Spiral blue hat.

I am currently working on a knitted blue cap.  It is baby sized and very, very cute. My mother gave me a bunch of hat patterns that she had printed off of the web, this one was in the stack. This one looks like it may have been photocopied from a pamphlet; it doesn't have any of the trademark Internet addresses and such at the bottoms of the page....... 

Sorry, was distracted there for a moment- my cat Sweet Pea is chasing a fly. Hee hee, so cute.

Anyway, the pamphlet or publication is called: Hats for the Entire Family by Eleanor Swogger.  It is a Kraemer Publication.  I'm not sure where Mom found the patterns, but at any rate there are several variations on the same simple hat.  These patterns also use the multiple of eight cast on pattern- though this is not where I learned my crazy eight hat pattern.  I highly recommend it as a continual source of inspiration for different styles of hat that uses the same basic recipe, as my Grams would say. 

The pattern that I am using is as follows: with an odd number of stitches on the needle, knit three and purl one until hat is at length that you need, then K2tog every 8 stitches, maintaining as much of the pattern as possible. The purls spiral upwards as you knit adding fun and texture to the....

Sorry, cat again.

...adding fun and texture to a very simply styled hat. 

It knits up fairly quickly, though the decreasing seems to take much longer than what I would like it to be. In fact, I was up until 1:30 am knitting and decreasing.  I probably could have gotten it finished, but I was distracted by some of my favorite TV programming. I only have about five or six decrease rows left, so I should have it done sooner rather than later.  Then I'll be able to turn the zero under hats, to one. =)

I'll attach a photo when I am finished.  It really is a sweet little hat.

Naked

Last night I publicized my blog. First, I told my good and most bestest friend Matt. I was afraid to share with anyone else. He, being that it is his ultimate goal in life to pull me out of his shadow- figuratively and literally (I am 5' tall and he is, from my diminutive perspective, 10' tall.- in reality I think he is 6'3" or 6'4")- shared the link with everyone he knew and so, then of course, that meant that I had to do the same...  So, all of a sudden I get messages from former co-workers through Matt that they love my blog. Yeah.

I feel naked. I feel naked, very naked in front of the whole entire world- even if that world is the thirty or forty people that will read it. I suppose I will get over it.  It is like performing or theatre, only this time there aren't any spotlights and someone else hasn't written the lines or music. This time it is all me.  God, I hope I don't forget the refrain.

I wonder how people do it, the really famous people I mean.  Where does Lady Gaga go to find solutions for her inhibitions, where does she (he? I've heard rumors.) get the nerve, nay the balls (again I have heard rumors), to prance around nearly naked? How do they do it?  Is it an act? Are they someone completey different underneath that guise of overt and raw sexuality.  Are Lady Gaga and the like really mousy, shy individuals who, when at home, wear turtlenecks and long pants that hide almost any trace of skin?  I envy their bravery.  I envy their ability to love what they do and do it in front of the whole world with out any shame or fear apparent fear of the public saying, "Oh, God. Will you put on some pants?! For the love of all that is decent! Some pants!" Of course there are different levels of naked.  There is the Lady Gaga naked, and Madonna, and others throughout music history.

Then there is the naked in body and soul.Take this gentleman below:

Some of you may know this man, some won't. This is Bono, he is the lead singer for U2. At every concert he tears his heart out of his body and presents it to the fans as a gift. He is in nearly every sense of the word standing there in front of 40,000 people and singing naked.  He is a force to be reckoned with. Oh, to be that uninhibited. He is more than happy to share his full self with the world.  He may parse off a part of himself that he shares only with family and close friends- I'm sure his wife and children and the rest of the band see an entire different side of him that we do. But then his fans are like a family, too; he exposes himself to us with every syllable he sings. You can hear it in his voice, his words; you can see it in the ecstasy on his face, the movements of his body as he bends double to tear his voice apart and wail that "we've got to carry each other." He truly is naked. Some may say, "but doesn't he play characters? Remember MacPhisto?"  And my answer is yes, but any actor or performer worth their salt brings a large chunk of their own persona and selves into the characters that they are protraying.  This is what makes us truly interesting- we aren't flat, we are complicated beings.  To illustrate: in the movie Shrek, Shrek is describing himself as an onion. Not because he smells, but because, he, like the onion, has layers. Think about that for a moment.  It is a good analogy. Humans are like onions, yes, some smell like onions, but the bulk is that humans are layered. There is the tough outer skin that gets pulled away to reveal layers of sweet and spicy crunchiness underneath. Bono, in his Bono-ness, peels that skin away and shows us his very soul, his desires, his fears, his lust, his hopes and dreams for love and eternity.  Oh, to be that brave, that confident, that open...

I guess what I am saying is: I'm here, I'm sharing with the world, I'm frightened that the world won't like me. But, you know what, there are harder things in life to deal with. I'll get over it, I'll adapt. I usually do.

