Hunger Games hat, try #2

Almost 2 years ago now I made a reversible hat with Purl Soho’s pattern, but I made it a wee bit short, so since I had plenty of leftover yarn I finally decided to make another one!

Hunger Games Hat

The firey yarn is in colorway District 12, and the candy colored one is in colorway Effie Trinket:

Hunger Games Hat

Both yarns were bought on Etsy ages ago, and both are 80% merino, 20% nylon.  Nice and soft!

As I said with the first hat I really like the idea of having a reversible hat that represents two completely opposite ways of life coming together.  Maybe I put too much thought into some projects, and maybe I’m way too nerdy, but whatever, I love my hat!

Hunger Games Hat

Since it’s double layered it should be nice and warm when winter comes (although that much insulation might not be needed often here).

This is a fun and easy knit that doesn’t take too much time or brain power but keeps the hands busy.  Perfect for a break between complicated projects!

Well, that’s all for today, thanks for stopping by!

WIP update

Aside from the 3 hibernating projects that have been around for ages, I’ve got 5 projects going on (and have a Ravelry queue a mile long)!  Please tell me I’m not the only one who does this, haha.

First is the Harry Potter scarf that I still need to finish and write up the pattern for:

Harry Potter knit scarf

And then there’s the Citrus Stripe Blanket:

citrus stripe blanket

Then there’s the Sugarfrost Stole:

Sugarfrost scarf begin

And a Wolf River sweater (I’m thinking about doing the back in stockinette instead of doing this pattern again, just to make it a little easier), but I haven’t even posted about that yet.

Finally there’s the Paulie cardigan that’s been years in the making:

IMG_0497

Gosh, I have a lot going on.  And I’ve just gotta get to starting more — my yarn stash is getting ridiculous.

Well, that’s all for now, thanks for stopping by!

stitch markers: what’s your preference?

The other day a little package came in the mail with some new stitch markers (in small and large sizes) and little tins from Fripperies & Bibelots:

stitch markers

As you can see I got hearts, squares, and raindrop shaped markers, which I was concerned about when ordering — what if they weren’t practical, just cute?  Fortunately they are very practical, and here’s why:

  • They’re extremely lightweight
  • The small sizes are not bulky when on small needles
  • You can mix and match shapes to indicate the beginning of a row, etc.
  • The metal is sturdy but thin, so they lie flat against the needles (allowing for more ladder-free knitting, if that makes sense)
  • They’re inexpensive
  • They’re snag-free

I may be thinking too much about it but what do you look for in stitch markers?  Did I miss any qualities that I should be looking out for?

That’s all for now, see you soon!  Thanks for stopping by!

knitCompanion app review

Even though I did a post about crafty apps relatively recently, I had to share this one immediately.  It’s called knitCompanion, and the basic version is free!

image

You can import PDFs from various sources, keep track of multiple patterns at once, and make a variety of annotations.  You can cut out unnecessary pages, paste multiple pages of charts together to make one large chart, set up an interactive chart and legend/key, and so much more.  Here’s how I’ve been using it:

image

The highlighted row marks the row I’m currently on, and I’ve set alternate rows to be different shades of yellow to denote right side and wrong side (which I did in the legend as well, as you can see).  The blue-green line is where I inserted a lifeline in case I have to rip back.

The amazing thing is that this is only a small amount of the things you can do with just the charts alone!  For all of these features, however, you have to pay about $11 yearly.  I think it’s worth it though, because it’s really keeping me from getting lost in this difficult knitting pattern!

I hope this was useful to you — if you’ve got this app or if you plan on getting it, let me know what you think.  Now they just need to make a crochet version!

 

in threes: a baby cardigan; ta-da!

This is so great — I’m gonna make these for every expecting mother I know.  Just took 3 days to complete, and wasn’t hard!

in threes baby cardigan

 

in threes baby cardigan

And again I used this method to make the edges neater:

in threes baby cardigan

Thank you guys for stopping by!  There’s crochet coming, I promise!