Easy Peasy re-visited

....Please pause for a station identification break


A long long time ago, (2007) I posted a hat pattern here on my blog that I use for charity knitting. It is quick and easy and pretty much mindless so you can knock out a whole bunch of 'em in a short order of time.

 I have noticed an increase in the number of searches for it, so since there has been such a renewed interest in it and ... since winter is on it's frigid way...somewhere, sorry - not here by my definition anyway, I thought I would re-post this one for everyone who has taken an interest, here is it...Ta Da....my Easy Peasy Charity Hat Pattern re-visited.

There are a coupley of ways to get this pattern. You can click on the link above or to your right if you're a Ravelry member and get it as a PDF file. You can click here and it will take you to the original post.

Or you can shoot me a note and I would be happy to send you the PDF file if you do not belong to Ravelry and are unable to download it.

I also want to thank everyone for your continued interest in my hat pattern and my silly meanderings. It really does give me the warm fuzzies when I see another search for it. I love seeing where everyone is from!

And now...back to that damn wimple... or maybe that footie sock I am really working on.

No Idle Hands

Even though I have not been blogging, my hands have not been idle. I have not been as productive as I might have been, but non the less, I do have something to show for my current absenteeism.

This is from Clara Parkes' One- Skein Shawl pattern. I followed her basic shawl pattern and added more repeats at the border. You know me...always gotta change up something.

The picture never seems to do the colors justice! This "mystery yarn" is from Stitches Midwest a couple of years ago. I want to say it was about a 1000 yards or some craziness like that. I still have tons of it left. Pre-wound photo here. Naturally I have lost the label so I only have a vague idea of the weight. I'm gonna go with that cobwebby lace weight!

I also finally finished the Van Ness Scarf. This was supposed to be a quick use of a couple of stray balls of alpaca...emphasis on quick... Riiiiight!

A couple more pictures of Niagara, for your viewing pleasure. This is the Horseshoe Falls up close and personal! This I believe was the last picture I was able to take before I had to ditch my camera under my poncho to save it from being wet! Hindsight of course makes me realize that I could have taken pictures through the transparent blue poncho. Duh, would have made for some interesting pictures. I believe at this point in the boat ride we were actually in Canada.

Raine on the phone with her mother of course...blah,blah blah ,blah blah...blah blah!

Scariest rapids in the world...'most deadly' I believe is what the guide told us!

I did a couple more pattern uploads to Ravelry this past week. Easy Peasy Charity Hat (PDF download), which is also free here on my blog, and Petunia Socks.

I am proud to say, Easy Peasy seems to have generated a good amount of interest!

Next time- I'll sneak ya a peak at some other stuff completed while I was away.

ET phone home

What have I been up to?? Oh Boy...well where do I start. Hmmm I guess with work, work and more work. My department hosts an annual Polar Plunge for Special Olympics.  March 1, it was a balmy 29 degrees...yes, that's right, I said 29 degrees! The water temperature was posted at 34 degrees, I seriously think that was completely false! I was not one of the 219 insane peoplethat plunged into the icy waters of Lake Michigan but I did get wet and it did not feel like 34 it felt more like minus 34!!   

The park district had to bring in a back hoe to clear a path for the plungers. The beach was so covered in snow and ice that you could not see any sand at all and it was exhausting to walk through.

 Usually myself and my fire department cohort sit on the rocks to take pictures of the event but there was so much snow and ice covering it that we could not climb the rocks, we could not tell where there was a solid place to stand. Not only that but the Chief strictly forbade us to even try (WTF)! I suppose it did not help my cause that I fell right in front of him.  You can see in the picture below how much snow and ice was on my usual perch. 

My poor son-in-law was coerced into plunging, actually I believe my exact words were " if you're going to marry my daughter you have to do the Polar Plunge" Good hearted boy that he is, he braved the elements and plunged.  (That is him with his arms in the air.) And, bless his heart, he plans on doing it again next year! I don't know how he did it! I personally did not think I was ever going to thaw out. In fact this was the coldest I have ever been!!

