Knit Picks Felici Worsted: Baby Hats

I knit a fair number of baby things, but fun worsted weight hats seem to be my go-to at the moment. In part, they are a wonderful quick gratification project and the bright colors make me happy. I had a hand injury in mid-February that is lingering (and I am impatient), so my hand tires more quickly than I’m used to and worsted weight yarn just seems to feel the best right now.

My love of self-striping yarn is fairly well-known so when I saw that Knit Picks had a worsted weight version of their popular Felici, I scooped some up. (No link to their site available at the moment.)

The Good: Knit Picks Felici Worsted is a 75% super wash merino/25% nylon blend with 218 yards per skein, which makes it great for kid things, gifting, or even a pair of socks because it is soft, yet sturdy. The stitch definition is great too!

Out of the several colorways I bought, the colors are vibrant and coordinate well with their fingering weight yarn and their Swish worsted line. The pompoms are actually Swish–the purple/fuscia colors are a perfect match, which the hot pink was close enough. The grays in this particular colorway have purple/blue undertones, which made it challenging to match grays, even though I have plenty from various companies.

The Bad: Holy crap is this yarn split. I had high hopes for it at first, since the yarn is round with 4 plies and it seems to have a tight twist.

But, nope, the yarn split with Addi Sock Rockets (my preferred needle because it is so sharp) and Hiya Hiya Steel Sharps. I finally switched to Hiya Hiya bamboo needles, which have a blunter tip. These worked–sort of.

The needles worked better than the metal, sharp tips, but the bamboo still snagged the yarn. On the larger beanie (left side of picture), there were so many loose plies that couldn’t be pulled back into place. I ended snipping some off with scissors.

The Verdict: I will continue using this yarn because I like the content and colorways so much. There were also no knots in the skeins I’ve used, but that’s a fairly small sampling.  I just know that I need to adjust my needles.

Confession Time

At one time, I called myself a Sock Knitter. I was determined to try all the techniques and heels and make The Most Complicated of Socks.

While I love wool socks (which I confirmed yesterday after shoveling for 3.5 hours and ending up with soaking wet but warm feet), I just don’t enjoy knitting fingering weight socks.

The portability is great and I feel a great sense of accomplishment after finishing a pair, but… *whispers* they are too much work for time spent knitting. */whispers* In fact, my favorite socks right now are several pairs of men’s thick wool socks that my dad bought me for Christmas and Valentine’s Day.

Hopefully, you’re still with me after that shocking! paragraph.

But realistically? There is only so much time in a day and there are so many other projects I want to work on–sweaters, hats, shawls, and cowls–that make me so much happier. And life’s too short to knit projects or yarn that don’t bring you joy.

Fear not! I have another crazy scheme to get my wool socks. I love wearing them, just not knitting them.

I’ve decided to join the party of circular sock machine owners. (Not immediately–they are an investment.) I have the yarn and just need the tool to produce them. Plus, Dad likes tinkering and he would love this machine. MORE SOCKS!

I may yet become Dumbledore looking in the Mirror of Erised.

A Plethora of Neon

I love knitting hats! They are easy, portable, and incredibly useful in Land of Never-Ending Winter. When my LYS got some Three Irish Girls neon minis, I fell hard and quickly produced some baby hats.

That was Week 1. I’ve knit about three since but that’s mainly due to my “job” and “work”. I guess they’re important. (Okay, both of those things are very important, but for the sake of addictive knits, can we ignore that?)

The neon base is Springvale Worsted, which is a super wash merino and it is super soft. (The gray is just some Rowan Pure Worsted, another super wash wool, but it provides a good contrast to the crazy brights.) I also love the names of the neon colors! They include (l-r) Highlighter, Shutter Shades, Manic Panic, and Jelly Shoes. Other great color way names include  High Tops (blue) and Day Glo (purple-pink).

I made up the pattern, but the knitting is simple, yet interesting. Exactly what I need right now in the semester and just as spring is hopefully on its way.

FO Friday: Cables in The Deeps Hat

Cables are my happy place. The more complicated the cable pattern, the more excited I get.

But this hat was simple. A lovely simple, not a boring simple. This is Kara McKinley’s Hat No. 5, which I’ve knit  before, but I still enjoy it. (And the hat absolutely needed a Giant Pompom.)

Three Irish Girls remains one of my favorite indie dyers and this Springdale Worsted in The Deeps is so soft and squishy. I have a few other skeins in this base and they are going to be wonderful to use.  The cables just pop so nicely.

