Knitterly Christmasy Goodness

I have been a knitting fool this Christmas season. I have finished a mystery project (can't speak of it as recipient reads the blog) and two hats that came out so fab! The first is the Jacques Cousteau hat, chosen first because of the cool decrease pattern on the crown and second because the recipient will appreciate that it is the Jacques Cousteau hat.

by Hestia6

It was an easy knit and I love the crown so much that this may be my go to hat pattern from now on.

I also made the Striped Hat from Debbie Bliss Knitting, Fall/Winter 2011. It is shown on a woman, but I made it for a boy. It is a slouchy hat and really on trend and a really quick knit. I didn't make it as long as the pattern called for because I didn't want it to look like Goofy's hat, and I'm happy with the way it came out.

© mahrle

I used Knit Picks Wool of the Andes and I LOVE it! I am a total Knit Picks convert. Great low prices, quality yarns, fast shipping, a huge variety of colors, what's not to love? I find myself stroking the hats because they are so alpaca soft. I am in love.

I have cast on Somerset vs. Norway, a gorgeous set of Norwegian design mittens featuring hares. I am using some of the Knit Picks yarns that I bought with chocolate brown as the background color and avacado green as the pattern color. This is my first set of these mittens and I am excited.

by Nethya

by Nethya

And some future project ideas:

If I get some cash for Christmas it is earmarked to go toward a Season 14 Doctor Who scarf (it's the shortest, at 8-10 feet long). From my elementary years, when I would run home to watch Dr. Who on PBS, I have coveted this scarf. It is the ENTIRE reason that I learned how to knit. I've been knitting around 10 years now, but do I have my cherished scarf to show for it? No, dear reader, I do not. It is time to remedy this situation. I will be using the Original Pattern from Chris Brimelow's DrWhoScarf.com. The Witty Little Knitter also has a great database for knitters wishing to make The Scarf.

I have some Brown Sheep Company chunky wool/nylon blend in a sunny yellow and black. It was earmarked for a new earflap hat for Will, but the hat is too tight and William has taken to wearing a prefab OSU hat that looks quite natty. So I have decided to make myself some slippers out of the frogged yarn. After searching and searching for a pattern that resembled moccasins I found these Non-Felted Slippers done by Yuko Nakamura. I love Japanese knits. They tend to be so clean and streamlined. Again, I'm excited about these!

And finally, a Great stash-busting project!

This is for all those bits and bobs of worsted weight wool that you have lying around OR the striped and solid color sweaters that you bought to frog but found that the yarn was too worn or itchy or lacy. It's The Ron Weasley Blanket and you don't have to be a Harry Potter fan to understand it's glory. Composed of mismatched randomly striped and solid 7in squares attached 8 across and 10 down, it should fit any bed you wish to place it on. And think of how warm it would be if you backed it with flannel or velvet and did a tied quilt. I would truly be an heirloom piece.

Here's Ron with his blanket at Hogwarts

This is Keri's Won Won Blanket

So there you go. Happy knitting. I hope I've given you all some inspiration and the push to pick up the sticks!

Yarn shopping plans and a kitchen update

So the dishwasher and garbage disposal or in BUT the dishwasher was plugged into the same line as the garbage disposal and, therefore, the dishwasher cannot be run unless the disposal is on, too.  It will be fixed very soon, I am assured.  So today I had to do a HUGE load of dishes by hand.  I also have been engulfed in moving around everything in the kitchen since I lost a large cabinet and drawer and have to find a place to put all of the displaced bowls and mixing spoons.  The kitchen is still a bit typhoonish, so no picture yet.

I also was given the green light to go YARN SHOPPING(!) Hubs is letting me go buy expensive yarn store yarn for a few Christmas presents.  I am so excited!  I have a randomly striped scarf, ssimple pattern, in grey tones and a Jacques Cousteau hat in mind (but not in red, probably also in a coal or slate grey), but I can't say for whom.  I think I'm going to use Brown Sheep Company yarn, but of course I will have to check out all of my options!  I'm also involved in another project that I can't say a thing about but you can get details on Ravelry (I'm droppedstitches72, feel free to friend me!).  Will post some photos of YARN after I go shopping!

What are you knitting right now?  I'd love to know!

Knitted Hat and Mittens Done!

The hat and mittens are complete.  As you can see, the hat is not the "Ironic Gnome", though I am still planning on knitting that for the teens.  Maybe striped.  In the end, William just wanted that hat on his head so I finished it off, put a big pom pom on the top and it turned into a hat from Peru.

