I’m Knitting As Fast As I Can

I finished DH’s hat, presented it to him, and coyly asked if he’d be willing to model it for the blog.

I was floored when he agreed. I don’t think he’s ever been featured on the blog before.

So, without further ado, I present . . . long-suffering DH wearing his new hat.
The photo was taken under his terms.

Pattern: Cashmere Ribbed Hat (the link is to my project page on Ravelry where you can find the pattern and my notes about a change I made to the top decreases)

Yarn: Cascade 220

Time to Knit: A day (hey, I was under time pressure–poor DH needed a warm hat).

This is my first official FO of 2008. And so it begins.

Despite my abysmal record at following through with -alongs, I couldn’t stop myself from signing up for Vicki‘s 2008 ABC-along.

I participated in the 2006 ABC-along when Anne hosted it, but true to form I never posted all 26 photos. I swear I’ll do better this time. Really.

And speaking of Anne, she’s been diligent about posting a WIP report every Wednesday. I toyed with the idea of joining her and blogging my WIPs every Wednesday but then I realized that would involve actually determining how many WIPs I have and locating all of them. Um, probably not a feasible goal.

Instead, I hope to unearth one WIP each week and then decide whether to frog it or finish it. Feel free to weigh in on the decisions.

Here are the first of the WIPs.

Frog . . . or . . . Finish??

These project both fall squarely on the “finish” end of the spectrum.

The hat is for my long-suffering husband who has been waiting patiently for the holiday knitting to end so he can move to the top of the knitting queue. It’s been c.o.l.d. as hell here so I feel a bit of urgency to finish it.

The green scarf is for a one-skein swap I’m participating in with my Stitch ‘n Bitch group. I’ll divulge more details when it’s finished and I’ll be posting the pattern at the same time.  But the swap is next Tuesday so I better get my arse in gear.

What’s a grrl to do when when she’s sick of knitting mittens.

Turn her attention to hats, of course.

Two years ago this month my next door neighbor, an amazing knitter of Norwegian descent, passed away. That Christmas and every Christmas since, I’ve knit a hat or mittens for her great-grandson. This year, it was a 2×2 ribbed hat:

Yarn: Magic Garden Buttons (less than one skein)
Pattern: Cashmere Ribbed Hat (80-stitch cast on)
Needle: 16″ circular (4mm)
Time to knit: less than a day

This was the last gift I had to knit. . . . Or so I thought.

DD saw the hat on Thursday night and immediately decided her three friends must also have one. No matter that I’d already begun decompressing from the holiday knitting by casting on a scarf for myself.

Clearly, I’m a sucker:

The dark pink one (knit from an angora/merino blend yarn I dyed myself) has already been gifted. And look how happy it made the recipient:

The light pink one (which I managed to squeeze out of one, luscious skein of Sublime Extra Fine Merino) is wrapped and ready to deliver tomorrow. The red one, which I’m knitting from Cascade 220 Quatro, is still on the needles this evening but it’s close to done.

DD insisted that I add a white stripe so her friend could wear the hat when she cheers on her favorite school. Since the hat is knit entirely in 2×2 rib, I was hesitant because stripes knit in ribbing always look like crap.

See what I mean:

But then I remembered a trick that completely eliminates the obvious color changes.

So, what’s the trick?

When you work the first round with the new color, discontinue the ribbing in that round–knit every stitch instead. Then return to the ribbing in the next round.

The stitch pattern change is barely noticeable even when it’s stretched:

Problem solved.

Now where did I put those sock ornaments I knit for my nephews.