Make’n’Tell Day 1: One Shark, No Laserbeams

I made the kid, too, but not today so she doesn’t count for Make’n’Tell.

So, here it is, day 2 of my big February Make’n’Tell, and here’s the post about Day 1 (yesterday, obvi)’s activity. So far, so good.Well, except that my big plan was to ring in this Make’n’Tell with some delicious chocolate chip toffee strips, and then I was tired and it just didn’t happen. So yesterday’s make was finally finishing my shark hat (modeled by Becky, because I was too tired for selfies, too):

Ack! There’s a shark eating that girl’s head!

To be fair, I also made two other hats that I can’t show you because they’re prototypes, and worked on a sweater that I can’t show you because the pattern’s due to be published by a 3rd party soon. Oh, and s’mores! We had fireplace s’mores yesterday, too (dammit! I totally should have taken pics of the s’mores! I was too busy shoving them down my gullet to think of it, I guess.). So I did do quite a bit of making yesterday, which is a good way to start off the month, I think.

(P.S. We made the cookies today, so you’ll get that recipe tomorrow. 🙂 )

After the Storm

For those of you who don’t know, I’m located smack in the middle of the area that just got bitch-slapped by Hurricane Sandy [sidenote: I have always, always hated the name Sandy.]. We got very, very lucky: no property damage, we never lost power, internet, or cable, no flooding. Many of our friends, extended family, and neighbors weren’t so fortunate.

Don’t get me wrong — we’ve been inconvenienced plenty…my darling children haven’t had school for a week and the bloom is quickly coming off the stay-at-home-mommy rose (seriously, homeschooling friends, I have no idea how you do this)…we can’t really go anywhere due to dangerous roads…grocery stores around us have very low stock on perishables… my paycheck didn’t get deposited due to the timing of the storm…but these are truly minor inconveniences compared to the losses and devastation those around us have gone through.

I’m releasing a new hat pattern today, Haimish. 100% of all proceeds for the month of November will be donated to a relief fund for those affected by Hurricane Sandy.

Haimish is a Yiddish word meaning “warm and comfortable; homey; folksy.” Easy to knit and wear, this comfy hat exemplifies these characteristics. Offset cables surround the hat, topping off the thick rib and rolled edging. It is rustic simplicity at its best. Offered in three sizes (child, adult small, adult large) for the whole family.

Size:

Child (Adult Small, Adult Large) / 14.25 (18, 21.25)” (NOTE: Hat is very stretchy and is designed with about 2″ of negative ease. I.e., if your head circumference is 20″, the 18″ size would fit you properly.)

Materials:

• 80 (100, 150)yds Aran weight wool (shown in Katmandu Aran Tweed: Color 115 – Olive (104yds 50gm)
• US 9/5.5mm 16” circular needle and dpns
• Stitch marker

Gauge:

18 stitches and 22 rows = 4″ in pattern. Please take time to check your gauge, as this helps to ensure a successful project.

You can purchase the pattern online from Ravelry.com (you do not need a Ravelry account to purchase).

It’s a Real Live Knitted FO! For Serious!

Looky what I made! Free pattern is Bicycle Wheels from Sew Knit Me, yarn is Wool-Ease Thick & Quick in Charcoal. The pattern is very conversational, maybe a little more than I like, but there were no errors and I absolutely love the tip on merging down your purl stitches on the last row of rib. What a great, finished look that one extra little row gives! I also really like the way it fits after being pulled together in the back…nice and slouchy without that feeling that it’s going to fall off any second. Best part? As slow as I am, this hat only took be about two and half hours of actual knitting time to work up. I feel some Generic Winter Holiday gifts coming on…

Yes, there's also one from the front. Unfortunately, it is an incredibly unflattering picture of me (the hat still looks cute). So you'll have to settle for this one.

 

And this is what’s on my needles now:

I really wish I knew what this yarn is...it's got a great hand and just look how gorgeous the colors are!

It’s a little scarf-shawl, à la Clapotis…I’m hoping to have it done by the weekend for party-wearing (and also I have another project that I Absolutely Must be working on over the weekend, so it would be nice to have this off the needles). I started it Tuesday night just to play with the yarn (which is, naturally, unlabeled 😦 ) because it is pretty and soft, and like the way it’s turning out so well that I scribbled out the pattern and will publish it as a freebie as soon as I have the project finished.

Hey, remember that pattern I keep promising?

Well, it’s finally here! Inspired by a candid snapshot I saw on the web somewhere, I wanted to make a quick floofy beret-type thingie. Luckily for me, I do a little designing here and there, so I whipped one up. Both the designing and the actual knitting were really quick; the big delay in getting the pattern published was my inability to get a decent photo that really showed how cute the hat is when worn. I’m still not thrilled with the photos, but got one that was Good Enough, and it’s long past time this pattern was made public. So, to start the week off right, I give you my latest Lauriginal: the Tip-topper. Free PDF download currently only available on Ravelry, but I’ll work the kinks out of the Patterns and Projects Page and get it thrown up there (as well as a PDF for that little headphone holder I posted last week — that should go over there, too, huh?).

Yeah, I know I'm not smiling. Had to choose between a decent pic of me or a decent pic of the hat for this one. The hat won.

ETA: Maven, is this what you were looking for?

As requested (I hope).