I need to accept that this blue-gray color just won’t photograph well. Trust me, it’s so much more flattering in person.

Cast on: February 1, 2016
Finished: February 12, 2016
Blocked: February 12, 2016

Treading Water

Well, I’ve been knitting a bit, but nothing is really done because there are no progress pics to share. The effects of WIP Crackin’ appeared… There’s been a fair bit of future knit planning; sweaters and color work mittens are my new obsessions.

I finished the knitting on a baby sweater and need to put the buttons on, so you’ll see that sometime in 2018. (I really dislike putting on buttons. I usually get my mom to do it.)

I also finished the Starshower cowl and over-blocked it. But it’s done. Once I get pictures later this week, I’ll write it up.

There is some spinning on the wheel that needs to be plied. *shrug* So nothing to show there either.

Bah. I need to see progress so I can just move on!

WIP Wednesday: Beyond Pink Puerperium

I’m pretty upfront about my dislike for the pink color family, but when my LYS got Rowan Pure Wool Superwash DK, I was smitten with color 107, aka Volcano. Which is noticably in the pink color family. There was also a lovely set of buttons that I kept visiting, but didn’t buy since I didn’t have a project for them (I sometimes have willpower).

And then the stars aligned. The buttons were perfect with Volcano and Beyond Puerperium  by Kelly Brooker came into my life.

 

I apologize for the terrible pictures, but buttons + yarn = heaven.

This yarn is such a pleasure to work with and I can’t wait to finish it!

FO Friday: Green Cable Hat

I have a serious crush on cables–the more complicated the better–and Hat No. 5 by Kara McKinley was a great warm-up.

I’m using this hat for a beginning cable class because it’s simple, yet interesting, and includes both cables with a needle and without. The only thing that would make this hat better is a giant pompom, which I’m considering adding. (Don’t you think it needs one?)

 

Sometimes free patterns can be poorly written and the knitter needs to do a lot of figuring out. That was not the case with this pattern; it was lovely! The 1×1 cable uses a cable-less needle technique I hadn’t used before. It was so simple and will be my go-to for future cables.

My main criticism is that there isn’t a chart. Charts are so important, especially when developing cable skills because some patterns are only charted. I made my own using ChartGen and that made it much faster to knit. The other odd thing about the pattern were the sizes–it went all the way up to a Large Adult size, with a head circumference of 27.5″. That is a huge head or a lot of hair.

Overall, I recommend the pattern.

Dull needles (Addi Turbos) do not make cabling without a able needle easy. Once I switched to Susan Bates, a cheaper coated-metal needle, this hat flew off the needles! Now, I love my Addis, especially Addi Sock Rockets, but the 16″ Turbos just don’t do it for me. They feel good in my hands, but I don’t knit as fast with them. Susan Bates, on the other hand, has fantastic points but I despise their non-16″ cords.

I haven’t used Peace Fleece very much, but it comes in such gorgeous colors and has a cult following. This is Shabu Green and I want a sweater out of it. The yarn is a little rustic to work with, but it blooms nicely after blocking. The cables just pop with this yarn and it’s going to be a wonderful hat. I will be using more of this yarn (since I have 2 sweater quantities…).

Cast on: January 2, 2016
Finished: January 12, 2016
Blocked: January 12, 2016

WIP Wrangling

I’ve never been a monogamous knitter and I don’t plan on becoming one. Ideally, I have ones that are good for traveling, many that require no thinking, and a couple that are challenging. However, my WIPs are out of control.

That may not look like very many, but that desk is completely full.

A break-down:

1. Shawls: 4
2. Socks: 7
3. Hats/Head: 4
4. Sweaters: 7 (only one is for me, the rest are for babies)
5. Commission (not being paid for): 1
6. Cowls: 2
7. Other: 3

Total: 28

Yes, 28. That number is a bit higher than I’m comfortable with. It’s stressful! And knitting shouldn’t be stressful; it’s supposed to be my stress relief.

My plan of attack is to prioritize and then dedicate time to each project. (That’s the plan, but I tend to rebel against myself, even on plans that actually benefit me. Go figure.)

First up: Christmas presents. It’s just two hats, but I am so sick of making the same hat. Also, it’s obligation knitting, which removes all motivation. (Anyone else like this?)

Then, commission knitting and the baby presents with class samples sprinkled throughout.

Ahh! Everything is becoming a priority, which helped get me into this situation! Circular reasoning is awesome.

