SomerKnits

Finishing up. Part 5 of the cowl drops back down to just color A, so go ahead and cut color B with a long enough tail to weave in. Pick up color A. Pattern Stitch: (k3, p3) Work 6 rounds of the pattern stitch without regard for where the end of the round is. That moves your pattern over every time (100/3 has a remainder of 1). After 6 rounds of the pattern stitch, bind off all stitches loosely and weave in ends. Block gently. Voila!

More finished-for-real items from last night. This beanie/slouchy hat/thing is super comfy also. I was surprised, given where it sits, that it stays on my head fairly well. I think the light blue and brown and tan button works with this light beige and aqua pinch hat. And I went with a dark brown button here because there was no way to match the almost-gold tone of the yarn perfectly. And this is what Riley did while I was hard at work. I am sure he would tell you he was just guarding the yarn, but he was definitely asleep on the job. I need to make an effort to weave in ends as I go. Maybe someday I will sew together that Strictly Business Purse I felted 3 years (or more) ago. Geez, I think I felted that while I was still in California. Help! I have a finishing problem. But I am going to work on it, I swear.

Last night was a night of doing those things that I have neglected along the way. Some of them because I dislike doing them (weaving in ends) and some of them because I have a hard time making a decision (sewing on buttons). So here are some finished product pictures. For real this time, I didn't just tuck the loose ends up underneath so you couldn't see them. :-) I love this big wooden button on this pinch hat. I didn't have much make-up on, and I have ugly chapped, cracked lips, so no full face shots for you today. My mother did a seed stitch variation of this hat that turned out great, I think I am going to have to try that. I do love the way the pinch gives a little point of interest by the face. I need to get some models for my work. Maybe the Heathers would model for me one day. The 3x3 hat is super comfy, by the way. And so is the Just Because Cowl. It's wrapped 3 times in this picture and its not tight, just super soft and cozy. And here is the Sampler...

Part 4 of the cowl incorporates color B again. Round 1: Drop color A behind work and working in color B (K1, Sl1) around Round 2: Knit Round 3: Drop color B behind work and working in color A (Sl1, K1) around Round 4: Knit Work these 4 rounds a total of 3 times and then repeat rounds 1 & 2 again. That's it for section 4. Section 5 will finish it up!

4 Skeins of Brown Sheep are being given away! Any kind, any color. Go here and check out the review then enter the contest. There is a vest I have been dying to make with the Lamb's Pride Worsted. What do you want to make with Brown Sheep yarn?

You'll have to forgive the photography. The majority of this cowl was knit on the road. Section 3 of the cowl takes us back down to one color. Personally, I cut color B, leaving a tail to weave in and went to just using color A, but you are welcome to keep carrying it up the back if you are one of those people who remembers to do that kind of thing. I almost always forget I am supposed to be carrying a yarn up the side or the back or where ever if it's for more than one row. Anyhow, Box stitch pattern for section 3: Rounds 1 & 2: (k2, p2) repeat around Rounds 3 & 4: (p2, k2) repeat around Work rounds 1-4 twice then rounds 1 & 2 again.

Hey folks. If you are on Facebook, head on over here and check out the contest going on to see who can refer the most people. You can put my name in or compete yourself. The prize is a Farm Girl Fiber t-shirt. Go and have a look!

In the second section of the cowl I incorporated Color B by using single row stripes. This goes along very quickly in stockinette. Begin by dropping color A behind and working a round of knit with color B. At the starting marker, drop color B behind and knit a round with color A. Continue in this pattern until you have 7 stripes of color B, then do one more round of color A. Voila.