I hope you like me.

Llama Wool hat.

I have  a tradition with my girl friends.  Every year we go to the Big E, a New England wide states agricultural fair.  While at the fair we always do the same things: play with the animals in the petting zoo, wander through the animal buildings and make fun of the alpacas and llamas hair-dos, eat kettle corn, clam fritters, maple sugar cotton candy, and finish our day at Dimitri's for the best gyro I have ever had.  My tradition: buy a skein of llama or alpaca yarn.  I have been doing this for about four years now, and this is the first year I will be actually using it.  I have chosen a gorgeous natural shade of dark brown to make myself a warm knitted hat out of.  I am using my crazy eights pattern and a simple ribbed spiral to give it some pizazz and add texture.  Here is the recipe (as my Grams would say) for the basic crazy eight hat:

Cast on any multiple of eight.  I chose 88 stitches on size 8 Addi turbo circular needles- 12' long, for a hat that will fit my head. It takes a little less than one ball of yarn: say 200 yards of worsted weight. I chose to do a simple rolled brim: knit eight, ten, or fifteen rows, or more- you choose. The edge will automatically roll up. Or knit a standard ribbed edge: knit one, purl one. Change to Stockinette stitch (knit every round). After you have knitted the hat to the length that you want it, (usually eight inches from edge of hat) take some stitch markers and place them every fourth or eighth stitch. Now to begin the decreases: Knit around to within two stitches of a stitch marker and knit the last two stitches before the marker together. Knit one round plain. Continue in this fashion until you have eight stitches left on the needle. Change to DPNs as needed. Finishing: break yarn with a long tail, and thread it into yarn needle. Slide yarn needle through stitches left on knitting needle as if to knit and slide loop off needle. Continue until all eight stitches are on yarn.  Pull yarn tight, and work in end on inside of work. Weave in any loose ends.  Tad ah! You have a simple crazy eight hat.  Enjoy.

The cool thing about this simple pattern is that you can add any textures you want to it. Do a few rows of stripes half way up, or knit ten rows and then purl ten rows. If you are any good with cables, by all means add some cables into the mix- I'm not good with cables, it is one of my knitting weaknesses. (Except mock cables.) The only thing that is holding you back is your imagination. Take it simple and make it sublime!

Below: Simple crazy eights hat with mock cable pattern.

Day One- Why knitting?

My Grandmother taught me to knit when I was 14 years old while recovering from having my wisdom teeth removed. She gave me my first set of size 8 Boye metal knitting needles and an old learn how to knit book and beginner pattern booklet. My first project was a hat for my Spanish teacher's baby.  It was a purple bonnet made from yarn left over from a sweater my mother was making.  I don't even want to think about how many mistakes there were or even consider gauge. 

After that, I tried a sweater.  It took size 3 and 4 needles, and I wasn't that good of a knitter, nor did I have the speed or patience for small needles and big projects.  It was my first project to leave behind.  I was frustrated and gave up the needles for a couple of years. Then one day, I dug out the old pattern book, needles and learn to knit book and taught myself all over again.  I believe I knit a pair of mittens... But I don't remember.  It wasn't long after that that I started my next big project- a Lopi sweater, knit in the round with three colors.  I almost finished that one. =) I still have it, and it actually looks pretty good, though the stitches around the color changes are a little tight.  All that is needed to complete it is the button band, which is half done, and underarm kitchener stitches.  The one problem now is that it won't fit me any more: I was sixteen or seventeen when I began it and I have grown, nay, "developed" since then.

Then I went to college. In college, at the time, it was "not cool" to knit, so I didn't knit much. I only remember knitting a few items: a very long scarf in blue and white (University of Maine's school colors) for my then boyfriend, a stocking cap in blue and white, and a pair of blue mittens for him as well (I never actually saw him use or wear them.) Again I gave up knitting.

 I picked it up briefly in grad school, all the women seemed to be knitting something during class, and our professors didn't seem to mind. I tried to make some extra money by making and selling mittens without any luck.  It is also in grad school where I knit my first sock- I still have it; for some reason I never made its twin. *sigh* I still have the yarn and pattern, maybe I should work on that some time.

It wasn't until after grad school that I took up knitting again in earnest. My mother started a knitting group- Knit & Bitch- with friends from town and we all came together, helped each other, shared patterns and bitched about life.  I made myself a pair of felted slippers, and a pair of socks out of the KnitPicks self striping yarn- I made both this time. I also designed and made a pair of wrist warmers, and a few other things as well, including a baby hat and sweater set.

Now, things in my life have changed. I knit all the time, always small, quick, and easy projects. Friends buy the yarn and ask me to knit them stuff from it, and I do, and it is fun. And I love making hats, in the round, with my crazy eight pattern that I learned God knows where, God knows when.