Christmas 2005 gift for mom. 2.75 skeins of worsted weight Misti Alpaca from Knit-Purl. I don’t have the yarn wrapper in front of me, but I assume it is 4270 – Cornflower Blue. This stuff is amazingly drapey and soft.

Pattern: Irish Hiking Scarf. A great way to learn and practice cables!

Proof I do actually finish a few things! These were finished in January, 2006. Rib and Cable socks from Interweave Knits Fall 2005.

Pattern: Easy Roll-Brim Knit Hat Recipe

Roll Brim Hat #1

Yarn: color charcoal, 100% Wool. I used about 2/3 to 3/4 of a skien.

Needles: 16 inch circular Addi Turbos size 3 US and size 3 US bambo dpns for the top.
Project Gauge: about 6.25 st/inch

Notes: For a 23.5 inch he ad. Cast on 132 stitches. Hat came out about 21 inches around. This was perfect as it allowed for stretch and wasn’t too tight.

akimbo action shots of #1:

Roll Brim Hat #2

Yarn: Noro Kureyon, color 52, 100% wool,

Needles: 16 inch circular Addi Turbos size 3 US and size 3 US bambo dpns for the top.
Project Gauge: about 5.5 st/inch (before blocking)

Notes: For a 22.5 inch head (mine!). Cast on 108 stitches. Hat came out about 21 inches around, this was more like 19.5 inches before blocking. The Noro wanted to loosen up on me.

Weight/Yardage: 108 yards/50 grams per skein. I used about 1.25 skeins.
Yarn
Gauge: 4.5-5 sts = 1″, #7 or #8 needle

I finished my Panta on Tuesday. It came from a large post on craftster.org. I used the translated instructions by melosond on page 4. The yarn is a charcoal alpaca from Knit-Purl.

The yarn was fairly fine and it didn’t come out as wide as some of the ones done in the post, but that’s perfectly fine with me as I only need it to cover up my ears! I was afraid the alpaca might be too itchy for my skin, but it was only mildly itchy, like wool. Not super itchy to me like angora. Why do you warm little bunnies have to make me itch like crazy!

For my first pair of socks I’m working on the Rib and Cable socks from Interweave Knits Fall 2005 by Nancy Bush. I have Nancy’s Knitting on the Road sock book, but decided to try these first. I got some pretty Zitron Trekking XXL (Color 29) yarn at All About Yarn in Tigard. It is dark purple/green/teal subtly varigated. It is 75% wool and 25% nylon and feels a little stiff knitted up, but hopefully a little wash afterwards will soften them up.

I decided to try the magic loop circular method, and after a few rounds I got the hang of it. I had purchased 2 addi turbos at the same time as the yarn. They are sz 1 and 2 (US) and are 40 inches long. I’m using the sz 1′s for the socks and the gauge seems perfect. I knit a lot on mass transit and didn’t want to have double point sliding everywhere. I thought about trying the 2 circular needle method, but I think fewer needles is better sometimes. I also find it easy to just shove my knitting down on the wire when I have to put it back in my bag real quick. I haven’t lost a stich yet!

Magic loop links:http://www.trishknits.com/circularknitting.html and http://www.az.com/~andrade/knit/mloop.html and http://www.knittinghelp.com/knitting/advanced_techniques/

Proof they will fit… (note the lovely pizza box backdrop!)