Jean's Irish Hat

I was visiting my mother-in-law, Jean, a few months ago and she handed me a hat she had bought in Ireland about 20 years ago. She told me she would like me to change a few things and make it for her. I was intrigued and accepted the challenge :) I came up with two versions, a wide brim and a skinny brim. The olive green tweed is the wide brim version and the one that Jean likes. I like the celadon green skinny brim version. The only difference between the two versions is the width of the brim and it surprised me how much it changed the style of the hat by varying the width of the brim!

I have been working on perfecting the pattern with the help of 13 fabulous knitters who are test knitting the pattern for me. I had no idea that Ravelry had a free test knitters group until I was tipped off by Julie at my LYS, Island Wools. The pattern is very close to ready and will be available for sale on Ravelry and my website soon. It will also be available at Island Wools in Friday Harbor and Main Street Yarn in Mill Creek. I am hoping for a few more local yarn stores as well.

Oh... and if you would like to know more about my infamous MIL, Jean, go to her blog for an earful and an eyeful! I know you'll be happy you did.

Main Street Yarn

I spent the afternoon at Main Street Yarn in Mill Creek yesterday and I was impressed with everything I saw. A picture is worth a thousand words and so here are 12,000 words for you to feast on! As you can see I am so lucky to have such a gorgeous store filled with a fantastic selection of delicious yarn, patterns, mags, books, needles, bags, everything a knitter needs and really nice helpful people. My knitting buddy, Claudia, and her partner, Elaine, just bought this fabulous store and I for one am so happy for them AND for me. I love their store :)

Plenty of books, mags and patterns to choose from...

Comfortable places to sit and knit and visit...

Lots and lots of beautiful colors...

My shopping bag (I even stayed within my self-imposed budget!)...

Here are Claudia & Elaine, the new owners...

Even more beautiful colors....

A gorgeous store inside and out...

If you live in the Seattle area take a trip up to Mill Creek. You will be so happy you did.

Variation on a Theme

If you look closely you will see that this beautiful silk scarf is knit in the same pattern as the cream colored scarf that Jenny is wearing in the 12/30/2009 Christmas Presents Post. The pattern is featured on the cover of the 2008/2009 Vogue Knitting. I love the pattern so much that I wanted to knit it a few different ways just for fun. This version was a birthday present for my BFF, Nancy, in January. The yarn is one 270 yard skein of Silk Twist by The Great Adirondack Yarn Company in the Kenya colorway. A beautiful scarf for a beautiful lady.

Monica's Accidental Sweater

Well… my gauge was way off on this one (note to self: ALWAYS knit a swatch!). I meant to knit a size large for my friend, Marita, and I ended up with a size small that fit my friend, Monica, perfectly. All’s well that ends well ;) I loved the construction of this jacket and the lack of seaming. I did have trouble figuring out the instructions for the increases of the raglan sleeve. I want to thank Ravelry friend, woolnutzi, Susan, in Boston, Ma for her help. She went above and beyond with her diagrams and emails in answering my questions and staying with me until I “got it”.

The pattern is Mona's Jacket from the Spring 2010 issue of Interweave Knits. Here at Ravelry. I knit it with Plymouth Baby Alpaca Grande in color number 798, green heather. It's a gorgeous green color with a hint of lavendar running through it. I knit this during the Winter Olympics and finished a day or two after they ended.

Even though my gauge was way off I am completely happy with the finished product and Monica is thrilled with it. She is a knitter and spinner too so she got a chuckle about the error of my ways as well as a beautiful heavenly soft baby alpaca jacket :) I hope to have a picture of Monica wearing it soon to add to the story.

In a Perfect World...

In a perfect world you find cute little clogs on sale that are a perfect match for the socks you've just finished knitting. Here is the delightful Nelly modeling her Christmas present from Auntie Val. Sometimes everything turns out perfect :)

Red for Kerry

This is my beautiful niece, Kerry, wearing the shawl I made her for Christmas 2009. The swatch shows nice detail of the stitch pattern. I enjoyed this pattern but I did keep putting it down to work on other projects. Red is Kerry's favorite color and I wanted to knit something beautiful for her Christmas present. The pattern is Rococo Shawl by Elena Rosenberg. It is available on her Etsy site at http://AtelierTPK.Etsy.com My niece, Jenny, bought me this pattern last year and I'm thinking there will be a soft grey version sometime in her future. I knit Kerry's with Cascade 220 Quatro in color #5013, a chili pepper red.

Christmas Presents

After a 6 month break from knitting due to a repetitive strain injury I am finally back on the sticks :) I finished 3 projects in time for Christmas prezzies and of course JennyK was the lucky recipient of one of them. Here she is modeling her beautiful lace leaf scarf and my generic mitts in Baby Alpaca Grande. The scarf is knit up in a much grander version on the cover of the Winter 2008/2009 issue of Vogue Knitting. I am in love with the pattern and I am knitting another finer version right now in 100% silk for Nancita. I'll post a picture when it's done and blocked.