Charity: Cabled Kid Caps

Oh, boy, how did I enjoy to finally being able to join the monthly Community Knitting group organized by Roxanna at Shuttles, Spindles and Skeins in Boulder, CO. Fall soccer was DONE! No more interference with my social knitting events. :D

It always feels so good to do some charity knitting and chit-chatting with like-minded fellow knitters. And since it had been quite a few months since my last visit, I had a lot of catching up to do.

This month's cap project was going to be part of Xmas bundles (cap, cowl, mittens, vest) that were handed out by a local family homeless shelter for Christmas.

The original pattern by Roxanna had short, same-sized cables for the whole cape length but I changed it to alternating between shorter and longer cables. I was not quite in the mood for that many cable crossings. :)

And since I still had quite a bit of red yarn left over, I dug in my stash a bit and found a white mystery yarn to complement the red yarn and knit a second cap.

This was my first time to knit with Patons Canadiana Solids and I was pleasantly surprised by the soft hand this 100% acrylic yarn had. This was not only nice to knit with but also soft against the skin. Wow!

But I would say that this is a thick worsted, nearly aran weight yarn. I'll have to remember this yarn for projects that need non-wool, machine-washable yarn...

Pattern: Semblance Cap

This pattern is the result of me trying to come up with a multi-color design that can easily be personalized for a quick knit gift. :)

Cap knit once in school colors and once in favorite sports team colors

It uses 3 colors and a simple slip stitch pattern so that you actually work in only one color per round at any given time. :)

The cap is worked in the round from the bottom up and fits children (8+) to adults with a head circumference of 20-23" (~51-58 cm). The instructions are written out or you can work off a chart. You can find more pattern details by following this link to the Ravelry pattern page.

My oldest son chose his school colors for his cap and my youngest son picked his favorite sports team's colors (the Rockies, our local professional baseball team).

The caps were definitely a success as I now have a request from the boys for matching mittens and a cowl... but then feel free to use more girly colors for a quick gift for the women in your life...

Book: Seamless Crochet

I am an avid reader and always LOVE to learn new ways of doing things.

"Seamless Crochet" by Kristin Omdahl

This book, "Seamless Crochet" by Kristin Omdahl, is definitely an interesting one to check out. Besides a wonderful collection of really pretty crochet projects that make your to-do list grow quickly, it introduces you to a fascinating continuous crochet technique that leaves you with only 2 ends to weave in: the beginning and end tail!

Isn't that fantastic? Not having to spend quite a bit of time weaving in all those ends from the many motifs that make up a project? I am definitely all for it. :)

Now, I love charts and diagrams as they give me a visual image of what my work is supposed to look like so that this was a book after my heart. Every project comes with written out instructions but also has wonderful crochet diagrams that help you visualize the path your crocheting will take to connect the motifs in one continuous piece of work.

I picked one of the small projects, the Flower Trivets, to give this technique a spin. After studying the chart for a bit and getting a hang of the logic used to create the continuous path, it was easy peasy! After about 2-3 hours of crocheting, I had a wonderfully useful and pretty little trivet (7.5" x 7.5"). Make sure to choose a yarn without any acrylic in it as the hot pot will melt that fiber...

Flower Trivets, with "I Love This Cotton!" from Hobby Lobby

After getting used to working only partial motifs that are then completed on "the way back" you will quickly learn to appreciate this new technique. And the book even comes with an instructional DVD and tips for how to convert any motif-based design into a continuous design.

What a wonderful technique book with lots of inspirational designs. I will definitely try to incorporate this technique in an upcoming design...

Pattern: Dolman Borealis

Did you notice that the sun is going down earlier and that the temperature drops rather quickly once the sun disappears? The mornings are nippy and even during the day you need something small to cover up a bit?

Photo by: Shane Baskin/Blackbox Studios

My latest pattern "Dolman Borealis" is just in time for those Fall days. The design for this cute little cropped Dolman cardigan takes full advantage of self-striping yarns.

Universal Yarn's Classic Shades yarn with the matching Classic Shade Solids are a perfect example of how self-striping yarns can be shown off, without the sometimes dreaded horizontal lines. By working the cardigan sideways from cuff to cuff, the stripes are turned on their side to create a wonderful array of vertical stripes that reminded me strongly of the Aurora Borealis in the Northern skies. Hence the name for the pattern

Classic Shades has wonderful "painterly" color changes

Classic Shades has really pretty, long and short subtle color changes that made it exciting to watch how the stripes were developing. I've used color #724 "Campfire" for this cardigan but this yarn comes in many, many fascinating color combinations that make the choice quite difficult. :)

And Universal Yarns has now matching Classic Shades Solids to coordinate the ribbing with your self-striping color choice. Pretty cool!

