Knit One, Save One Hats

Have been neglecting my FO blog during the holidays, but I wanted to start the new year off right.

During my time off, I made a few of these little hats for Save the Children's Knit One, Save One Campaign. Save the Children distributes hats like this in developing countries, where something as simple as a baby hat is beyond the means of many new mothers and could make the difference between life and death for a low-birthweight baby.

These little hats are easy to make, easy to take along as a portable project, and awfully cute when done.

Soda or Juice Sleeves

This week's off-screen unpleasantry: mouth surgery. (And no, it wasn't a bigmouthectomy, although many have diagnosed me with that condition.) Doctor's orders were to drink as many cold beverages as I could hold to keep the swelling down.

Problem is, it's a little cold these days in Beantown. Wrapping my sensitive typing hand around a cold can or bottle all day long for days on end wasn't the most appealing thought, so I did what any self-respecting crocheter would do.

I whipped up a cozy. Or two. Possibly six.

Couldn't be simpler. Just a few rows of single crochet with a couple of loop closures on the last row, and two beads to pull the loops over. Interestingly, the size, with a little stretching, seems to fit any size or shape of bottle.

I used beads to close mine, but buttons would work. It would be easy to work in stripes, and the gauge isn't that important because you can easily check the size as you go by holding it up to a bottle of your favorite beverage and adjust the size with a few more or less chains or rows.

SODA OR JUICE SLEEVE

Hook: Size H

Yarn: I used leftover worsted weight dishcloth cotton

Other: Large beads or small buttons, tapestry needle

1. Ch 16.
   
2. Sc in each chain across (15 sc), ch 1, turn.
   
3. Repeat this row 32 more times (33 rows sc).
   
4. On row 34, sc in first 3 stitches, chain 4, sc in next 9 stitches, chain 4, sc in last 3 stitches. This will create 2 loops evenly spaced across the edge.
   

Break off yarn and pull through last loop.

Attach a bead or buttons on the other edge (beginning of piece) in the 3rd stitch from each side.

Weave in all ends.

Beanie

I started out the week planning to make several beanies for various groups that collect hats for kids and teenagers. A crocheted beanie might not be the warmest hat in the world, but in my experience, the warmest hat for a kid is the one that the little scamp will actually wear.

But then, as often happens, my ambitions met my reality, and I only managed to get one made.

In this case, reality intruded in the form of my rusty crochet skills. Once I managed to get going with the hook, I was in to it. Having fun. Hooking along. Hooking along so fast, in fact, that soon I was done, and only then did I notice that the hat I had just whipped out was sized for a baby doll.

Nerds!

So I started over and tried the next hook up the size chart. This time, the resulting beanie (pictured above) appeared human sized.

But I tried it on, and it's way too tight. Plus, it's too short.

Is it possible I need to use a hook 2 sizes larger than the teen-to-adult sized pattern calls for? 

I do tend to work tight, in both knitting and especially crochet. I suffer under the delusion that tight stitches are neat stitches. As far as I'm concerned, drape is expendable in the grim battle for a consistent and uniform fabric.

But...2 sizes?

I'll still send the resulting hat along--maybe it will fit some little tweener's bean.

And then I guess I'll be getting better acquainted with my size K hook.

Tribble, Tawashi, Susemi

This week in my quest to outfit the kitchen with colorful bits of yarn, I discovered susemi (thanks to Raveler nikkislipp, read her post on the subject here), the Korean version of a Japanese tawashi, which is in turn the equivalent of an American dish scrubbie (represented above by the spiral-patterned "tribble").

Knitting sure does give a girl an international flair.

I'm not sure what this urge to knit for the kitchen is all about. The kitchen is not a room that I spend a lot of time in. In my small studio apartment, it's not even a room at all. It's a hallway between the bathroom and my living room/bedroom/office. I pass through a few times a day, occasionally stopping to grab a Diet Coke/Pepsi/Dr. Pepper, and/or (almost always "and," very rarely "or") a snack. Repeat this ritual several times and you have what passes for meals in my humble little home.

I think all this knitting for the kitchen comes from the realization that I want to do more in the kitchen.

Cooking isn't just about assembling ingredients and sticking them in the pot/oven/microwave for the correct amount of time. Cooking requires planning, shopping, preparing. And cooking creates dishes.

Dishes that have to be washed.

Hence the yarny bits. I'm hoping that they will motivate me to do more in the kitchen than just pass through.

Wish me luck.

Tawashi

I discovered tawashi while searching for washcloth patterns on Ravelry. I had never even heard of these things before, but I'm already hooked on making them. I love making washcloths, but I never use them. I prefer scrubbies and sponges. So tawashi (tawashis?) are perfect for me. I might actually use them instead of donating or gifting them, which is what I usually wind up doing with washcloths.

They also make great stashbusters, especially for that acrylic orange I keep finding more of in the back of the drawer... 

When it comes to knitting and crochet, I thought I knew it all. Then I got on Ravelry.

Have I mentioned lately how much I love Ravelry?