The mittens were easy one point needle mittens from Lion Brand and knitted up in two days.  I knit both at the same time and they flew off of the needles.  Both the hat and the mittens only used one skein of Simply Soft yarn. 

So William is thrilled with his winter ensemble and I get to start something new.  I've been wanting to knit a traditional pair of Norwegian mittens and found a pair that uses sock yarn.  I bought alpaca so that they'd be warm and a cable needle so that I can learn the magic loop technique.  The pattern uses stranded color work so essentially there will be two layers of alpaca; I'm hoping they'll be warm enough for subzero Ohio winters but I'm thinking if they work in Norway, Ohio should be no problem at all! 

Working on another hat: Could a free pattern be on the way?

So William needs a hat, mittens, and a scarf. He picked out the yarn from my stash, a very colorful variety of Caron Simply Soft called "Embroidery Print." It is perfect for a little kid.

When he looked at the patterns he loved the gnome and pixie hats. So using the amazing Ravelry I found a selection of free patterns for gnome hats. I settled on "The Ironic Gnome" (don't you LOVE that name) for "hipster gnomes" from the great blog The Work is Getting to Me. One thing I REALLY love about this hat that I don't know how to do is the color gradient dye job that XandY did to her yarn. It's amazing and she is promising a tutorial. Can't wait.

Side from The Work is Getting to Me


back from The Work is Getting to Me

I love the slouchyness (she used Paton's Classic and any acrylic isn't going to have the same slouch) and the aforementioned gradient dye.

BUT, as all of you know, I am a designer, and I'm always making modifications to everything I knit. My first was to start with ear flaps, which I worked in the following way:

Best worked on the dpns you'll use to make the hat
Cast on 4
Row1: Perl
Row2: K1, M1, K2, M1, K1
Row3: Perl
Row4: Knit
Row5: Perl
Row6: K1, M1, K4, M1, K1
Repeat rows 3 - 5
Continue to add 2 stitches to following row until there are 14 stitches on needles
Then:
Perl 1 row
Knit 1 row
Perl 1 row
Knit 1 row
Perl 1 row
Then add 2 additional stitches, continuing in this manner until there are 20 stitches on the needle
Perl 1 row
Hold each ear flap on needle

At this point I should tell you that I think I'm using size 6 dpns (I eyeballed them, so I'm not sure: can't find my measuring tool) since I'm making this for a 4 year old and the gauge was much smaller than called for in the Ironic Gnome pattern. So I ended up using a knitted cast on with 30 stitches in the back of the hat, knitting on the ear flaps, and 50 stitches in the front of the hat for a total of 120 stitches cast on. I also did a 2x2 rib instead of the 1x1 rib called for in the pattern. I added an additional stitch every 12th stitch on the first row after the rib stitch and am now following the pattern as written.

I am thinking of making the top of the hat longer and pointier and maybe adding a pom pom, but William didn't seem to thrilled with the Jayne Cobb hat when I showed it to him (how I love the Jayne)

source on Craftster

Maybe I'll just have to knit that one for myself!

What I've Been Up To (aka I'm Not Dead)

1. I've been doing a tremendous amount of knitting. I never learned how to hold the yarn correctly and I throw the yarn with my thumb and index finger Continental style which has resulted in a monster case of tendonitis in my left pinkie finger. I have just convinced myself tonight that (a) I need to hold the yarn correctly and (b) I must go on a restorative yarn hiatus. Oh, and typing hurts, too, but I had to post!

source

2. I've been tackling the former dining room, then Collin's room, with totally destroyed carpeting and really bad walls room. The carpet has been torn up except for a little patch of 50 year old berber (which will come up tomorrow) that was under a bunch of furniture. The carpet pad disintegrates when pulled up, which makes for a lovely mess, but the carpet has long needed to come up. Bye Bye Berber!

The last little pathetically nasty piece of berber carpeting

I've painted the walls a lovely robin's egg blue (which I am proud to say that I mixed myself using left over paint and those little paint samples to tint what I already had).

OH, and I NEVER thought I would do this, as I'm all about maintaining the original beauty of a vintage house, but I painted the paneling in the room (I'm still sort of gasping as I type this, even though I LOVE the way it came out).

Here's the paneling in the living room for some comparison.

It's dated and dark, and painting it white brightened up the room so much it was totally unbelievable, but the paneling is also this gorgeous knotty pine. Really pretty; it makes people sort of gasp when they see it because you rarely see paneling of this quality in houses anymore. But I bit the bullet and painted over it in the dining room.

