Double Warm Hat

This FO is all about me. It's no secret that this winter has hit me hard. I've complained about to everyone I know and complete strangers alike. But in case you missed the memo: I. Hate. Winter.

I don't mind a little cold. Heck, I even like snow. But the kind of bitter cold we've been having this winter just saps my will to live, or, on less melodramatic days, my will to leave the house. 

So I made myself a hat. An extra warm hat. Double warm, if you will. I call it that because it's actually two hats, one inside the other. The pattern comes from Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitting Without Tears, and like all her patterns, it's delightfully simple.

I made the brown hat first, just a simple roll-brim number  in the size I would normally make it. The only difference was that I used the provisional cast-on instead of my usual long-tail start. Once the brown hat was done, I removed the waste yarn, joined in the blue-gray color and commenced to make the other hat in the opposite direction.

When done, just push one hat inside the other and voila: a doubly warm, fully reversible, awfully cunning hat.

Okay, so there's one thing I like about winter. My new hat.

Zoe's Baby Hat

Another long time between posts. January's finished objects seemed to all be gifts that needed to be kept under wraps until after given. I know, I know. Most people do their gift knitting and giving in December. But, as usual, I'm just a little bit off the beam.

One of the things I made in January was a baby hat for Zoe, a friend's first grandbaby. 

I don't know Zoe, but I'm acquainted with her Big Mama, so something classic but classy seemed in order. Basic with a little bit of flair. So a simple hat with a flourish of cables was settled upon.

I'm a little addicted to cables now that I've practiced them more. Ordinarily I'm all about the flashy colors, but I like the way the texture of the cables looks on a solid color.

So, inspired by Zoe, I am now learning to read charts and making a cabled scarf for myself.

Red Scarf

Made this red scarf for the Orphan Foundation of America's Red Scarf Project. Managed to get it mailed in on time despite all the holiday craziness lately.

Afghan Squares

Made these for the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. There's a lovely woman in my home state of Louisiana who assembles them into finished afghans, so this project couldn't be easier: just knit some 6x6 squares, don't even have to weave in the ends. 

If you're on Ravelry, check out the Afghans for Pine Ridge group. Great way to bust some stash while helping to keep people who live in a harsh climate warmer.

Dash Cloth

This is my new favorite washcloth pattern. Found the pattern on Ravelry. If you're not on Ravelry (Why aren't you? Seriously. Check it out.), you can find it here.

I'm making 4 of these right now, knitting them like a chain smoker smokes: starting another color combo on another pair of needles before I've even finished the previous one. Every pair of #7 needles that I own have one of these puppies on 'em.

Good thing I make washcloths for charity. I'm not nuts for this pattern, I'm helping my fellow man. A lot. 

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?

Washcloths

This week, I finished 3 washcloths for A Fresh Start, a volunteer knitting initiative started by Beth123b of the Peace Work group on Ravelry. Beth is collecting travel-size toiletries and handmade washcloths to be donated to a women's shelter in her area.

These were fun and easy to make. The hardest part was settling on a pattern. I discovered that I'm really fussy about the back of my work. I guess because I'm used to knitting in the round, where the wrong side of the work never shows. 

So, after starting several patterns that I didn't like, I settled on the Genius Baby Burp Cloth pattern from Mason-Dixon Knitting. It makes a nice sensible garter stitch washcloth on one side and a fancier fabric on the other side. Perfect.

If you have some cotton in your stash that you need to bust, consider making a few washcloths for Beth's effort or call the women's shelter in your area and see if they could use some washcloths of their own.