#9 and #10...

     So I made #9 and #10, but diverged a little. #9 is a baby hat acrylic yarn, with that baby blue color. 

  K2 P2 ribbed rim and knit to finish. #10  was different.  I have always liked cabled knit designs and have tried once or twice to make something, but failed, until today.

     This is a wool blend and I used size 10 circular needles 16 inch.  I, for the first time in my knitting career, followed a pattern and it worked very well.  CF6 and CF4 (cabling talk for knitting) is so much fun and breaks up the sometimes tedious task of K & P.     

     This pattern for a 3AM Cable Hat can be found at smariek.blogspot.com Half way through the hat, I started looking at the different curves and twists, and this made my happy.  I also enjoyed following a pattern.  This originally was a hat for Shannon, my wife, but she didn't like gray, so it's mine. It fits a little snug and a little itchy, but oh so warm. I plan to make more of these as I go along.

Cheers and Happy Knitting!! 

4 hats on a weekend...

    So I was a little busy this weekend with knitting.  I completed four hats, one wool blend, and three acrylic.  

     I found out that preemie or baby hats that are donated should be knit with acrylic yarn, not wool because the oxygen and wool may cause a spark, or there may be an allergy to wool.  I will still donate the wool hats, just leaving a note that they are wool and to please find a home for them.  

     That brings my total to 8 preemie/baby hats. I am shooting for about 50 than I will move on to adult/kids hats :) 

Cheers!!   

Preemie Hat #4-Baby Alpaca

     I started this hat today and it took me about 2-3 hours to complete.  I love this yarn. It's baby alpaca, soft, and the color is so vibrant.

     Cast on 42 stitches. Ribbed about an inch K2 P2. and then just knit.  I used size 10 circular needles, 16 inch.  I had to go switch to double pointed needles when the yarn did not fit on the circulars anymore.  Turned out great!

     #4 is done. It never gets old making these.

Happy Knitting!

 

Hat #3: New Born Beanie

      I started working on this hat a couple days ago.  I had to double the yarn so it could easily fit on the size 10 circular needles that I prefer.  Here is the start: K2 P2 for the rim.

     Then knit the rest of the way:

     Pretty fast knit, maybe 2-3 hours total. I am thinking I will work up to maybe 10 baby hats, then make my donation.

Happy Sunday!!

Preemie Hat #2 done!!

I know it is not the weekend. I just wanted to get this project done. So here it is: another preemie hat

I am happy with it. Ribbing on the rim and some P2 K4 P2, then shape the crown.  Here is a variation, very easy Preemie hat, if anybody is interested in trying it out:

http://www.bernat.com/data/pattern/pdf/Bernat_SofteeBabyweb1_kn_preemiehat.en_US.pdf 

Have an awesome weekend!!

Double Pointed Misery...

    Confession time. This tiny knit is not for me and it takes forever!   I started this baby hat for charity a couple days ago. It called for size 6 double pointed needles.  I must say, I prefer knitting with circular 16" needles, size 10 or higher with nice bulky yarn. Size 6 is just too tedious and not my style.

     This is what I have so far for my hat and its been 4 days.  I have only knitted maybe an hour or two a day, and really that's enough for this project.  I do notice I knit faster when I use circular needles, and it just feels better too.  This will probably be my last double pointed needle hat, I really have no interest in doing another one.

     I will finish this hat soon, I would say by this weekend, so I can get into other projects with this yarn.  I plan to double this size 6 yarn and use it on my size 10 circular needles for more hats, and hopefully enjoy it more too.  

Happy Knitting and weekend!

Big Balls of Fun!!

     I picked up these at Walmart last night: 

I know it's Walmart, and I normally do not shop for yarn there, but for bulk it is pretty great yarn for baby hats.  I usually shop at The Sheep Shack, www.thesheepshack.com in Holden, MA. a beautiful drive and amazing knitting supplies.  I also get yarn from the a new store in Worcester, Knitscape: https://www.facebook.com/Knitscape A beautiful selection of yarn.  I enjoy going to little knit shops instead of big box stores.  I get all my knitting supplies and yarn at these stores, and bulk at Walmart. 