Note the shelf of ice where the photographer with the tri-pod is standing. I am not sure if he realized there was nothing but water beneath him. 

For anyone who is interested, our Plunge raised $110,000 this year for the Special Olympics!! The best one we have had in 9 years! More plunge pictures here!

Still in charity mode, Lynda from California sent me two dozen hats and two dozen scarves to donate to our local homeless shelter. Lynda is amazing!! This is the second installment of hand knitted and crocheted hats that she has sent to me, the scarves are made from fleece about half of them were made and the other half purchased. I've been feeling pretty lax, because with everything that has been going on the last month or so, I haven't been able to make anymore myself. Lynda sure puts me to shame when it comes to this endeavor. I will have to kick it into gear and get that sewing machine out and make those fleece hats I planned on making a couple of months ago. 

Here is what is happening on the home front. A big fat nothing! I am so disgusted with Hobby Lobby! Probably my own damn fault for buying the beads there in the first place, but at the rate they replenish, I will not get this scarf finished until next year. I have learned my lesson, I will buy beads online from someone that counts them!

My pretty beaded alpaca scarf has been living unhappily in this basket in the meantime. I had to ask for the beads to be ordered today since the last three times I have been to the store the hook as been empty.  And go figure, the damn things were 50% off today. 

My toe up socks have been placed on the back burner as well because I was being too retarded with them and have had to rip back several times. I guess I am not in the right mind set for them right now. 

Yesterday my sock swap package came. Sarah and I opened it together and what fun, she kept pulling stuff out of the little read bag, 3 balls of Peruvian alpaca, a ton of adorable stitch markers, a little bag to keep them in, beautiful hand painted sock yarn and the best....a pound of Brazilian coffee...absolutely divine!!

The one thing that I have been able to work on is my alien scarf. It is slow going because it is my first real experience in chart reading and I don't want to screw it up. I am so enjoying the process of this scarf. I keep stopping to stare at it as those little green faces start to pop out at me. I am in love with illusion knitting!! It is so magical and I am still in love with it. Of course my daughter wants one too now. And freak that I am, I have been showing everyone at work pictures of it like it is a new baby or something. 

Of course, I am pretty darn sure I don't have enough yarn to finish... yet again, poor planning. I would have sworn I checked the yardage when I ordered, but clearly I do not have enough yarn. How aggravating!

Here is ET

Now you see them...

Now you don't!

It has been a sad day on Sesame Street today. I had to go back to the bone doctor about my elbow. Apparently when he said "don't lean on it" he really meant DON'T LEAN ON IT!

Ok, so maybe I leaned on it, a little bit. I couldn't help it, I don't do broken or sicky very well. The damn thing started filling up with fluid and, instead of getting better, the pain was making me nauseous.

  He had to aspirate it today. In layman's terms that means take a big freakin needle, jab it into the most painful part of your elbow without warning your first or numbing it. Then draw out this disgusting liquid, and show it to you. Then give you a shot of cortisone in the same freakinplace, which burns like a MFr! Lie and say it will feel better soon. Well apparently his definition of soon and mine are two different things! 

Ok - to be honest, it is starting to feel a little bit better, but I still feel nauseous from the pain and had to take some Vicodine to take the edge off. I've been feeling pretty muzzy today and just wanted to whine about it. I know, got any cheese to go with that? I am going to try really hard to take better care of it. 

I need to find myself something mindless to work on, since there isn't much mind to work with today.

Easy Peasy Charity Hat Pattern

Just your basic hat pattern. This is what works for me. I'll try to be as accurate as possible. writing complete patterns is not my forte, I am usually a chicken scratch type of person with my notes.

