My 2 latest knitting projects

I haven't updated in a long time.... (I just recently added some posts from my other blog to this one, to make up for it.) BUT my new goal is to at the very least blog once a month. So here it goes.

I've got 2 projects that are currently OTN that I am actively (or actively-ish in one case) knitting.

The first is a banana republic knock-off hat. (Link goes to the ravelry page) I saw the pattern and thought that it was absolutely beautiful and that I had to have it. (I also saw the extremely over priced hat at banana republic  and decided I was happy to be a knitter.) I did some slight modifications to it... For one I used size 13 needles, last time I tried to knit lion brand thick and quick with 10.5s it was way way way too tight. I also only made the brim as wide as the button so that my button would look neither too large or too small. I've yet to actually take a picture of it and it has been more or less held up by me. I just need to finish decreases and close up the top, but I've yet to do it. My goal is to finish today! (I'm setting a lot of goals in this post. haahaha)

The second project is Veronik Avery's Lace Ribbon Scarf from the spring knitty. I fell in love with this scarf when I first saw it and cast-on yesterday/friday/i don't really know when my weekend has blurred together. I had some trouble at first and had to frog it and rip out rows and switch needle sizes.... Now I'm halfway through the first repeat and some of the earlier rows look a little goofy, but it's coming along. And looking pretty good. I'm using Lorna's Laces in hawaii. (Link to my ravelry to show off the colors.) The colors are just so pretty and so perfect. If I don't mess this up too bad it'll probably be my favorite scarf ever.

I've made some knitting progress!

I survived having 2 tests on Monday... And I did extremely well on one of them, the other isn't graded yet. Anyway I have some time to sit down and actually make a post with pictures showing my progress on a bunch of different things. I'm even going to go do some shopping today to get things for my knitters coffee swap 3 package so that I can send it off soon. I'm still not 100% what I'm going to do, so I'm hoping to get inspired at the store today. Now on to my current knitting projects.

First I've finished my caron blisss stitch scarf. I really didn't think that I would actually finish this, but I guess since it was an easy stress free knit that I could take places with me (and I could work on while I watched tv) it got done quicker than I thought that it would. I really love it. It's soft; it's long; it's wide; it's reversible; it's in my favorite color. It's perfect. Plus I finished a scarf, so I'm really excited about doing that! Normally it would take me FOREVER to finish a scarf. I think it being a bulky weight yarn on size 11 needles contributed to it being finished quicker as well.

The other project that I've made some progress on is my hatmione. I started this on a whim one day, even though I really shouldn't have since I have tons of other knitting projects to finish, and about a million other things to do with school and moving and finding a new job. But I started it anyway in spite all of this. Yesterday I finished all the ribbing for the brim and did the first few rows of the cabling pattern. I like the hat, and I like the pattern. Sometimes it doesn't look right to me though. I debated frogging this several times, but didn't really have a good reason to so I'm powering through it. I think it's partially because the brim seems SO LONG because it's going to get folded; it's just not folded now. Anyway that's that.

I've noticed I've been using a lot of reds and oranges. I think I want more colors. ;)

Ginny GoF inspired hat COMPLETED

I finished my Ginny inspired GoF hat. (As previously mentioned) I love it. I know that it isn't an exact replica of the movie hat but I absolutely adore it. It fits me perfect and looks just the way I wanted it too. I used Malabrigo Merino chunky in "tiger lily" for the hat and used a strand of Lion Brand Landscapes in "pastel meadow" and Malabrigo Merino worsted in "cactus flower" (my personal favorite yarn) to thread through the eyelet rounds. It's not absolutely perfect, but it was what I wanted. The variegations and chunky weight add to the "Weasley-ness" of the hat, I think. I really am very proud of how this hat turned out. Here are some more pictures, and then after the pictures I'll post my pattern. When it came to the decreases, I just did what looked right and what seem to fit my numbers. So my pattern may not be axact when it gets to that point.

And here is my pattern:

needles: size 10.5 16" circular needles, and size 10.5 double points during decreases
yarn: Malabrigo Merino Chunky in tiger Lily (MC), Lion Brand Landscapes in pastel meadow (cc1), and Malabrigo Merino worsted in cactus flower (cc2)
any chunky weight will work for the hat (MC) and any scrap yarn can be used for the bows and accents

Cast on 72 (I used the cable cast on)
K1P1 rib for 6 rounds
eyelet round #1(*k3 k2tog yo* repeat between the *s)
knit 6 rounds
purl 2 rounds
knit 6 rounds
eyelet round #2 (*k2tog yo k3* between the *s)
knit 6 rounds
purl 2 rounds
knit 6 rounds
eyelet round #1 (*k3 k2tog yo* repeat between the *s)
start decreases:
*k10 k2tog* repeat between the *s
*k9 k2tog* repeat between the *s
*k8 k2tog* repeat between the *s
knit 1 round
purl 2 rounds
*k6 k2tog* (repeat between the *s) k2tog the last 2 stitches
*k2tog k2* (repeat between the *s) k2tog k2tog the last 4 stitches
eyelet round #3 (*K2tog k2tog yo* repeat between the *s)
k2tog until only 6 sts remain, break yarn and thread through the top
thread yarn through the eyelets, add a bow at the bottom tier

Finally found my camera! Now for some FOs...