Alright, back to the pattern. The cardigan is worked in one piece from cuff to cuff which makes it a quick knit. The neckband and buttonbands are worked from the center back neck downwards and then joined with picked up stitches for the bottom ribbing. This further supports the fresh and slimming vertical lines with vertical ribbing down the front and around your waist.

The pattern is sized for 6 (!) sizes and comes with detailed schematics and an Appendix for special techniques used in this pattern. They are: a One-Row Buttonhole, the Knitted Cast-On (for "growing your sleeve to the full body length), the Cable Cast-on (for the button hole) and the Provisional Crochet Cast-On (for the neckband). You are always welcome to replace them with your own favorite technique.

If you are interested in this pattern, you can purchase it for $4.50 through Ravelry (you don't need to be a member) by clicking on .

Happy Knitting and have a wonderful Fall season!

Visited Wonderful Colorado Springs Knitting Group

After cheering on my younger son in an exciting morning soccer game in Longmont, it was time to zoom down to Colorado Springs to meet up with a knitting group I was invited to by Yvonne.

I've met Yvonne earlier this year at the Estes Park Wool Market where she was a student in both of my workshops: "Knitting with Beads" and "Discovering the Intrasia Color Change as a Design Element". We had a great time and soon discovered that we could chitchat in German as well (I grew up outside of Zurich,Switzerland, where you speak German). By the end of the workshops she threw out the idea of me coming to visit her knitting group, luring me with visions of lots of good food, lively conversations and of course, lots of knitting. And it seems to have worked, haha!

So there I was, being dropped off by my family at our hostess' house with three bags of stuff to work on and to show. You might wonder why so much? Well, I was between projects with lots of swatching going on so that I couldn't make up my mind about what I should be working on next. Ah, those decisions! There are the things you should be working on, the ones you want to be working on and the ones you are actually working on...

It was funny to hear when one of the ladies said: "Ah, now I don't feel so bad anymore about having all these (plastic) bags with projects lying around!" because that's what spilled out of my bags: lots of large zip lock bags (one per project), grocery plastic bags for larger projects and even some loose balls of yarn.

That started an interesting discussion about how everybody stores their yarn stash. There is the issue of storage itself and then also of how to group yarns for you to find easily.

We found out that most of us store our yarns in lidded plastic tubs but also in bags, baskets, shelves, and hanging shoe towers for portability (loved that idea). But one lady had the setup I think most of us are just dreaming of: a whole room dedicated to knitting/crafting and a wall full of yarn. Heaven! And the kicker is that if you ask if she would sell some of the yarn you see there on display, she does (if it's not slated for one of her own projects)! It's a personal yarn store! LOVE IT!

I am curious, how do you store your yarn? Perhaps you have a solution for our ever-growing stash that we didn't think of yet...oh, and if you are in need of some storage ideas, check out this Pintrest board for inspiration: http://pinterest.com/lionbrandyarn/craft-spaces-storage/. 

And then I think I surprised people when I told them that I group my yarns not by color as you are so used to seeing in yarn stores, or fiber (e.g. wool, alpaca, cotton, etc.) but by yarn weight. That is, I group my yarns by how thick or thin a yarn is, grouping them into lace, fingering, sport, dk, worsted, aran, bulky, super bulky, and fashion yarns.

Because let's think about it for a moment: When I want to start a project or come up with a new design, I usually know if it is going to be a sock, a lace shawl, a sweater or a cap. So then, doesn't that dictate what weight of yarn you want to start with?

I've had it happen to me too many times that I held a gorgeous skein of yarn in my hand just to wish I would have it in a different weight for my project... VERY frustrating!

But only through taking designing more seriously, I've finally realized how I work and approach things. By grouping my yarns by yarn weight first, I am now able to peacefully choose from only the available colors in that class. No more moaning or wishing for something I don't have and in the worst case, keeping me from getting started.

So, how do you group your yarns? Does it work for you?

I hope you were able to gleam some interesting information from this post, and yes, ladies, I will be happy to come back for another visit to Colorado Springs where the Aspen leaves have already turned yellow. See you all soon!