Charity check-in

I won't bore you with all the stuff I've been up to (particularly work-wise) that has kept me from blogging lately, but here is a charity check-in post.  The last few weeks have been all about the chunky hats (my own design!):

I've got a black & gray one on needles now, and I'll try to remember to post a pic next time. That's about it for knitting at the moment.  I've gone pretty far down the rabbit hole of coloring (particularly swear word coloring books!), and drawing Zentangles. I think that's how I shall spend part of the afternoon until it's time to go knit with a group of friends.

Until next time,
-mz

Catching up

It's been more than a week since I last posted (sorry!), but I'm here now :-) This is a post to catch you up on what I've been up to lately.

A long time ago, a friend of mine asked me to mend a few holes in her granddaughter's baby sweater.  She'd already outgrown the sweater, so there was no particular rush on this.  I held on to it for such a long time because I wasn't sure the best way to fix the holes.  Last week I had some inspiration, though, and ended up embroidering flowers and a heart to patch up the holes:

I'll return the sweater the my friend this week.  I hope the mending meets her approval! Note: I'm not sure what's up with the uneven sweater hem.  I think it is designed to be asymmetrical.

I've made a bit of progress on that scarf I started a few weeks ago.  I finished one full skein of yarn and started a second skein. One skein was just not long enough for a scarf, and two skeins might make it too long. But I think too long is better than not long enough.

Recently, a friend asked me to knit a hat for him.  I've made good progress on that, and am working on the crown decreases. I'll post pics when it's all finished.  But now ... more knitting and football. Yay!

Talk to y'all in a few days, folks.  Stay warm and safe out there!

-mz

My Mr's 2013 hat

It has recently occurred to me that I've been making hats for myself and my Mr. every year.  I only thought of this as I was knitting this year's hat. He has mentioned that hats I've knitted in the past weren't warm enough, so I poked around Ravelry until I found just the thing that should be perfect: Elizabeth Zimmermann's Very Warm Hat. This is a double-layered, reversible hat and is indeed very warm. You start by knitting a hat. When you're done, you pick up stitches along the cast-on edge and knit another hat.  You'll get a something that looks very much like this (note that the second hat is not quite finished).

Once both hats are finished, you just stuff one inside the other and ta-da!  A double-thick, reversible, very warm hat!  Last night I was cruising along on hat #2 and tried it on even though the decreases aren't quite finished:

It'll only take a little while to finish. I can't wait to give it to the Mr. I think he will love it.  And then I will cast on a hat for me, except that I will use fuchsia and charcoal gray and will knit skulls, crossbones and hearts into mine.  It's my own design, and one of these days I'll make it available on Ravelry. 

Happy Sunday, and happy knitting!

~mz

Finally finished!

Whaddya think? It's so warm. And just in time, too! The weather is due to be warm-ish tomorrow (in the mid-60s) but then will drop back to more seasonable temperatures. Next up is a hat for Chief Baby Brother!

But now it's time to work on my second thrummed mitten so that when it gets cold again my fingers won't freeze.  G'night :-)

~mz

Fair Isle hat

102610
Originally uploaded by mzundercover

This is the hat I'm knitting for my fella.  He loves it, and so do I!

january update

hi everyone,

charity knitting for the bridge project is going well so far. last weekend i completed hat & scarf set and started another. the scarf is plain garter stitch and i will design a matching hat. once i finish the 2nd set i will send them off to be distributed accordingly. i have also decided i would knit for 2 other charity efforts as well ... making afghan squares for warm up america and making preemie/baby hats for OSU medical center. it feels good to use my talents to help others.

i designed a hat for my brother last week. he has a pretty basic ribbed hat from abercrombie. i'm like, really ... i could MAKE that!! so he said, "okay i want one." i happened to have some encore mega (2 sts = 1") in my stash and couldn't figure out what to do with it ... making a hat was just the perfect thing. i gave him the hat and it fits perfectly. he loves it! i'm going to knit a hat for another brother, and when i do that i will write down the directions and post the pattern to ravelry, and here on the blog as well.

it's time for bed. i've declared today "selfish sunday" and am going to spend lots of quality time with myself today. i've got some books i want to read, tv to watch and knitting to do!! i need some serious "me" time. last night i had a dream that i was being held hostage. that sounds like i need to give myself some attention and do all the things that make me happy. it's not that i mind doing things for/with other people, but i have a lot of stuff in my brain to sort out and sometimes the best way for me to deal with it all is to just zone out and focus on myself. so that's precisely what i intend to do. i'll start "selfish sunday" by getting a good night's sleep!

sleep tight, friends.

~mz

keep still, kid!

jamir2
Originally uploaded by mzundercover

this is the hat i knitted for nephew #2. he's 2, and like most 2 year olds, this kid ain't sittin' still for long! i kept trying to take a pic of him in his hat but he kept wanting to look at the screen on the cell phone! finally when we got him in the car to go to the pumpkin patch, i was able to snap this one ... it was about the best i could do!

say cheese!

jalen1
Originally uploaded by mzundercover

my SIL asked me to knit my nephews hats for winter. this is what i came up with for nephew #1. of course, i had to knit it in scarlet and gray! it turned out really well and was fast to knit, even with the stripes.

dude, it's cold.

hat2
Originally uploaded by mzundercover

winter is rapidly approaching central ohio and in the spirit of keeping warm, i knitted a cute hat last night while watching game 4 of the world series. just for fun i even put a big pom-pom on top! it's made with lionbrand landscapes yarn and is very warm. it worked up quick with size 11 needles and i got to wear it this morning! i'm using the rest of the yarn i have in this color to knit up a quick garter stitch scarf. 16 stitches across (still on size 11 needles). should go fast! if i can find more yarn in this color i'll whip up some mittens too!