Pur Angora, and I had to buy it, and then of course had to make something with it … so the old Slouchy Angora Hat pattern came out. I’ve re-edited and made some updates to the pattern.
The hat is a basic, slouchy toque. You can wear it with the brim turned up and wear it as a watch-cap, down and slouchy, or turn the brim under and wear it as a beanie. It’s pure angora, it does all the work! It is knit with 2 strands held together, in our sample we used one strand of black and one of the lighter grey, Perle, to create a marled effect. If that feels a little busy for you try using two strands of the same colour and make it a dense and delicious colour.
The yarn is just so gorgeous and precious! I hold it and I’m like “Oh hello you beautiful thing!”, and then I start talking to it like it’s a baby with the fattest thighs I’ve ever seen. I like using different kinds of yarns, and once in a while using something and precious special REMINDS me that I’m special and precious (it seems like the further we get from that yummy baby fat the less we receive that kind of honour, so I undertake it myself).
Please note … I am currently wearing the hat (brim turned under) and I’m not sure if it is influencing my writing, but I think that if it *is* inspiring me to love myself and treat myself well then it qualifies as an EXTRA-successful project, regardlessof any of it’s other properties. Thanks to Erika for making the sample, it’s my new thinking cap!
Brim turned under
Size
S(M, L)
Finished Circumference: 17(19, 20.5)”
To approximately fit head circumference: 21(22, 23)”
I’m definitely going to have to make a little beret and maybe a matching neck thing with this yarn!
I also have an open ended mindfullness question for those of you who practice such things …. if you work on a project, and the entire time you are making it you intentionally think of about how precious you are (or whatever you choose), will you feel those emotions every time you wear the finished garment? Has anyone ever tried this? What would you call the practice? How did it turn out? …. It’s pretty clear to me at this point that I’m going to have to try it and share. 🙂
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.
