PRESTO!

Change-O!

HatWashingDay @ChicKnits.com

I was having problems getting the Blue Bucket in the front to be the right size and it was giving me fits! It is for my Mom for Christmas and NEEDS to be MAILED asap...

I felted it last week and it was so goofy looking I threw it on the floor of the laundry room. I did not trust the Felting Elves! So after I made the TweedyRed one and it turned out ok, I soaked Mr. Blue in some hot water and blocked it. (Didn't do that the first time.)

This time, it went from being tiny (un-blocked) to about 25" around because I used a flowerpot for the mold. Now my Mom's head is NOT that large. I looked at it and just giggled when I measured (finally she measures!!!) it. Since the TweedyRed was dry and off the coffee can, I decided to block Mr. Blue AGAIN!

This time I showed no mercy and threw it into the washer with two pairs of blue jeans and several other hats that needed to be washed or size adjusted.

And VOILA!

Third time is a charm. Who would think that it could take all that abuse? Now I TRULY understand why some folks are a little HAUTE UP about WOOL...

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the Yarn in the Blue Bucket

a true story

My Mom lives in Northern Lower Western Michigan (Hi Tonya!). One of her friends raises a lot of sheep and until a couple of years ago, after shearing, they would have the wool spun up somewhere into yarn.

In the springtime, Mom takes a special trip out to their farm to see the baby sheep. She has a whole drawer full of yarn but has never knit with it. She just looks at it and touches it every once in a while. (I have lots of yarn like that :)

I stold the blue yarn from her stash because she was wearing a really awful old shredded hat out in the snow shoveling. (This might just be a country thing!) This hat will keep her warm and dry (because of the organic nature of the yarn and the slight brim of the bucket) and she can think of how cute those baby sheep are in the spring so she'll have something to look forward to...

If it really is a country thing, she'll put the new hat by the wood burning stove and look at it and still wear the old shredded one outside...

Comments (6)

Monday Morning Mirth

*Broad* stereotypical humor is the
work of a very small mind.

And you know what they say,
small mind, small feet, small *****

Somebody got taken for some fast cash paying for that really obnoxious Xmas commerical that loudly proclaims everyone prefers work-related (EEWWW!!!) crap to WONDERFUL HANDMADE GIFTS!!!

I'm so inspired by their generous holiday spirit that I present to you a special edition pattern just to CHEER the masses:

the St*plesCanKissMyA**BecauseIt'sChic Scarf

Yarn: 200 yds Chunky Yarn (I used two balls of Rowan's Cork in Color 38 BUG)

Gauge: 14sts/18rows on #11 needles

CO 26 sts.

Knit 5 rows.

Pattern:
(RS): *(K2, P2) , repeat from * across to last two stitches, K2.
(WS): Slip 1 purlwise, P across to last stitch, slip 1 purlwise.

Repeat these two rows until piece measures 10 inches.

Now the scarf will be knit in two vertical pieces at the same time to form the "buttonhole".

(RS): (K2, P2) three times, then K1.

Now attatch another ball of yarn, K1, (P2, K2) three times.

(WS): Work as usual.

Repeat these two rows until "ButtonHole" measures 3 inches, ending on a WS row.

(RS): *(K2, P2) , repeat from * across to last two stitches, K2, using just one strand of yarn and dropping the left side yarn.

Work even in pattern until scarf measures 39 inches. (117 rows).

Starting with a WS row, K4 rows.

Bind off all stitches Knitwise.

Block and

Voila! You ROCK!!!

Comments (15)

a ChicKnits Runway Presentation
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courtesy of Lana Grossa

Lana Grossa Yarns genrerously
posts a Unique Pullover Design
with cables and a center rhombus!

Never heard of a rhombus? check it out...HERE!

Just click on "Model of the Month"
when you get to the index page...

Thanks so much to the folks at Lana Grossa!

You can buy their products online HERE

Comments (2)

How Sweet it IS!

Rowan Magazine 26
Design 2: SWEET by Kim Hargreaves
using Rowan DK Soft Color: Minty

Santa Claus is coming to town and in Chicago, like many places, that means New Clothes! One just can't look *Last Year* at the holiday soirees...

