The Golden Iris

I knit up this cute floppy hat in the fall and it's been my winter go-to ever since. It's fast, easy, and keeps your ears warm. What's not to like? While the world maybe doesn't need more patterns for hats like this, I made my own. And now I'm sharing it with you. King Street Beret Finished Size: to fit a woman; adjustable Yarn: Bulky-weight wool or blend, 140 yards. I used Pingouin Guernesey, which I doubt is still available. Any bulky-weight yarn that knits to the appropriate gauge will work - pick something wooly and marled if you want to duplicate the look. Needles: US #9 16" circular and set of US #9 DPs, or whatever size you need to get gauge. I only used dps, but there are a lot of stitches and they may fall off and drive you crazy! Gauge: 18st/4" over double moss stitch pattern. Notions: tapestry needle, 3 yds thread-covered elastic in color to match your yarn. Double moss stitch (worked in the round): Round 1: *K2, P2; rep from * Round...

I was going to write you a blog post earlier... but I went to Ikea instead. Assembling all that flat-packed furniture eats up crazy amounts of time, even though I love it, love it, love it. But in the meantime, between wielding my screwdriver and knitting up samples, I've been cooking up another pair of socks. [ Broadripple , by Rob Matyska, from knitty a long time ago] I'm trying to work through my seemingly never-ending stash of sock yarns, trying to get through some of the oldest ones first. I'm fairly certain this is Opal, in "Flamingo" - with all the socks I've knit I've never used Opal before! I'm enjoying it, it seems like it will wear well, even though the color is, um, a little intense. [Now with second sock!] I've modified these a little to work with a thinner yarn - just added a few stitches into each repeat and went down to #2 needles. They're not quite as interesting as the Spring Forward socks, so they aren't getting as mu...

In between all the socks (is it crazy that I'm thinking of casting on two more pair, with two already on the needles?) I've still found time to work on my February Lady Sweater . I'm well into the lace part of the body, so the whole thing is growing fairly quickly. Over the holidays I had the good fortune to find some cute buttons for this sweater. What is it with buttons? How are there so many ugly buttons out there, and so few interesting and good-quality ones? In any case I'm happy with these. They're wood and have some nice detail for interest. [Hooray, a close-up!] [And from further away - see, I've got some lace done.] I found these at a cute little shop in Greenville, SC called The Needle Tree .

I recently received my latest raffle prize for participating in Sockdown! on Ravelry. This time, it was a lovely skein of hand-dyed sock yarn and stitch markers from Sheila Rovelstad Designs . [I am really loving tonal or nearly-solid hand-dyes! Yum.] I don't frequently find a need for stitch markers, but these are gorgeous. They're one of those things I'd never spend the money on for myself, but they sure do dress up the knitting! [And the stones are my favorite color green, too.] You should check out her shop, not just for the great tonal colors, but for the colorway names. I was singing to myself the whole time I was trying to choose a color!

Sometimes there's a yarn that seems to hold so much potential, so much positive energy... and yet continually disappoints. [ Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Potluck , in the "Watercolor" colorway - the "Potluck" part means every skein is different, and you just end up with a random selection.] I've held on to this yarn for years now after receiving it as a gift. I made a really disappointing sock with it. [Rib and Cable socks, which didn't fit and pooled badly.] I tried another pattern, hoping that would help. [ Crusoe might have been a good choice, but was still awfully ugly. This was as far as I ever got.] I even tried to overdye the yarn with tea, but I think it only made the colors uglier. [The right swatch is black tea; the left is green tea, both set with vinegar. What a terrible orange!] But I've taken inspiration from the original project photos of the Spring Forward socks from Knitty, and I'm hoping that the third time is the charm with t...

Sample knitting continues... this time with a 5-lb. box showing up on my doorstep! What does five pounds of Cascade 220 look like, you might ask? [Pretty excellent if you ask me!]

While 'tis better to give than to receive... I did get some excellent knitting-related gifts for Christmas this year that I have to show off. First, some new dp's for the never-ending parade of socks: [I'm interested to see how the Knitpicks needles hold up.] Then, a complete surprise from a friend, this lovely hand-made project bag: [It's got pockets and everything, and is big enough to hold a whole sweater in progress!] But the pièce de résistance was this gorgeous and carefully-engineered birch swift, made by my dad (and happily coupled with a ball-winder from my sister!) It also breaks down into all its component parts for easy storage - my mom made it a nifty carrying case. [That's a skein of Cascade 220 on there, with lots of room for more!] I've already been giving it a workout. [Incidentally I've discovered this REALLY pushes the cat's buttons. Hysterical.] At my age I feel a bit silly asking for things for gifts, but the amount of knitting I...

Now that all the gifts have been given and I'm no longer in danger of giving away any surprises, I can show them to you! What looked like quite a bit of yarn in that photo worked up very quickly, most of it into three hats. First, a simple and warm Seaman's Cap for my dad: [Patons Classic Wool, #7 needles, and an afternoon] Then, two wonderful Jared Flood designs, Koolhaas and Turn a Square , for someone very special: [Patons Classic Wool again, although the color is a bit much and I may adopt it!] [Cascade 220 and Noro Silk Garden, yum! Looks like I need to get a photo on the recipient, though....] Finally, a lovely Lace Ribbon scarf in my sister's signature purple: [And yes, that's me at the edge of the frame with a silly toy!] This was from a lovely ball of BMFA Socks That Rock in a club-only colorway. No, I'm not in the club, but it was another fortuitous raffle win! Look at those gorgeous colors. Yum! Thankfully the holiday knitting was pretty low-key ...

I feel like the only thing I really ended up finishing in 2008 (for myself, anyway) was socks. Lots and lots of socks. I now have over 20 pair in my little display box [scroll down], and now that I live someplace cold enough for them, they're actually getting some wear. It doesn't hurt that the socks also serve as a raffle ticket and I have yarn for another 15 pair or so before I have to buy more! Here are the latest: I call these my Brown Seaweed Socks... and here's the stats: Pattern: Seaweed Socks [PDF] by Wendy Johnson of WendyKnits Yarn: KPPPM, color 613 (I like to think of it as 'butter pecan') Needles: #1 dps Notes: This is one of the only toe-up sock patterns I've liked. I'm fortunate that Wendy and I have feet exactly the same size, so what works for her seems to work for me. I had to learn a new cast-on , and a new heel construction, which was kind of a treat. Unfortunately the pattern works better on 2 circular needles, which I'm not h...

...for a new year. As if you didn't already know that already! So it's time for my 2008 in review, slightly delayed because I've been sicker than sick with a cold that just won't quit. My 2008 ended much like it began: I was sick and unemployed. In between... The very first thing that happened in 2008 was being laid off from my office job as a writer. I promptly got strep, and it took me a month to find another job, this time in retail. In February, my parents came to visit me in Virginia, and I began knitting samples. I worked on my garden, escorted baby ducklings to the Potomac River , and dealt with some health issues. By the summer, I'd been promoted, but my personal life was going to hell. In August, I went to visit Chicago. I finally got to meet Madam [who needs to post more] and Lynn in person (so wonderful) and discover some delightful things about having old friends. Later in the fall, my parents came to visit again, I had another birthday, and part...