I've got 2 FOs, that I have semi-discussed in my camera-less posts.

My skinny version of a Hogwarts "house unity" scarf
This was supposed to be my skinny scarf that was knit fast and kind of sloppy in worsted weight yarn and size 11 needles that I could wear to the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows release. BUT when it got to be 10:30 and I had 20 rows left, I gave up and went to the party without it. I figure it'll still serve a purpose and it doesn't look too awful considering that most of the color stripes were from scrap yarn (red and yellow both came from leftovers of Stitch's gryffindor scarf, navy came from my monstrosity ravenclaw scarf, and green I cut some off of Luke's slytherin scarf.) I have no clue what type of yarn the black was. It was sitting label-less in my stash forever so I put it to use. The green and navy are both a little dark and hard to see in the black, but I was working with what I had available and on a very short deadline. I believe I started the scarf the Tuesday before the release. And Tuesday was really the only day I had off that week. I only put about 15 hours total into the scarf. I had a very busy work week and just barely didn't finish in in time.

I'm really fond of the fringe. I added flecks of the color stripes so it wouldn't be all black. It's my favorite part of the whole scarf.

It's finished dimensions are:
only 1 3/4" wide and 60" long before fringe, 68" long with the fringe


My Lion Brand Thick and Quick hat
I'm actually not very pleased with this hat. I finished it fairly quickly, but I'm not at all happy with the decreases. The hat also feels stiff because the yarn was too thick to be used on size 10.5 needles. (Reasons for this needle selection were discussed in this post.)

I have enough yarn left, and I just got new addi turbo 16" circulars in both size 11 and 13 so I think that I'll try again. I do love this color and I think that is worked up nice and quick (hence, the yarn name.)

Ginny Weasley GoF hat - 1st attempt/prototype

I saw patterns for the orange bucket hat that Ginny Weasley wears in GoF, and I attempted to make my own version of the hat. I had several issues with the design once I had finished that I intend on fixing and trying again. For reference, I have a screen cap from the movie. It's not the best picture, but it shows the basic design of the hat. In making my own hat, I didn't quite want the "beehive-ness" of the original, I wanted to try and make it fit more like a beanie. I'm planning on making more of an Inspired by Ginny's hat rather than an actual reproduction.

The first thing to point out is that Ginny's hat was ORANGE, not grey. I used grey because I had a ton of it sitting around. I also didn't thread a pastel rainbow ombre through the eyelet round, because I didn't have one at the time. I've since noticed that her hat in the movie also had burgundy at the top eyelet rounds, whether or not I'll stick to that will depend. I'm not even sure that I'll ever make a bright orange hat either, because despite it being accurate for the movie, I don't know if I would never wear it. Also, I'm not exactly going for movie accuracy so the color is totally up to me.

Here are some of the major problems and things that I had with the hat: The first for me to point out is the brim. I know that in order to get this to look like the movie hat the brim is going to be loose, but I don't like having loose hats. It drives me crazy, plus it curls up. I'm thinking of doing this in ribbing and EITHER not having the bow or the rainbow threaded through on the first tier OR threading it through the ribbing. I haven't decided.

The second one is that I needed to do more than 1 row or purls in between the tiers. Probably 3 would look the best. Another thing to add to my brim issues is whether or not the hat will separate into sections as nicely if the first bit is all ribbing. I think the only way to figure that out is to go ahead and knit it. If I don't like it, I'll take it out and start over.

My final problem I have had to do with threading the contrast yarn through the eyelets. I didn't like doing it. It was always either too tight or too loose. The eyelets weren't my favorite part. Another thing I'm debating about doing is skipping the "eyelet round" and just placing removable stitch markers as I go to thread the yarn through. I'm pretty sure that the threading issues are mostly personal issues.

Hopefully I'll get my second attempt started and completed soon enough. I don't think that I'm going to be going for perfect movie match. I like the style of the hat, and I want one similar. I want to actually wear it though, and if it has a loose brim I won't ever want too. The orange is debatable, I may actually wear it, if it turned out to be cute enough.

EDIT (8/2/1007): New ideas for a tighter brim. I'm thinking I could do the 1st half of the brim in ribbing, then switch to stockinette. Then the "eyelet" round could be in between the ribbing and the stockinette and it would look closer to the way it should. Not sure yet. I'll probably start this project soon since it is a fairly quick project to finish. I did the first one in a day.