So I just started a baby hat ages 0-3 months using these cool cubed double pointed needles:

      The lady at Knitscape said they were used for people who have arthritis, so I decided to give it a try.  They are awesome, and are by far the best needles I have ever purchased.

   So I started this project tonight:

Cast on 64 stitches: 24/16/24 for 0-3 month baby head.

This is a K1 P1 rib.  This is all I got to tonight. Will do some more tomorrow. This is only the second time I have worked with double pointed needles, and that was when I knit mittens for Shannon.  The needles I used for her mittens were bamboo, and kept shredding on me because I was a tight knitter at the time.  Hoping with all this practice with knitting, I will have a better time with it. Till tomorrow, Happy Knitting!!

 

Patience, Perfection, and Knitting.

     You must have a lot of patience when you knit.  I have unraveled many projects and started over, very frustrating to do.  Today, I started knitting a cable hat for Shannon, but ended up unraveling it after a lot of work.  I was creating cable stitches correctly, but the hat was not looking correct.  I have talked with some knitters that will not unravel, even if they make a mistake they just leave it and deal with it, they will not go back.  I can't do that. I make a mistake, it will bug me, it's not perfect. What am I thinking when I unravel? I try not to think what a waste of time that was! I try to think that this is a learning experience, and the more I do it the better I will get.  I am not afraid to try new things with knitting or with life, even if I fail, I am always trying to learn something new, which gives me purpose and motivation in life.

     I have a lot of patience, from years of being a stay-at-home Dad.  Being with my kids all day with no car at times, requires a lot of composure.  Sure I have blown up at times, but I try to be as attentive as possible with my kids.  I really try and listen to what they are saying, whether through play or conflict.  That is what it is like for my knitting, try to learn from what challenges I come across. 

What does knitting do for me? 
      It makes the time go by so fast when I get into a groove and when I see the end result of a project (hat, mitten, or cowl). I have this great sense of accomplishment when the thread is finally on the threading needle and I am finishing a hat.  I am not going to lie, I like the attention of other people seeing me knit too.  A guy knitting is weird and different, but fascinating as well.  Isn't this life too short to be doing things you do not enjoy?  

Peace and Happy Knitting.

1st Preemie Hat.

     Today I made my 1st Preemie Hat that I will eventually donate to charity after I made quite a few. I used Baby Alpaca left over yarn from an early project. It is such a cute little hat. I can't really believe a baby head can be this small.  Below, I used the long-tail cast-on 34 stitches.

Did a rib for the rim: K2 P2.

 
The finished hat.

It was by far the easiest piece I have ever done, but it felt amazing after it was finished and I could hold it in my hand. My kids were both 5 lbs. when they were born. But they were healthy, just small.  Say a little prayer for all the Preemie's, parents, and Physician's, who are fighting for their lives.  Thanks for visiting!! :-)

Why do I knit hats?

     I began knitting in the Fall of 2011.  I just joined an awesome Coop for my two kids that I Homeschool full-time. I was the only Dad, surrounded by very accepting and friendly Mom's that brought me into the group.  A lot of Mom's were avid knitters, so right then and there, I decided to learn to knit so I could have a connection and have something to do while being social at the same time.  

     I watched a lot of YouTube videos on how to cast on, knit, purl, and collected some pointers from experienced knitters a long the way.  My first knitting project was a hat.  I unraveled and did this hat over and over again because I kept making a lot of mistakes, holes in a lot of places, just had a hard time with it.  My fingers ached too, I was such a tight knitter when I first started.  

     In the first year I started knitting, I made hats for my family (8 hats in all), mittens for Shannon, and a big cowl.  Out of all the pieces I made, I really enjoyed the hats the best.  So, here we are 2013, with new goals, new ambitions, and new hats!  I am excited to do this project and I hope to inspire some new knitters or people who are interested in seeing my work.  

All the best in 2013! Happy Knitting!!