Louisa!

Okay, the Louisa hat pattern is ready to go. Please contact me with any issues! Enjoy!

March 15, 2010 - ETA: The pattern is now available as a Ravelry download. It can be found here.

belated FOs...

I don't know why it often takes me forever to get a post organized. I guess I haven't been that motivated to blog lately, too distracted by other activites and too loathing of the computer after a long day at work. But, I have a couple of things I would like to share, so here we go:
As mentioned in the previous post, I have been working on the Darkside Cowl (Rav link). Except I refer to mine as the Autumnside cowl, due to the lovely colours. This yarn is TRI, from Ancient Threads, and the colours are ridiculous. Love them. It is sock yarn, but I couldn't imagine hiding it away on my feet (although there is quite a bit leftover for that possibility).
This pattern is a great textural knit that I think works well with the variegated yarn, whereas something more complex or lacey would be lost. I had to nearly double the amount of stitches cast on in the pattern, as the original calls for an aran weight, but it turned out well. It is a perfect hit of colour to brighten up the many browns and greys that I wear.
And after the success of the Inga, I was inspired to try a bit more colourwork with Noro as the background. This hat, dubbed "Louisa" for no particular reason that I can think of, uses Silk Garden instead of Kureyon, but the off-white is the same leftovers used in the first hat. I found this chart online, and am in the middle of cleaning it up so that you too can have your own Louisa, if you are so inclined.

a bit of gifting...

Rain is spattering against the windows in the dark, in time with the gusts of wind that echo through the chimney. Before the night set in, the clouds loomed heavy and grey, low in the sky. This is the first good southeaster of the fall, and I welcome the feelings it brings, urges to curl up on the couch with knitting in hand, to nest and hibernate for winter. Right now I'm working on a Darkside Cowl (Rav link), in gorgeous fall colours, and should have an FO to show soon. As well there are a few projects on the go for Socktober. But first it's time to catch up on a bit of gift knitting that has been finished in recent weeks.

I've been wanting to knit this pattern for ages, and I can definitely say this won't be my last go at it. Embossed Leaves, by Mona Schmidt, for my mom's birthday. This is actually my first attempt at top down socks, which was probably my least favourite part, but I wanted the leaves to go in the right direction. I made very few modifications, although I just did my usual heel.

The yarn is Araucania Ranco, which is the second skein I bought along with the purple that was used for my shell socks, It's great stuff.

The other recently completed project is an Inga Hat for my friend Em (she doesn't know this yet, so mum's the word). I have been wanting to revisit this pattern since I made the mitts, and it's possible this will also be made again (for me?). I skipped a few rows on the chart, as per advice from other knitters, and the size seemed to work out well. I probably should have gone up a size on needles, but with a bit of blocking it seems to fit well.

I love this colourway of the Noro Kureyon, although this skein was a bit disappointing. For the hat it worked out fine, but this colourway is supposed to be purples and GREENS, yet once I went through the purples, it was just starting to change to green and then there was a knot, followed by a cycle back into purple. In the light of my lamp the tiny bit of green seemed hardly noticeable and so I left it in, but now it seems a bit out of place in all the purple and I wish I had taken it out. Oh well, the hat is still pretty and cozy and that braid on the bottom kicks ass. Yup, I'll be adapting that into other hat patterns fo' sho'.

Well time to batten down the hatches and get back to my knitting. I love this time of year! (a few more sunny crisp days would be appreciated though!)