Even though I had the best intentions (!), my eyes were once again bigger than my stomach and the groovylicious Magenta Bulb sweater is going to have to be for later. I decided to take a deep breath, relax, and ENJOY the last holiday weekend. This means, maybe, a couple of scarves won't make it and Ms. Magenta will have to take a powder.

The Sweet Cardie has taken me since January 24th of this year to make. It is made with much smaller needles than I'm used to working with and is mainly Stockinette Stitch (the boring bane of knitters everywhere!) so it just did not inspire.

When the warmer weather hit in the Spring, off to the Marination Chamber it went, three-forths finished and maybe never to return.

AND my modification idea of double ruffles around the neckline had me in a chokehold as well. It ended up being over one thousand stitches on the last and cast off row. OMG! Cry FOul! Smacked Down by my own Knitwear!

But, since I am once again the self-victim of over ambitous project mongering, it had to step-up-to-step-out for the party season.

And OOOhhLAla...

Comments (10)

Tibbles & Bits

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Better Homes and Garden has a new edition of their KNIT IT series coming out this month...

See a preview at the Awesome Ewe...

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Find Your Scarf Within with Gap's help...

By golly, I've been in a Doubled Up Muffler frame of mind for weeks now and didn't even know it!

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Another Sneaker over at Personal Threads with a look at the Spring Rowan Magazine...

Thanks to Jamie over at the Red Sweater who spotted this!

Are the fuzzy pictures Not Telling the Whole Story? No Mo Boxy Pullovers, please! I got me a waist and I want it to show! I've got a bra and I intend to wear it! I hate Intarsia!!!

There is one style called Bon Bon that is interesting and maybe there's more like it somewhere or maybe I'm just drawn to it because it sounds like my pesky nickname from work! OR, Rowan is going to have SEVERAL mini-books like they did last year featuring various yarns targeted to various fashion styles! Ca CHing!!!

I must be in a Christmas coma, because I'm just not too excited about it at all. I'm still in a wool frenzy, working on my wild Fair Isle cardie and the Grey PeaCoat...

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the Blue Bucket Hat for Mom blocked out right to the correct measurements!

I took it off of the coffe can *hat mold* and tried it on myself and it looks goooood...

Then I flipped it, filled it with packing peanuts, put it in a box and surrounded it with other goodies and poured packing peanuts around every space! Hopefully, it will make it up to Michigan without being crushed. (AND in time, it's getting a little late to post packages, no?! GO USPS GO - these folks work so hard this time of year. My mail has been getting here After Dark!)

It's also a bonus in the ChicKnits household to re-cycle packing peanuts. I hate those things, even though they are a necessary evil. The little suckers always find a way to hide in the corners or under the couch. I'm always finding them in my bushes and yard as well. The 2K2 Message in a Bottle of sorts - but just what is the message any way???

Comments (3)

You Can Ring My Bell

Jingle Bell that is... Do you have a friend that wears Holiday Clothes at the Office? Green on St. Patrick's Day. Red, White, and Blue around the 4th. Black and Orange Skeleton earrings and more on Halloween...

Well, in this spirit, it appears the sweater I'm making for my Holiday Ensemble is going to make me that employee. AND, it is so wild I might have to hand out sunglasses to people who stare for more than 5 seconds! (It is made from vintage wool Red Heart yarn, probably during the late 60's when people (especially designers) were doing, *you know*. Whew...)

OOOH, but it's wildness means now it's an opportunity for gag gifts! Oh, what fun... I have a bunch of Dollar Stores right on Chicago Ave. where I catch the #66 and can get some funKay Loonie Tune shades or really cheap wraparounds and hand them out. Or if the person is snarly, I get to say one of my favorite phrases, "Take a picture, it will last longer!" (AND don't you know, photographers love to say this!!!) I think I'll also hand out Instant Win Lottery tickets to the truly Free Range Rude.

The Big Ball Lotto is now over 120 Million so if I win Friday, maybe I can get better gifts...

Like, hey, Let's Do Lunch! In Paris. For the Week... I know at least 5 of my friends who would go for this at a moment's notice.

OR we can do a version of the Shopping Cart Game but at Barney's where everything you can grab for 15 minutes is yours!

Wild is good. Wild makes you dream...

Comments (11)

So many of you asked for a human modeling the felted bucket hat, and since Marg Helgenberger couldn't make it, I thought I'd grab the nearest one I could find and Voila!

Comments (3)