But first, some cuteness. Puppies on a day trip: Ok, enough adorableness. As I posted about a few times before, I went through my stash recently. All of it. It was kind of insane and it's still not all picked back up. But that's neither here nor there. The point is I found yarn I had pretty much forgotten about and was inspired. I decided to make a Sampler Style Casual Cowl. As is my usual MO, I did not swatch. But I will try and measure my gauge for those who do prefer to swatch. My philosophy is that its a big loop and who cares, but that might not be your philosophy. Anyhow, the first installment: I forgot to photograph the first section before I started the second section, but you can see it clearly here. How I started: Size 10.5 US 20 inch circular needles. 32 inch would have worked fine too. Worsted weight yarn in 2 different colors and textures. I used a soft smooth twist yarn and a soft off-white bumpy boucle. Neither has a label any longer, but they were ...

I love linen stitch. And half linen stitch. And all the little variations on linen stitch. I do not always love, however, dealing with two or three balls of yarn whose only goal in life is to get tangled. This cowl is the result of that + the desire for an easy take-along project + 2 balls of Artful Yarns Reality. The yarn changes color slowly, but enough that the linen stitch stands out. Looks, my nails match! Total coincidence.. My finished product is 10" tall, but slouches nicely on. And now, the pattern: 2 balls Artful Yarns Reality Size 11 20 inch Circular needles 1 stitch marker Cast on 75 stitches Place Marker and join for knitting in the round. Pattern stitch: (Knit 1, bring yarn forward and slip 1, take yarn back) Working in Pattern Stitch until cowl is 10 inches or desired length Bind off loosely. Note: The marker at the beginning to the round is really just there to help you know when you bind off. The odd number of stitches means every other round starts with ...

SomerKnits stitchmarkers now being carried by Farm Girl Fiber on etsy. Go now and check it out: http://www.etsy.com/shop/FarmGirlFiber Pretty yarn should always be accompanied by pretty stitch markers!

I dumped out all my yarn. Ok, maybe not all my yarn at once, cause that would be scary, but a lot of it. I'm sorting it so that like kinds are together instead of willy nilly in tubs. It's a massive project, but I think it will be invaluable in the long run. Last night I got a really good start on it and wound a lot of stuff that used to be nice and neat but had gotten messy. I have reminded myself about a number of yarns I had forgotten about and the things I wanted to make with them. I was inspired to even more things as I thought about both Indie Emporium and this coming Christmas. I know getting organized takes some time away from the actual knitting, but reminding myself what is in my stash helps get the creativity flowing and reminds me that I probably don't need to go yarn shopping for quite some time. Yep, I admit it's true. I also took the time last night to finish up and bind off my Slipping Away Cowl. It's pretty and I love the way it looks on. ...

Last week I worked the Uproar tour as it came through town so I wanted to take something with me to knit that would be fun enough to keep me entertained and mindless enough to pick up and put down off and on all day. I decided to make another Calorimetry. This one is made of some Bernat Satin I had laying around and was made on size 7 needles. It's still a little big on me, but most people have more hair than I do. It might be long but it's very fine. So I'll sew a button on it and ponder its destiny. Next up is a cowl I have been working on. If you are familiar with the Fun to Stitch dishcloth from Creative Knitting sometime in 2006, perhaps May or March, or with linen stitch in general, then you should recognize the stitch pattern. I don't know why, but I just love that stitch pattern. Once I get going I could do it all day long. This time I went with just one yarn, but since its self striping it still makes for a great look. You can see the color variations s...

I wanted to knit a cowl. I wanted to use up some old boucle yarn. I didn't want it to take forever. Hence the Just Because Cowl was born. Yarn: Any art yarn or boucle. I used Bernat Soft Boucle, about 1/2-2/3 of the large skein Needles: Size 17 circs Guage: not really important but I got 6 stitches and 15 rows = 4 inches in stockinette CO 100 stitches and join in the round Rounds 1-3: Knit Round 4: (K1, YO, K2tog) around Round 5: Knit Round 6: Purl Round 7: Knit Round 8: (YO, K2tog) around Round 9-20: Knit Round 21: (YO, K2tog) around Round 22: Knit Round 23: Purl Round 24: Knit Round 25: (k1, YO, K2tog) around Rounds 26-28: Knit Bind off all stitches loosely and weave in ends. My cowl ended up 9 inches wide and long enough to wrap up to 3 times comfortably. Happy Knitting!!

