Cutest Stinkin Little Hat

Oh my.  I have a problem.  I am now officially addicted to knitting.  Up to now I’ve been knitting scarves and am in the midst of my first sweater for myself.  But because Christmas is coming I felt like doing some hats for the three grandkids.  I searched hat patterns on Ravelry and in knit shops.  I couldn’t find Cabin Fever, which came highly recommended by my knitting instructor, but found itty-bitty hats from Susan B. Anderson.  What a goldmine of cuteness!

My granddaughters winter coat is leopard print in grays on the outside, with a surprise hot pink inside.

Flipping through itty bitty hats, I found the rainbow marley pattern.  It had texture with ribbing that just seemed right for this cool leopard jacket.  Knit in the round there were no seams to sew either, and I couldn’t resist the curly pom pom on the top.  You start with 16″ size 7 circular needles and at the upper edge you switch to the double points to finish the hat as it decreases down to the top.  Reagan is  6, but I used the (size 2 and up) and the hat even fits me.  The yarn is jil eaton, Minnow Merino in hot pink, and the greys and black are Plymouth Select Worsted Merino Superwash.  Both yarns are machine wash gentle cycle and tumble dry low, although I might opt for laying it out flat to dry like a sweater.  Knitting each round the first two inches creates a darling little rolled edge.  Here’s what you’ll need.

I tend to knit with a couple of cups of coffee while I wake up, and finish off the day with another hour or so on the needles, and easily finished the hat in less than a week.

I can’t wait to see if she likes it on Christmas Day.  If I get the boys two hats knit, I’ll try my first pair of mittens for the kids too.  So stinkin fun.   Love you Rea!

Yarn Quest 2011, Day 3: Darn Knit (anyway), Lila & Claudine’s, Sheepy Yarn Shoppe

Are you on Ravelry?  I’d love to be friends. Find me at http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Inside-out

7. DARN KNIT ANYWAY

How can you not enjoy the old charm of Stillwater?  It’s always fun to wander around the towns old brick buildings and take a peek at the height of the water in the St. Croix River.  Darn Knit (anyway) is located at the south end of town on the main road, riverside.  Lots of activity, energy, and fun stuff.  Take a look!

I must have been getting tired because I didn’t take a shot of the cute little cowl, but here is the yarn all wound up and ready to knit.  The pattern is called Irish Gate Cowl and has a cute little pattern using a gorgeous wool called Three Irish Girls, Wexford Merino Silk.  The colors ranged from gold to teal, peach & green.  Just lovely, and oh so soft.

8. LILA & CLAUDINE’S

Lila & Claudine’s in Mahtomedi was a hoot and a half.  The place was packed with ladies, all milling about exclaiming excitedly over some delightful thing.  It had the most creative displays and character of all the stores.  I could not believe my eyes!  It was as if you had snuck into another world, where walls were crooked, color reigned supreme and each corner took your breath away, in an Alice in Wonderland sort of way.  Take a peek and see if you agree.

Below is the cowl, and the scarf that were knitted up in their hand dyed yarn.  They had run out of yarn by Saturday afternoon and were taking orders, so I don’t have a picture of the yarn close up, but you can see it’s lovely colors in the samples on the manaquins.

When we got to the back of the shop, there was a cozy seating area with the wonderful knitted and needle felted wallhanging.  In front of that were knitted Lila & Claudine dolls.  Adorable and full of character, they made me want to hear more of their story.

Apparently Lila and Claudine were the grandmothers of the owners, who happen to be sisters.  One daughter took after the one grandma, and one after the other.  The story was the grandmothers would not have been caught dead sitting on the same couch, and now their granddaughters are celebrating them in grand style together.  The woman sharing the story with us said the picture of the actual grandmas was photo-shopped so they would appear to be on the same couch.  I wonder what they would think of that!  Then more creativity around the back staircase, in a glass mosaic type mural complete with the namesakes.  Once outside, there they were again, on the couch together, on a sign.  Oh my.  I can only hope to be so grandly remembered!

9. SHEEPY YARN SHOPPE

Finally after many miles, I reached my final yarn shop destination & my home yarn shop,  Sheepy Yarn Shoppe.   Here is the shop where I ventured tentatively back into knitting,  where I got my toes wet, then just jumped in.  Muriel, my friend from years on the tennis court works there, and also knew my Mom.  It was a safe place to begin and White Bear is a place I am frequently going to or through.

The free pattern they offered was a Diamond Rib Lacy Scarf.  They had also run out of yarn by Saturday afternoon, but I substituted another variegated yarn, Lana Grossa Balino, in three different colors.  This will be my experimental pattern.  Well, there you have it!  9 Shops, 4 days, & 9 free patterns of handmade creative fun.  Hope you enjoyed the trip!  If you have any additional questions about the yarns or patterns, I have a spot on Ravelry, that you can check out under my blog name, insideout.  Let me know what you’re knitting, I’d love to see your projects too.

Laurie

{images: Laurie Ashbach}

Yarn Quest 2011, Day 2: The Yarnery, Amazing Threads, Shepherd’s Choice

Are you on Ravelry?  I’d love to be friends. Find me at http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Inside-out

4. THE YARNERY

My forth stop was The Yarnery on Grand Ave. in St. Paul, where all is neat and orderly and all the yarn is arranged beautifully by color.  A beautiful sight to behold!

I’m sorry I didn’t get a picture of the sample piece of the free pattern, but here is the lovely yarn that I purchased for the One-Skein Knit Cowl.  The yarn is a light worsted weight called Opulence, 80% Superwash Merino Wool, 10% Cashmere,  & 10% Nylon.  The color is Calypso and was dyed exclusively for the Yarnery Shop Hop 2011.

5. AMAZING THREADS

Shop # 5 was Amazing Threads in Maple Grove.  I had a little trouble finding it, but it was worth the time looking.  They had a friendly atmosphere with coffee & cookies, flowers and balloons.

The pattern they gave out was an opera shawl, but I didn’t want to make something quite that large, so I opted for Barb’s Koigu Ruffle Scarf, by Churchmouse Classics.  The yarn is a Koigu Hot Pink of 100% Merino Wool.  This ruffle is made by working lengthwise, decreasing to create the ruffle, working the center even, and then increasing to create the second ruffle.

I am currently working on a scarf that uses short rows to create the ruffle, so this will be fun to try another method.  Can you see how each little ruffle is a set of extra short rows?

6. SHEPHERD’S CHOICE

Then over to Anoka to find Shepherd’s Choice. They had a felted handbag featured but I was not sold on the color so I passed on purchasing at this shop.  There were lots of hats and baby items but I was in the mood for spring ideas for myself.  Maybe next year!

Come back tomorrow for the final installment of Yarn Quest 2011.

{images: Laurie Ashbach}