Supplies : Size 8 DPN's
#4 worsted weight yarn ( this hat was done in Red Heart Super Saver - to give you an idea of the gauge. I think it tends to weigh in between a worsted and a bulky weight yarn)
Gauge : 5 stitches = 1 inch

Size- Average Adult (child, toddler)
Cast on 80 stitches in your favorite cast on method, (20 stitches on each needle) join to knit in the round without twisting. (72, 64)

Cuff: knit 2 purl 2 for 2 1/2 to 3 inches depending on the size cuff you want.

Cont' in stockinette (knit every round) for 4 1/2 inches (3 1/2, 3)

Decrease rounds: (Note- Decreases are done at the beginning and end of each needle so make sure you still have even amounts on each.)

Knit 1, ssk (slip slip knit) knit to last three stitches on needle, knit 2tog (knit 2 together) knit 1. Repeat on each needle for 1 round.

Next round knit every stitch.

Repeat these two rounds until you have 6 stitches on each needle.
Next round K2tog entire round. Cut yarn and with a tapestry needle draw tail through each stitch, draw closed and weave in ends.



Please note, Red Heart is a very inexpensive yarn, I find the gauge to be a little larger than with a higher quality yarn.

And there you have it, Easy Peasy Hat! Easily adaptable and embellish at will!

Two-Count 'Em Two

I received two invites this month. The first was to Ravelry! I had seen every one talking about it and wondered what all the fuss was about, so I was kinda late in taking the plunge. I felt like I was 9 -bazillion on the list, but it finally came! And Holy Cow, is that place time consuming. I guess once you get your stuff set up it won't be as much of a project in it's self. And pretty cool it is too!
It has forced me to pay more attention to what I am doing with what yarns and what patterns and needles, as well as forcing me to upload more pictures to flickr. All for the better - right?
I do tend to lose myself among everyone else's projects, but it is fun to see what other people are up to. I haven't gotten into the people part of it yet, but have joined a few groups. I have seen some people that have joined hundreds of groups...when do you knit then? I am going to keep my socializing down to a minimum I think. I have add a few projects to my want list thank to Ravelry!

I have found tho, that blogging and Ravelry and forums are time away from knitting, and reading my favorite blogs. I feel like I have gotten behind in both lately. Plus with all the family stuff and extra hours at work lately, I haven't had time for anything else. I don't see how so many people have time to knit such beautiful garments and still have time to spend chatting to other people about what they knit. I guess I am not as good a multi-tasker as I thought!



My second invite came from 25 things for Charity ! I wish I had run across this blog much sooner, I think it would have prompted me to start knitting for charity much earlier in the year. I guess with all the people in need in the world, there can never be enough done. My post can be found here (warning- I was standing on my soap box when I wrote it).


I am up to 9 hats for homeless now and 1 more made for my niece Emily (she's 6).

I use the same basic hat pattern for all of them. I will post it for anyone interested, just as soon as I have time to translate my scattered thoughts onto paper. It is Easy Peasy!

Stash Busting Charity Hat Pattern

One of the things I have always been horrible at was keeping track of my patterns. Some times, most times, I would just throw some yarn on the needles or hook and see what comes from it.

Last year when I started getting orders from Berni's nail customers for winter accessories, I decided it was time I put pen to paper and kept track of how I made them! This came in pretty darn handy since I was getting repeat orders for "mittens and hats that were like the ones you made for so-and-so"

So now I have myself a nice little fabric bound spiral journal that I keep for just such occasions, and surprisingly enough, I have kept it up. Usually some scribbled notes on note book paper or a post it note was how I kept track, then months (translate into years) later, I was trying to decipher these hieroglyphics. and not always so successful at it.

Since I am basically lazy when it comes to knitting, and altho I do like a challenge occasionally, I don't want to struggle too much when I knit, so my patterns are usually done out of necessity and very easy.

For being a Virgo, I can be surprisingly disorganized.