People who know me know I am a clutter-y type person. I am. But I do get a wonderful sense of peace when everything is neat. I am just resistant to the actual cleaning that makes the neatness occur. I made some progress in the big old craft room yesterday. Not as much as I wanted, but some. It's going to take eons to wind all of the yarn, but its nice to get each skein out, re-familiarize myself with what all is in my stash and imagine what to do with it all. I know it will take years to knit it all, even if I never buy another skein again, but it's lovely to imagine all of the possibilities. That's what a stash is, it's a pile of possibilities. I am hoping that as I go through and wind everything and re-sort it all that I end up closer to realizing some of those possibilities. I think one whole basket will be a goal to knit up for Indie Emporium , mostly into hats. I am excited to have my hats and stitch markers along side Bridgette's beautiful yarn , so...

There is so much I want to do, so many ideas in my head. But this morning I need to set those aside a minute to try and get my workspace into something resembling a place I could maybe, I dunno, work. That would be good. We'll start with my craft table, since it should be the easiest to tackle as the least amount of just junk has been stacked on it. But if you look underneath....eep. See all that FGF yarn in that tub? Yep, gotta knit that up soon! And the tub under that has yarn too. I need to get in there and sort all that yarn, remind myself what I have. But that will have to wait until after the room as a whole is clean. After the short project of clearing the craft table off comes a slightly larger project of cleaning off the guest bed that occupies on side of the room. Currently it looks like this. Fun, huh? At least its mostly yarn. The bed is used more for blocking than for guests, but that doesn't really bother me. I mostly need it to be cleaned off so I have...

So I was on my way out the door to the St. Louis Cardinals game a couple nights ago when I realized I didn't have any purse size knitting on hand. I grabbed a ball of bernat chunky and a pair of size 10 16" circs out of my travel bag and stuffed them into my purse to contemplate at the game. I wanted something so super easy that by the time the game started I wouldn't have to think about it. I feel almost silly sharing this pattern, but I figured why not. So here is the hat: I don't really intend to turn up the edge to make a brim, but my model had trouble keeping it on otherwise. Its really stretchy and should fit almost any adult head. Its long enough to cover your ears, so if you really want a brim, go ahead and flip up the edge. Ok, here goes the pattern: Ridiculously Easy 3x3 Hat Yarn: I used Bernat Chunky Needles: Size 10 16" Circs or preferred method of knitting in the round CO 60 stitches and join for knitting in the round. Work in 3x3 rib for 7 inche...

Godzilla woke up when we stopped for gas. During the pit stop Godzilla got an iced tea. I tried to get him to share with me, but he wouldn't. I told him a double shot would have been more his size but upon thinking about it I decided that I was very glad he only went with iced tea. Can you imagine if he'd had two shots of espresso. Did you know Godzilla likes Goldfish? Mmmmm. I told him that the car is an automatic, but he said he wanted to help shift anyway. Sometimes he's good like that, other times he's completely a toddler. At one point he had a tantrum. But then he felt bad about the fire as the highway became consumed by smoke. All in all it was a good trip but he was very glad to get home.

We had company with us on the car ride to and from St. Louis this weekend. He was well behaved and quiet on the way there, but he was a little restless on the way back, so I took some pics. First he didn't want to go straight home so he tried to take a chunk out of the GPS. Next he decided that since we are on the brink of fall he needed to step up his fashion sense. So he put on the hat I knit at the Cardinals game the night before (pattern to be posted soon). He found it a bit overwhelming, although I'm not sure why. Then Godzilla decided to knit for a bit. He prefers size 15 needles because he doesn't have the patience for small knitting. Then it was his turn to drive, which was fine with me because I hate driving. But driving was exhausting so he decided to take a nap after that. It was my neck pillow he slept on though, so I was a little jealous.