New Year? Bringing the pain.

Okay, the new year means good things for you, blog town.

I am determined this year to get shit done. (Hopefully right but I’m not making any promises.) As I was reflecting over my past year of glory, I realized, sure, things have been swell but what about the knitting? You can only stray so far from your roots before remembering you have roots… and they don’t go anywhere. (That’s like essential roots theory there.)

So this year, I am making a solemn vow. If there were blood here, I’d make a blood oath. My stash is going to get knit the fuck up people. If it doesn’t, I’m going to burn it. (…or give it away like a sane person, or someone going into a monastery.) I’ve even started an internet campaign full of like-minded people to keep me honest. Heh. You can follow along if you’re interested: Stash Killers.

I also knit some crap for people for Christmas. All using stash yarn. I’m just a G like that.

First up, I knit my mom a shawl. She said she wanted a shawl and I figured, okay, if it’s something she specifically says she wants, she has to love it.

I think she kind of loved it.

It was the Simple Yet Effective Shawl and I’ve got to say, that sucker lives up to its name. I added some random yo’s to keep it interesting for myself but it ended up being relatively enjoyable. I used yarn that a lady gave me from my knitting group. It was an intense wool. Read as: real wool. It raked my hands over good. I really need to stop taking in any more wool, especially BFL. So yeah, noted.

I also made a coworker a hat. But because I’m a genius I didn’t get any pictures of him wearing said hat. So, you get my crazy face.

There are plenty of pictures where I’m not making such a disgusting face… but those pictures aren’t real enough and you know how I like to keep it real. [cough]

Anyways, the pattern is by my super awesome internet buddy: Teekay [rav link] and it’s her Fenced In hat. I freaking love it. I also had to do it freaking 3 times because

1) I am a moron.

2) You really need to print out any pattern that has charts. (See #1.)

Gorgeous, right?

I had goals for last year and I actually accomplished a lot of them. But I missed you, blog buddies and I think 2011 is going to be a good time for our reunion. So stay with me. We’re going to do this thing up. (Hopefully right. Like I said, I’m really not promising anything.)

My super red hat

So I’ve actually got some knitting content! I know, right? I mean, you’d think, hey it’s freaktastically cold outside, why aren’t you knitting up a storm? Well, since I always have an excuse on hand, this time is that it’s cold so I don’t want to move. Moving sucks. It takes all this energy that I just don’t have. I guess it would only make sense to make a hat then.

Shazam! It’s the Snowboard Hat That Rocks and I made it in an amazingly red (and soft!) Cascade Alpaca. I do like it, although it’s a little goofy. I made it with just one ball of the eco-alpaca and I shortened up the hat a little bit. It called for four repeats of the cable pattern but I only did three because otherwise it would have been ridiculously tall and then we would have had another pope-hat occurrence.

‘

This was my first time doing ‘real’ cables. I’ve done cables before but they were all pretty self contained. These cables mixed with each other and it was cool. It took me a while to get used to it and I had to undo a good deal of it because I did it right but my tension was a little too, er, strained… however, I really like how nice they look! So much so that my next project has even ‘realer’ cables. Which I’m confident about now but I haven’t gotten to the part with the cables yet so I’ll start crying later.

In the original you’re supposed to do a braid and I’ve seen people add like an i-Cord edging or crocheted border. However I’d have to crack into my other ball to do that and I’d really rather turn that other ball into another hat. So while this could use some finishing and probably needs it… I’m not so sure. Still, I really like this hat. If only for the fact that it’s so brazenly red.

Make one today! I strongly endorse it

I hope you hate your eyes…

Because this hat is ORANGE!

This is the third hat in my Christmas Hat Fest Extravaganza. It’s the beautiful Devra Hat by the lady behind pieKnits. So you might be wondering, where’s the brim?  Heh. Well, in the perfect plane of existence, there’s a brim on that hat.

I made that!

I’m so pumped guys.

I saw something in my head that I wanted to make and I went for it. I ripped out the same couple yards of yarn a few hundred times, realized the silk doesn’t rip so well and did it in acrylic- but I learned and feel like I’m a slightly better person for it. So without much more ra ra ra, I give you the Face Punch Relaxation Mask:

Someone please pretend they’re proud of me.

I’ve been coveting some Debbie Bliss Pure Silk for months. However I had no idea what to make with it. I wanted to make a body suit but that would put us in some horrific debt. So I got a skein and what follows is the pattern.

Face Punch Relaxation Mask

CO 48 sts. (I used size 6 DPNs, gauge isn’t super important.) Divide evenly onto 3 needles. (16 sts on each needle.) Join in the round being careful not to twist. Place marker if that’s your thing (it’s my thing too).

Row 1: [p1, k1] 4 times, k16, [k1, p1] 4 times, p4, k8, p4

Row 2: [k1, p1] 4 times, k16, [p1, k1] 4 times, p4, k8, p4

Row 3: [p1, k1] 4 times, k16, [k1, p1] 4 times, p4, C4B, C4F, p4

Row 4: [k1, p1] 4 times, k16, [p1, k1] 4 times, p4, k8, p4

Row 5: [p1, k1] 4 times, k16, [k1, p1] 4 times, p4, k8, p4

Row 6: [k1, p1] 4 times, k16, [p1, k1] 4 times, p4, k8, p4

Row 7: [p1, k1] 4 times, k16, [k1, p1] 4 times, p4, C4B, C4F, p4

Row 8: [k1, p1] 4 times, k16, [p1, k1] 4 times, p4, k8, p4

Row 9: [p1, k1] 4 times, k16, [k1, p1] 4 times, p4, k8, p4

Row 10: [k1, p1] 4 times, k16, [p1, k1] 4 times, p4, k8, p4

Row 11: [p1, k1] 4 times, k16, [k1, p1] 4 times, p4, C4F, C4B, p4

Row 12: [k1, p1] 4 times, k16, [p1, k1] 4 times, p4, k8, p4

Row 13: p1, k1] 4 times, k16, [k1, p1] 4 times, p4, k8, p4

Row 14: [k1, p1] 4 times, k16, [p1, k1] 4 times, p4, k8, p4

Row 15: p1, k1] 4 times, k16, [k1, p1] 4 times, p4, C4F, C4B, p4

Row 16: [k1, p1] 4 times, k16, [p1, k1] 4 times, p4, k8, p4

Repeat all 16 rows three more times (so you do the pattern four times total).

Sew the first edges (where you cast on) together. Then take a stocking (I cut out the foot of some pantyhose) and fill it with flax seed and lavendar flowers… or anything that you like the smell of! The flax seed gives it some weight and makes it so you can warm it up in the microwave, for warmth. Or throw it in the freezer for a few mintues, for cool(th). Tie off the stocking or sew it up, stuff it into the pouch and either kitchener the last stitches or bind off and sew those together… I kitchener’d mine.

This is the type of project to justify buying one skein of luxury yarn and the cables are super easy, even for a person who has never done cables before.

C4F means: slide two stitches onto a needle and hold to the front, then knit the following two stitches then knit the stitches on the front needle.

C4B means: slide two stitches onto a needle and hold to the back, then knit the following two stitches then knit the stitches on the back needle.

Boys like it too!

Be warned though, depending on how much you stuff it full of flax seed, this thing can pack a serious punch:

However, what’s more relaxing than a nice punch in the face?

Let me know what you think… if there’s anything I can do to make the pattern better, let me know!

P.S. My favorite number is 8.