EASY ROLLED BRIM HAT PATTERN (or the emergency Mom, I need a hat quick pattern)

Lion Brand Baby Clouds

Easy Rolled Brim Hat Pattern

Supplies:

One set of 5 US size 9 double point needles

1 ball bulky weight yarn ( I used Lion Brand Homespun and Baby Clouds)

Tapestry needle or crochet hook

gauge = 4-5st to an inch

Using your favorite cast on method, cast on 58 stitches (14 on each needle).

Knit in stockinette stitch for 6 inches. (will fit the average adult)

Begin Decreases

Row 1- K2tog at the beginning of each needle

Row 2- Knit 1 round

Continue decreasing in this manner until there are 10 stitches remaining, cut yarn and draw through each loop with a tapestry needle, draw loops closed and weave in ends.

The amount of roll you get in your brim will depend upon how many inches you knit prior to decreasing.
If you find it is too many stitches to handle on your DPN's you can use a 12 inch circular until you get to the decrease rounds, then switch to DPN's.

I like using them because there is no counting involved and I can make a mental note of which round I am one once I get to the decreases.

Doesn't get any easier than that does it?- good TV knitting! It also makes a great take along project since you never really have to worry about losing your place.

This hat can usually be made in an evening and you should be able to get at least three hats from a skein of yarn. Makes a great way to use up left over yarn that you don't know what to do with and it makes a nice warm fabric.

Lion Brand Homespun

Hope you enjoy the pattern and Happy Knitting!

Poor Bingo :(

The strangest thing happened to our poor puppy dog this past weekend. His right ear filled up with fluid. I am not talking his inner ear, or an ear infection like you might think. It is the floppy part of his ear. It was about a 1/2 inch thick!! At first we thought maybe he caught a bee and was having a reaction. (For some reason the crazy dog thinks is fun to get stung) So Mark gave him some Benedril. No go, nothing happened,. Monday I took him to the vet and after several hours of waiting, I notice that his left ear flap started to fill up too. The vet said it was ear hemotoma... in other words, his ear flaps were filling up with blood! I am freaking out now. How can this happen to him. He says, from shaking his head, it is like boxers ears, bruised...BOXERS EARS??? No, my dog does not shake his head a lot. The only thing different was his trip to a new groomer. Now, after talking to the cops at work, I am highly suspicious. Did she get frustrated with his barking?? He likes to talk sometimes. If that is what happened I will be highly pissed! Better that I never find out! The poor baby had to have surgery and now he has to keep stitches in for SIX WEEKS! Plus wear this funny bandage! And to top it off the the vet found a tumor on his mouth (which they removed). Not a good day for me or Bingo!

He looks so sad here, but at least he is home, and happy to report, feeling better, but not to happy about having his head bandaged like that.



I am still plugging away on the Homeless Hats. I now have seven, progress a bit slow due to all the activity. I loaned my camera to my sister in law, so I only have a camera phone picture to share. My basket-o-scarves is slowly becoming a basket-o-hats! I am hoping to have enough soon to make a small difference at the shelter.

Of course the charity work does not end there: Tis the Season for Toys for Tots! This is our annual toy drive and winter coat drive. The officer that I usually assist with this is out of work for several weeks on family leave as he and his wife just had a beauteous baby boy! I am a little overwhelmed right now, but I am sure it will fall into place. I had some assistance tonite with the delivery of signs and what nots. Everything happens so fast this time of year, and calls get busier in general. More crime, sad to say, and, well, just more everything!

I leave in the morning to take a trip to Tennessee to pay my last respects to my Aunt Agnes who passed away on Monday morning. It will be good to see my cousins again, but not under these circumstances. She was another one with the crafty gene. Her favorite craft was crochet, I think she always had something on the hook...runs strong in my family! I think it will be a comfort to her family to have such heirlooms from her and I know she will be missed.

I won't be able to knit much on the trip since I am the primary driver, and haven't figured out yet how to safely knit and drive. My daughter will be going with me but she has never driven in the mountains before so I expect I will be doing most of the driving.

It is going to be a long weekend!