I still have to paint the floor, find a new ceiling fixture (there's a groovy one at Ikea that I like, but our nearest Ikea is 100 miles away (Ikea, why haven't you placed a store in Columbus, OH? Oh, and would delivery kill you?)) And I have an idea for floor pillows that are made crazy quilt style using old sweaters that I steak and sew together and then do one of those cool embroidery stitches on, but I'll do those after I get the room done. Hmmm, so I think that's about it. That's the news, Walter Kronkite!

Yay Me!

Yes, I know I sound like London from The Suite Life of Zac and Cody (or Suite Life on Deck if you're currently watching the show), but I got over another "blah me" hurdle and finally started my Knit Along Project for Goldenbird's New Techniques year long KAL! And I've found that I'm learning a few new techniques.

I decided on the Mini Mochi Entrelac socks (and if they don't fit me, I may cry until I totally dissolve, because I think they are going to be a lot of work).

source

I am using Premiere Yarns Deborah Norville Collection Serenity Sock Weight Yarn which is nice and cheap, 50% Merino Superwash, 25% Bamboo, and 25% Nylon. It is a little splitty, but at $4.50/230 yards, the price is right (but I am realizing I'm going to have to get more, as size 3 needles are recommended, and I'm using size 1 - as per the pattern, and I need 500 to 550 yards and I only have 460). And the colorwasy are lovely. I'm using Chili.


socks by PaulaStitches

AND, to get started, I had to learn a Provisional Cast on, which totally geeked he out when I watched Lucy Neatby's great video on it, as it's crochet AND knitting at the same time!! Could anything be better? You can watch the video here.

So, I'm only on the first knitted layer of the first sock, but I was so excited about knitting a few stitches that I had to blog about it. Why have I not been knitting? I LURVE to knit! Look for updates, I will try not to gripe as these are my mortal nemesis, socks.

Yay Me!

What? Knitting content?

I know. It's been an inordinately long amount of time since I posted anything about knitting on my formerly knitting blog. But guess what, knitty friends? I'm writing a knitting post! This is all brought on by the fact that I joined Golden Bird Knits' 2001 New Techniques Knit Along and am feeling that urge to pick up the sticks again. She's having a giveaway right now; go check out her site and become a follower (and the KAL is on ravelry).

Anyhow, I have never knit a pair of socks that properly fit me. My calves are genetically large and I have a very very very high arch. So when I go to put on my knitted socks I (a) can't get my foot into them and/or (b) constrict all of the blood in my calves to the point that my foot looses all circulation. I Want to knit a pair of socks I actually like! And in the process, I'll practice a few techniques.

source

Crystal Palace Yarns has a really cool pattern for entrelac socks that uses two single pointed needles. The Mini Mochi Entrelac sock pattern offers me a chance to learn entrelac and also learn a new sock making technique. The ravelry reviews on this sock have said that it is a large sock, which fits my huge calve needs, too. And it's so darn cool looking, and would give me an opportunity to use some of the self striping yarn that I have.

This pair of kilt hose was knit by Ravelry member mrsmcg

Then there's the Tiorneach Kilt Hose. They have a lovely lace edge which hides a garter to hold up the sock. The calves are ample and the pattern uses DK weight yarn. I have some cashmere blend Karabella yarn that I've been holding onto forever, waiting for the right pattern, and I think this might be it. And I like the "seam" detail that runs up the back of the hose. This pattern was designed for man legs and can also be modified, so I'm thinking they just might fit me.

So what do you think? What pattern do you fancy? I'm not sure which to start with, so let me know what you think!

More Sponsor Love: Alaskan Purl

Alaskan Purl is a blog that I have been reading for a LONG time because it is such a great blog. If you are a knitter, you HAVE to read and subscribe to this blog (just look at that hat; do I really need to say more?). Allison's blog is just quality all knitting, all the time. Ah-Mazing knitting and all that stuff knitters love - talk about yarn, patterns, reviews of patterns from other sites, and giveaways!

Also, I just want to say that Alaskan Purl is one of those sites that when I was a greenhorn blogger I looked at and thought to myself, "Gee, my blog looks suckish compared to this!" It is really a beautifully designed blog as well.

So, there you go. I love this blog. I want all of you knitters to visit it and subscribe. If it isn't already, it Will become one of your favorites. It's one of mine.

Knitting 101 at Puzzling Posts

Hey kids! Today, Im over at Puzzling Posts writing about how to knit. There's also a free pattern - its like the Aisley Cowl but it's a scarf - so make sure to go over and check things out!

Sponsor Love: Knot-Cha-Chá!™

I have my first sponsor and I am so excited to introduce you to her!

