School started last week. I’m only taking two classes, and thank goodness for that. Not using your brain in that schooly way for so long, then being in school, well I’m glad for the lite class load. The two classes I’m enrolled in are required for all students, Math and English. I will start the meaty fun photography classes when the Fall semester begins in August. It will be full time, and intense, and hopefully really fun.

In the meantime I’ve been working on some new patterns, YAY. Mallory is modeling the Water Street Cap up at the top. Maggie had the honor of modeling the new Girdwood Hat, that matches the mittens that I released last year.

These patterns are almost ready to go. I’m really excited about both of them, and they just need some finishing touches!

I think I’m going to be doing some behind-the-scenes work on the blog in the coming weeks. The biggest change is that I am going to move all my pattern purchasing to my Ravelry store, since nearly all of the people who purchase my patterns do so through Ravelry anyway. It takes me half a day or more to update my pattern page with a new pattern, and then 95% of people buy it on Ravelry. I’ll still blog about the designs, of course, and put a “buy now” button in the blog posts, but the fancy pants Patterns Page is unnecessary and time consuming. If you have an opinion about this I’d love to hear about it (for example, if you prefer to buy a pattern through the blog, tell me about it!).

Later, gators!

P.S. Anyone remember the last time the Giants went to the Superbowl? I sure do hope they go again this year, but I don’t know if I can top that challenge! I’m ready to try. GO GIANTS!

When I am finished knitting a project, it’s not really finished finished until I’ve blocked it. And as I blocked this hat today it got me thinking. With many of you perhaps knitting or crocheting things to give as gifts for Christmas (or whatever holidays you celebrate), I wanted to remind you of my Blocking Tutorial. It should be a PSA. Don’t Give Unblocked Knitting as Gifts!  If you’re one of the hopefully few people who haven’t tried blocking yet, or you think it’s too hard, or takes too long, then please check out that tutorial.

For the rest of you, I’m sure you know at least one last hold out, a knitter friend who thinks they don’t need to block their FOs. Here’s a little gift, then, from me to you. Print out this shiny new one page PDF blocking tutorial (reprinted from The Red Collection) and give it to your friend with a little bottle of your favorite wool wash. She or he will love you for it, I promise. (Yes, the file says “personal use only” and you may not print out one hundred and sell them or give them away at a yarn shop. Just be reasonable, people.)

Today I blocked Jerry’s new Girdwood hat (pattern soon!), with that unruly curled edge that was driving me nuts.

Ahhh. Curly edge tamed. I am the boss of my own knitting! Now we wait for it to dry.

**Don’t forget, the Asheboro Hat is still just $3, but tomorrow is the last day to get that deal! A HUGE thank you to everyone who has already purchased the pattern! There’s already a few other projects, YAY!**

Today I did get all the knitting out, but it seems reasonable to just blog about hats today. The number of mittens is obscene and they deserve their own day to shine. Here are all the hats that live in my house that I could locate:

From top left, clockwise.

My self-published designs: 9
Self-published in The Red Collection: 13
Elizabeth Zimmermann hats: 5
Hats for which designs should appear eventually: 5
My designs published elsewhere: 4
Hats under surveillance for moths (in the plastic bag): 1
Improvised hats with no patterns: 9
Hats I keep, but were not made by me: 2 (more about these below)
Knit from other people’s patterns: 16

If my math is correct, that’s 64 hats on the table.

According to what’s been recorded in Ravelry, there are 2 hats not pictured that should be (one is in Gerald’s work truck, one is missing). I have knit 15 hats that were given as gifts, donations or samples.

I have at least 3 hats that are currently on the needles.

There’s gotta be plenty more that I don’t have a record of that are hiding in the house, or given away pre-Ravelry, or who knows what.

I like knitting hats.

About the two pictured above that I didn’t knit: The pink one is the one Maggie wore home from the hospital when she was born. It is handknit and had the world’s saddest pompom. The brown and orange one is from J.Crew. I borrowed/stole it from a guy I once knew in college. I’ve lost touch with him, but he was one of the coolest and most fun guys I ever had the pleasure of knowing. I keep the hat to remember him, and because it looks really good on me.

Warning: Tomorrow is mittens, and there are a lot.

It was 29 degrees out at the bus stop this morning! I brought the wool basket down, gathered some of the recently finished knits and everyone bundled up against the cold. The newest item being worn was the Noro Scarf that I was working on a few days ago. I blocked it yesterday, and because my room gets super warm with the door closed at night, it was dry this morning!

More info about the Scarf for Jerry on Ravelry. When Jerry comes home today I’ll have to weigh the yarn to see how much was used. The yarn was a gift and already wound into balls, so I’m not sure of the exact yardage. If I had to guess it would be maybe 3 skeins?

Jerry is also wearing his new Asheboro Hat.  The mittens are the Girdwood Mittens in Cascade 220 knit in the Big Kid size. Remember the Girdwood Mittens? The pattern comes in all sizes and would be a quick knit for Christmas gifts! Just sayin!

If you’re wondering about the way he’s posing in this picture, he was being a robot. It has something to do with Looney Tunes I think.

And now for Maggie’s ensemble! She beats Jerry by one point because she is wearing a hand knit coat!

The coat is the recently completed Tomten. Yesterday was a cold morning, too, so I put her Tomten out where she could see it and told her it was cold. I don’t want to force her to wear the knitting, but I want to make sure she remembers that it’s an option. And yesterday she chose to wear the knitted coat! I was so happy.

