ten thousand project

265-267: knit-a-square squares, week two

2011-08-10T10:26:00.003-05:00

So far I'm still loving knitting these simple garter stitch squares. I'm using up my acrylic stash, I'm able to mindlessly knit through these last few weeks of pregnancy, and if I can keep up my pace of 3 squares a week I'll have made 156 squares by this time next year!

Squares will be boxed up and donated to: Knit A Square
Pattern used: my own - size 10 needles, cast on 30; knit each row until it's a square, bind off!

262-264: knit-a-square squares

2011-08-03T10:32:00.000-05:00

Knit A Square is running a drive for the next twelve months. They are attempting to collect over one million squares to be sewn into blankets. My small goal to help them reach theirs is to knit up three squares a week, using this simple pattern ...

Using worsted weight yarn, cast on 30 stitches to size 10 needles. Knit all rows until square is ... square! Bind off all stitches, weave in one end and leave the other end butterflied.

258-261: four charity hats

2011-07-07T11:25:00.000-05:00

The top three hats are made using my Molly's Hats pattern. Quickly becoming my go-to hat pattern, I'm excited to start listing some finished Molly's Hats in the shop in just a few weeks! While I'll continue to use this pattern for charity knits, I keep finding fun yarns in my stash that NEED to be made into hats and shared with the world!

The fourth hat is a Vancouver Hat, also my pattern. It's one of the patterns on my list for a few weeks now to be re-knit, re-modelled, and re-done using the new pattern layout. However, as I knit the "medium" version, I realized a few calculations errors - looks like this one will be re-knit a second time before that pattern can be re-released into the world!
As these hats are all made using acrylic yarns, I'm still deciding where to send them to.

257: Molly's Hat

2011-06-29T11:30:00.003-05:00

pattern: Molly's Hats, by me!

yarn: Caron Simply Soft in nutmeg {approximately 110 yards}

needles: size US 8 / 5.0mm and size US 10 / 6.0mm 16" circular needles

As part of my commitment to using up every last bit of a skein of yarn, I'm knitting up Molly's Hats and will be sending them to nest: Maine {when they are made of wool} and the Pine Ridge Reservation {when they are not}.

254-256: Baby Hats

2011-06-29T11:28:00.008-05:00

pattern: Little Boy Blue ribbed hats

yarns:

Lion Brand Wool-Ease solids and heathers, in purple {used just under 70 yards for this, according to Ravelry, but I think it was less somehow}
Cascade Yarns 220 Superwash paints {used around 90 yards}
Loops & Threads Snuggly Wuggly Baby Sport

needles: size US 8 / 5.0mm 16" circular needle and size US 7 / 4.5mm 16" circular needle

Used up some wool-based yarn from the Butterfly Hat, some Cascade from my nest: Maine Boystown Beanie, and some acrylic sport weight I've had in my stash forever.

Love the ease of the pattern, and how it can be worked up using almost any type of yarn.

The two hats made with wool-blend yarns will be donated to nest: Maine, and the acrylic hat will be donated to a local NICU.

252: Another Plain Vest

2011-06-09T14:30:00.000-05:00

pattern: Another Plain Vest, from Pickles (size 5/6 is free!)
needles: size US 9 / 5.5mm 16" circulars, and one size US 9 / 5.5mm dpn
yarn: Lion Brand Wool Ease Solids & Heathers, 102 ranch red

Folks, I've found a kid-sized vest that fits the Essential Patterns bill! Granted, there were a few ends to weave in, but they didn't feel cumbersome or unecessary.

The pattern calls for two strands of approximately DK-weight yarn, and by using one strand of worsted weight yarn, this vest worked up slightly smaller than the pattern called for - 14.5" long and 10" across. I'm not concerned about that, however - the vest still feels super warm, and will fit some little kid quite nicely!

I love the sleeve shaping of this sweater. Just a few stitches are bound off between the front and the back, and the garter stitch edging makes a simple and elegant edging for the sleeves.

The shoulders of the sweater are kitchener stitched together - if you don't know how to do it {or don't like it, like me!} you can use a three-needle bind-off like I did. You'll end up with a little ridge at the sleeve join, but this is hardly noticeable and for me makes an easier bind-off.

I actually have five skeins of this yarn left - originally purchased to knit myself a cardigan, I frogged the sweater (which was three skeins in) and decided to use this yarn for vests I'll be donating to nest: Maine. This vest is the first of {hopefully} six vests I'll be adding to my next nest box, along with my charity count!

For now I'm just going to continue to knit the free size with my size 9's. I love that Pickles always offers up one size of their patterns for free with the option to purchase the other sizes for a small fee. Thus far I haven't needed to purchase one of their patterns, although I've got a few in my queue for our little man that I'll want to purchase so I can have all the sizes at my fingertips!

This vest is being added to my Essential Patterns list for sure, and I'll share the rest of the vests after I get them done! And for those that are interested, you can see more photos of the vest in my Flickr group for the Another Plain Vest.

250-251: A Tale Of Two Hats

2011-06-07T14:33:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago, i managed to finish up two more hats for my Harry Potter-related project. Both hats were originally meant to be gifts for friends for the holidays, but due to various issues with each, they will instead end up in the donation bin.

This is NOT to say that hats with issues are good for donation! The hats had issues as far as who they were going to be given to ... mostly due to size!

Hat #1:

pattern: Regular Guy Beanie, by Chuck Wright {free Ravelry download!}
needles: US 7 / 4.5 mm 16" circulars and DPNs
yarn: Lion Brand Wool Ease Solids and Heathers, 1/2 skein denim twist

I've knit this pattern before, as part of the One Hundred Hats project. During that first knitting, I didn't make many notes, and now that I've knit the hat again, I'm documenting my thoughts a bit better.
This hat was meant for a friend as a holiday present. It will end up in the donation bin instead. The main reason? There is not enough room given in the pattern before decreases, and so this hat will not cover an adult male's ears very well.

The pattern is meant for an adult male, and after double-checking my gauge, I know I was spot on with the pattern. I even knit an extra 1/2" before decreases, just in case. I should have made it at least an inch, if not longer!

Thankfully, because hand knits are stretchy, this hat will easily fit a teen or even a younger male, making it perfect for donating to nest: Maine!

Hat #2:

pattern: Ryan Hat, by Dori Mondon {free pattern!}
needles: US 8 / 5.0 mm 16" circulars and DPNs
yarn: Lion Brand Wool Ease Solids & Heathers, 1/2 skein in heather grey

In this instance, the issue I had with this hat was simply not reading the instructions properly! Where the pattern called for you to knit 1 and then purl 1 into a stitch, I simply kfb. TOTALLY DIFFERENT STITCH!

Because of this, the body of the hat turned out rather tight, where using the proper stitch might have loosened it up a bit. The hat barely fits over my head, to say nothing of my husband's head, which is where this hat was originally destined to reside.

The plus side? I ended up creating a new hat pattern - look for it to be re-knit and then released later this month!

The down side? This hat will ALSO not be able to be gifted this holiday season, and is headed for nest: Maine. Again, while the hat won't fit an adult-sized head, it will easily fit over a kid's head, making a wonderful slouchy winter hat!

The moral of these two hat stories? Pay attention to stitch directions and follow your gut when it comes to hat length! Both hat patterns are well worth knitting again, although I'll be paying more attention to what I'm doing for sure!