I've been reading Sharon's blog, Knot-Cha-Chá!™ for a long time and it has become one of the required stops on my blog list. Sharon is "a designer/maker, teacher, writer and spinner of yarns with a love of color, texture, and simplicity of line." Her articles on spinning (and the beautiful results) have made me want to learn to spin and her featured knitting is beautiful. In addition, she writes fun articles about her life and adventures and includes tutorials for some really beautiful projects (I Love the Understatement Necklace).

Her Etsy store, Knot-Cha-Chá!™ is full of gorgeous knitted and crocheted confections like this merino wool scarf (that I have been coveting) in a lacy ribbed pattern. Buy it for me, won't you?

She also makes hats, bracelets, wraps, cowls, and many other delicious handmade accessories. Be sure to check them out!

Thanks, Sharon, for being my first sponsor!

More information on sponsorship opportunities can be found here or by clicking the "Become a Sponsor" button in the left sidebar.

A ramble with some knitting and kitty pictures (and a profoundly amazing title)

I started this blog as an act of desperation. We had no money, and I was caught hook, line, and sinker by those internet ads promising gobs of cash if you just blogged about something you knew. I knew knitting. So one day, I sat down, signed up for a Blogger account, and wrote about a knit along. Easy peasy! And I incorporated Adwords and waited for the cash to come pouring in.

You know what happened next, don't you? Where was the money??? I quickly learned that blogging was about something completely different than money. I also learned that although I loved to knit, and Dropped Stitches was supposed to be a dedicated knitting blog, I just didn't want to write about knitting all of the time.

So I started putting in tidbits about my life. Then a recipe here and there. I wasn't really dedicated to posting, and for a time quit writing. I hadn't figured out the cardinal rule of blogging: if you really don't want to write about the stuff you are writing about, you aren't going to write a good blog. Easy as that.

Somehow, one day I decided that I was going to start writing again, but this time, I'd use my blog as a creative outlet. It would be my place to let off some steam, explore who I was, and share a bit about knitting. It slowly morphed into a completely different monster. One that will rock you to sleep and sing you a lullaby (because there are no mean monsters in my Dropped Stitches world), but an very interesting monster with a VERY interesting hairdo nonetheless.

The first time I wrote about faith I was scared to death. Who wanted to read about a girl and her faith struggles? As it turned out, a lot of people did. I received more comments than I ever had. I learned to be authentic. And transparent. Every time I revealed more of myself, flawed, scared, depressed, all of the yucky stuff, I felt lighter, more free. And I decided that if people didn't want to read about the yucky, well they just didn't have to, did they?

I don't even know how to categorize what I write now. I just try to share, be true, and you all know that I like pretty pictures, so I share them. I don't share a lot about my family because they need their anonymity, but I share some stuff. By the way, eldest daughter broke her wrist attempting an axel. Figure skating is a dangerous sport!

So that's my ramble. This is what you get when I'm sleepy and a bit migrainous. And in a totally unrelated bit, kitties and knitting just sort of go together, do they not?

Enjoy your day and be good to yourself.

Photos We Heart It

Super Yarn Giveaway

Allison if having an amazing giveaway in celebration of her 100th post. It's really really nice yarn. That you will want. Go enter.

Happy Day

Well, I've had a wonderful spring day. Kendall, Will, and I went to Glacier Ridge Metro Park for some walking and playtime (and I didn't think I had my camera, so no pictures). It was a nice time; if you are in the area, it has a nice playground and a short trial which I'm sure will be much more impressive in the summer.

Then, to bribe the boy to leave, we went to Jeni's for some Splendid ice cream. Today, I had the Gooey Butter Cake (with these huge chunks of almost caramelized brown sugar - amazing!). Kendall tried the Brown Butter Almond Brittle. I am hard pressed to select a favorite, because everything there is so incredible!

They did this cute bunting made of brown paper bags in the window. The other side said "Bake Shop" in stenciled letters. A creative, economical way to dress up a window for a party, perhaps.

A few steps from Jeni's is my LYS, Temptations. It wasn't opened, but we wandered around and found a cozy little outside nook that was so photo-worthy, I had to take a few snaps.

The porch is decorated with huge mill ends of yarn - yes, they were tempting, but a little dirty!

Just to the right of this . . .

Is this pretty old door

Turn around and you'll see this fantastic bench . . .

by this ivy covered tree

Around a corner, and you are by the entrance and this well-loved bench

And this was waiting on the steps. A little piece of nature.

Hope your day was lovely!