Hats for Homeless

On the Hats for Homeless Front:
So far I have only three hats completed, two adult and one child. I feel like I am making excel ant use of what would otherwise be sitting in the closet waiting to become vintage yarn.
I started out making scarves, those are great one skeiner projects. But then I remembered something that the nurse told me when Sarah was born, babies (people) loose most of their heat through their head, and it is best to keep it covered.
That was when I decided that hats would be a better way of helping the homeless, plus I thought the homeless man that spent the night in our lobby a couple of weeks ago might have appreciated a hat more than a scarf.
So these three hats will get added to the basket o scarves to take to the local PADS shelter (homeless shelter), where I know that they will get used for what they are intended for.

I actually had two more but my girl Raine spied them and absconded with two of them, a pink multi colored one for herself and a green camouflaged one for her new step brother Ethan ( he is 5). I had to make her a new hat this year anyway so I let her take her pick. I thought it sweet she thought of Ethan on her own.
I have burgundy hat on the needles now that I will probably finish tonite. I am going to try to knit a hat a day. Probably a lofty goal, but as the temperature drops I knit faster.
I am trying to recruit a couple of girlfriends into helping. It is a busy time of year, but even if I can get a couple hats each, it will be a help. There are so many people that have so much less than we do.
My mother always said that charity begins at home. I see a lot of unfortunate people in my line of work, so that is where I will begin, in my own community.


On the alpaca front, I dropped of the wall hanging to Alpaca Barb on Friday. She was ecstatic! Seeing her face light up makes every time I ripped it out and started over all worth it! She was going to have it on display this weekend at the alpaca show at the Fairgrounds. I told her we will be able to add to it as she has her other animals shorn for the first time. I think that will be soon, she already gave me a skein for one called Savannah. we will have to add them by three's to keep it symmetrical.

And for payment??? Well all I wanted was a couple of skeins to make myself a hat and scarf, Barb gave me 6 (holy cow!) and then I took one of Savannah to start a square to add to the hanging. So I walked away with an armload of selfish knitting !!

A note on the mill that spun the yarn, I told Barb that I had noticed that some of the skeins had some thin spots and some fatter spots, and that I was surprised at how dirty it was even so far as several skeins had little pieces of straw in them. Not that it detracted from the pleasure of knitting with it but, if I had purchased the yarn, I would have been all over it.
After I washed it the second time you really noticed the difference in the softness, it was incredibly soft! and beautiful!
I told her that I was surprised at the different textures from each animal. I did learn that they are all Suri Alpaca's but she agreed that each animal had a different texture wool.
Just like people I guess.
She has a new mill in California that she is getting her second batch of yarn from. I can't wait to see how that turns out.

Current Project
This is all I can show of this one, suffice to say, I am knitting on size 15's with Knit Picks Wool of the Andes, Blue Ink. It is a nice rich dark blue color, which I noticed with Knit Picks darker yarns that the color tends to adhere to the bamboo needles. I have used this yarn before for felting and it felts up very nicely! Same yarn I used for Mark's hat.

This project is working up very quickly so even with my limited time this week I have managed to get pretty far with it.


And not to forget, I also had chocolate socky #deuce on the needles, which is now complete and my happy feet wore them to work last night!

Charity Knitting

I must have been tired last night. I woke up this morning and found I had posted this picture with no commentary. Oops- a sure sign that I stayed up too late!
This basket-o-scarves is ear marked for a local homeless shelter. It is just a start, I have six done so far, but as soon as I am finished with the alpaca project I plan to start knocking out some more scarves and hats. (My stash depletion plan). I have a lot of fuzzy wuzzy yarn left over from the squishy blanket that will be perfect for a warm scarf to help someone see the winter through.
I have a couple of friends that have an over abundance of yarn as well that I taught how to knit last year (they crochet as well). I am hoping to convince them to join me in this endeavor. There is a local shelter that my Police Department runs a coat drive for every winter. I think this would make a nice compliment to any coats we receive this year.