Like Jerry, Maggie (doing robot moves) is also wearing Girdwood Mittens and her Asheboro Hat.  Her mittens are undocumented on the blog and Ravelry because they were a Girdwood prototype. She loves them, but the mittens are…imperfect. Luckily for us Maggie is like the honey badger. She don’t give a shit that her mittens don’t match.

The scarf that Maggie is wearing is a simple lengthwise garter stitch scarf knit with glorious Baby Alpaca Grande. On Raverly, it says I finished this almost exactly 2 years ago! Imagine that.

So maybe Maggie is not technically all wooled up, but partially alpaca-ed up. Even better!

You know, I looked for the size 5 needle that I needed to work on the hat I wanted to make and I couldn’t find it. I just used it for all those Asheboro Hats! I can’t imagine where it’s gone to. On the plus side, I found this beautiful gray hat that I started, finished, unraveled and started again months ago. It’s knit with Rowan Lima, a blend of wool, alpaca and nylon that is hard to resist. I checked to see that the needle being used for this hat wasn’t a 5 (it’s an 8 ) but once I touched the hat I couldn’t put it down. A few more decrease rounds and this will be a hat.

It’s gray and rainy outside today but I spied something yellow on the front porch.

And I spied something black sitting near me. Always near me. Walking on my head at 5:15 am. But now he wants to sleep! How about you try sleeping at 5:15 am? Want me to walk on your head while you’re sleeping? Didn’t think so.

I would say “you’re lucky you’re cute” but I’m really not that mad at him. He’s a good cat and I like him. Mostly.

I’ve decided to call it the Asheboro Hat, in honor of that city down the road where I’ll be attending school come next year. I’ll be spending a lot of time in Asheboro! I’m so excited.

I know I’ve said it already, but the Asheboro Hat is a great knit. Perfect if you’re just starting with colorwork! And if you’re experienced with two-color knitting, you can knit this hat in a day or two.

We love our new hats! The pattern calls for worsted weight yarn knit at 5.5 sts/inch. I knit ours in Brooklyn Tweed Shelter. It’s  a great yarn for colorwork, and when you block the hat it’s softer than you can imagine! The Child size can will use one skein of Shelter, plus about 20 yards of a contrasting color. For the Adult Medium and Adult Large, you’ll need two skeins of Shelter for the main color.

For more pattern details, and to queue, fave or purchase the pattern, please visit the Asheboro Hat page on Ravelry. And because I’m so excited to be releasing a new pattern, through the month of November the pattern will be available for just $3! Woohoo! You’ll see the discount when you add the pattern to your cart. Or if you’re ready to buy it right this instant, use the link below.

Asheboro Hat – $3 for a limited time only

Thanks so much, everyone! First for reading, but also for the support!

With one new hat pattern under my belt, I’m moving onto the next. This one might look familiar – it’s based on the Girdwood Mittens from way back in January. I knit two hats with this pattern back then but never got around to getting the pattern written up. But now I’ve got some momentum and there will be a pattern! I’m also reminded of how much I love knitting hats (thanks in part to Heather’s recent post) so we can just go ahead and name this the Year of the Hat. Are you with me? Because really, who doesn’t need more hats?!?!?!?!?!

(It’s me. I don’t need more hats. No one in my family needs more hats. I just really like knitting them.)

Three hats have been knit, and I love each one. When I mowed the lawn today (with the bag on, thereby negating my need to rake, yay!) I wore the dark grey (SHELTER in SOOT), the one at the bottom. The hat is, if you’ll allow me to boast for a minute, the perfect hat. It snugs just so around the ears, making it highly functional for its intended purpose. It is an interesting and quick knit with worsted weight wool, and fun for knitters of all skill levels. The colorwork design is gender neutral and through color choice, the hat is well suited for girls and boys, men and women. And lastly, it’s a great looking hat.

Well, that was enough boasting for one day. I’m working on getting the pattern ready and then you can knit the perfect hat for yourself!

I showed Jerry the hat when he came home from school yesterday and he asked if he could keep it for himself. So much meaning bundled up in that one request! Mostly the fact that he likes it makes me a very happy Mom and Knitter. The hat fits him and me both, so I was kinda thinking it would be mine, but it’s already his seeing as he wore it to school today. I took these pictures in the glorious daylight as we waited for the bus to arrive. They usually play tag and today was no different.

Maggie was headed to her very first fieldtrip, and she was over the moon. As she ran to the bus, I told her to remember everything so she could tell me all about it. I know I’ll get an earful, as usual. She’ll be home soon with the full report, and I can’t wait.  When she gets here I’ll get to show her the hat I knit her; the same as Jerry’s but her size and different colors. Hope it fits! Then, as I write up the pattern and have it tested by my trusty tester, do I dare knit a third for myself? One can’t have too many hats, I say.

I was able to take the swatch from yesterday and turn it into a hat that is blocking right now on Maggie’s bed. Although I did spend some time searching my notes, I was not able to find out/remember what needle I used for that swatch. Instead of knitting another swatch, I dove right in with the needle that seemed most likely. Not a very scientific way to go about it, but whatever. I’ve got a new hat and it turned out Very Nice. It will be a pattern soon. It feels right for my first pattern after a big break to be a simple but sweet hat. Getting my toes wet, if you will.