Well, let’s see how it goes. I’ve got a tracker to the right to work through these. And as I work on them, I will blog about them (otherwise this post would be of never-ending scrolling length).

 

Tossing the Stash

I’m fascinated by how others organize and sort their stashes (“flash your stash” topics on Rav are awesome, but I won’t be posting pictures of mine here). I toss the stash twice a year to rediscover what I have, organize, and check for organisms that don’t belong (never had one *knocks on wood* but paranoia preventative measures are important). It’s a good habit to do, but I was a little lazy about it last summer.

Especially the “entering new skeins on Ravelry” part. One of my 2015 goals was not to buy any fingering weight yarn. I’m finding out how many sweater quantities, worsted weight skeins, and dk/sport weight skeins I bought.Nonetheless, there is a lot of cataloging going on.

I do have (nearly) my entire stash on Ravelry. It was time-consuming to do, but worth it. It helps me supposedly not buy what I already have. *rolls eyes*

At first, my stash was only allowed to live in a farmer’s trunk, but it quickly outgrew that. It is now under the bed, in various tubs, and soon, a tower shelf. But I have to build it first.

Organization has been big this week. I sort by weight, purpose, and fiber type. For example, the fingering weight bins:

1. Self-striping: Indie and commercial
2. Three Irish Girls (because I’m a collector…)
3. Shawl quantities (more than one skein)
4. Single skeins of indies
5. “Plain” socks

This year’s toss was eye-opening. So I present Phrases I’m Not Allowed to Say in 2016:

1. “I’m running out of Three Irish Girls.”
2. “I’m concerned about my lack of sweater quantities.”
3. “I don’t have any sock yarn!”
4. “I only have a couple of baby sweater yarns left.”

I have only sport/dk weights and a few sweater quantities left to enter. *dramatic sigh* Sometimes my stash stresses me out, but I have curated a lovely stash.

Do you ever get stressed by your stash? How do you organize it?

The 2016 Auspicious Goals Post

2015 was a shit year for blogging, but 2016 is a new start. Yada, yada, yada. Truth is, I’ve missed writing here and sharing my process and projects. So, I’m trying again. I have a theme and 10 crafting goals–sounds like an organized re-start to blogging. Perhaps I need some hashtags.

In all seriousness, this year’s theme for my goals (not resolutions) is: Enjoy What I Have. I plan to do this in various ways (see goals below), but mostly it’s about simplifying. My job is fairly fast-paced–which I love–but slowing down is good for me too. I also find that when I’m stressed, I tend to spend and I really don’t like how materialism feels. (There is a difference between supporting indie businesses and buying to have. That is a big subject and I’ll post about it sometime.)

The Enjoy What I Have Goals:

1. Re-discover and knit from stash, aka Cold Sheep until July and then reassess (though my goal is for the full year). I’ve curated a beautiful stash that I love (and that simultaneously stresses me out), so I plan to use it. I bought only one skein of fingering weight in 2015 (December actually) and I still managed to stash up. Time to use it. My caveats: if a family member or friend asks for something specific and if I have a gift certificate.  
2. Spin from stash. I bought a lovely used Ashford Traditional wheel in August 2015. In short, I love spinning! And my stash is decent already… I do have two braids on backorder, but I plan to use what I have.
3. Knit 6 patterns from my Ravelry or physical library. This one is pretty self-explanatory. The number of patterns in Rav and on my bookshelves is numerous already. I bought them because I wanted the final product. Time to make it.
4. Crack the WIPs. I love to start projects, but it’s also important to finish them. (This is the Leo in me.)
5. Make 3 sweaters. In addition to getting a wheel, I also completed my first sweater. My stash and I think I should knit more of them.
6. Finish 12 pairs of socks. I specifically want to do a pair of self-striping socks per month (for the Stockinette Zombies KAL), but any way to boost my sock drawer will be nice. Also, I want to try more heels and constructions. (#operationsockdrawerftw)
7. Start Vivid blanket. I absolutely despise knitting blankets, but when I saw tincanknits’ Vivid, I fell hard. The yarn is bought (Malabrigo Rios because I’m nuts) and I just need to start.
8. Knit 6+ miles. 
9. Try a new craft or re-visit an old one. I’d love to try embroidery (dishtowels and pillowcases, not tapestries) and revisit card making.
10. Blog once a week. In theory, it will be more often, but it’s still January and the motivation is high. Reach for the moon and land among the stars, right?

So there it i: goals are publicized. Let’s see what happens!