Basic Hats

Sami hat for cold weather

2012-02-13T09:14:00.001+01:00

We're having a long spell of very cold weather here in Prague, though nothing as bad as what they're suffering in Romania and the Balkans. To keep warm, I made myself a hat with some Norwegian yarn that Marie gave me, using the Turkish yarn (doubled) that she also gave me and the last bit of my Knitpicks Hollyberry yarn. I used the Basic go-to hat pattern, putting in an increase every 6 stitches when I changed from ribbing to stockinette, to make the hat just a bit slouchy.

My husband told me I look like a Lapplander--Sami, in Finnish.

This hat is warm!

Free hat pattern: Basic Go To Hat

2012-01-27T09:03:00.004+01:00

I have uploaded a detailed pattern I wrote on knitting a basic hat.

It's illustrated with some of my hat designs, and is meant for someone who's never knitted a hat before.

It's available for free on www.ravelry.com. Go to the pattern search and enter Basic Go To Hat pattern, to find it. Download and knit your own hat!

a handsome vest for hubby

2012-01-17T13:13:00.002+01:00

I wanted to knit my husband a sweater, but he has very pronounced opinions about everything, including sweaters. So I gathered some nice Knitpicks wool yarn and timidly showed him a Fair Isle pullover vest in my Alice Starmore book. Would he like something like this? yes.

Prince of Wales

Well, the pattern called for insanely complicated Fair Isle designs on fingering yarn and tiny needles, where I had worsted yarn and size 8 needles. I also had much more Camel heather than any other color. So I knit the back in Camel, using a pattern I found just to get the right number to cast on and an idea on the armhole decreases and shoulder shaping.

I held the finished back up and said, "Do you like this?" yes. I stretched it over his back and it seemed big enough (he's a tall guy). I asked if it was okay to make it a pullover, as he HATES pulling regular sweaters over his head. yes, giving me a complicated explanation that since it was a vest, with no sleeves, it could be pullover. So I started the front.

As usual, I tried using some Alice Starmore peerie patterns, border patterms and full-cover patterns from the book, but quickly got bored and began to make up my own. I did stick to the "no more than 2 colors per row" rule that Alice stresses, but I did not knit every stitch (apparently you should never purl in true Fair Isle), as it was SK, not knit in the round. Even so, I thought it looked pretty good.

I kept holding it up and asking if it was okay. yes. So I finished it, with great fear and trepidation that it would be too small, or too short, or he would just hate it.

BUT

he loves it. He wore it every day for a week! It fits fabulously and makes him look very handsome!!!

Felting adventures

2012-01-06T19:50:00.001+01:00

I had some leftover Wool of the Andes yarn and a need for a taller bag to hold my A4 papers for tutoring assignments. So I searched Ravelry with determination to find a pattern and make a great bag. I found the Booga Bag, a popular felted bag with drawstrings, and planned a Fibonacci stripe pattern. This is probably the most researched and thought-through bag I have ever made.

pre-felting

Well. The drawstring thing did not work for me, as I couldn't make the holes the right size. Then, too, after I felted the bag, it shrunk so much that I would not be able to put A4 paper into it if I carried on with the drawstring part. (the small square in the photo is an inner pocket)

So, instead, I cut the drawstring in half to make two shoulder straps. I added a small flap and big button to close it, but the first time I went outside, I was nervous that someone would put his or her hot little hand down into my bag and take my wallet (there's a serious pickpocket problem here in Prague). I took it home and inserted a big, full-length zipper.

I am happy with the bag. I can (just) fit it A4 paper, and the bag is lightweight, secure and somewhat waterproof in a light rain. I like this non-Booga bag.

post-felting

Nifty blog

2011-12-25T09:23:00.000+01:00

I have been noodling around on Ravelry for the past two days.

www.ravelry.com

I want to make a felted tote bag with some Wool of the Andes yarn I have waiting for a purpose. So I searched "yarn" and "Wool of the Andes" to projects, then specified finished/bags/knitting. I got 140 glorious pages of ideas, with personal noted from so many interesting knitters.

I also found this blog:knittinginmybackyarn

This blog is brimming with great ideas, free projects and general encouragement. What I love most about knitting is the community of people who share so freely. As a group, knitters are generous and cheerful! Hooray!

more on why I knit

2011-12-01T08:43:00.000+01:00

I like to keep up with the news from around the world. And I have very strong opinions about politics, economics, religion, and education. But if I think too much about any of these topics, I get angry and downhearted at the ignorance, greed, stupidity and general evil that the human race is capable of producing (myself included).

So...I knit. Knitting involves such lovely, creative things: beautiful woolen, cotton, silk, alpaca, mohair, and soy yarns in gorgeous, vivid colors or subtle, earthy heather colors. Slippery needles in wood, acrylic and metal. Tiny colorful stitch markers, cable needles and pieces of waste yarn. New patterns to decode and old familiar patterns to discover again.

The best parts of knitting are social--the millennia-long community of knitters I am part of, and the people who will receive and use the items I knit.

Knitting makes me feel connected to people in a kind, loving way. It is politically neutral, religion-free and educationally generous. That's why knitting is a refuge, for me, in a sometimes harsh and hostile world.

another gingerbread hat

2011-11-27T09:28:00.000+01:00

This pattern is so much fun to knit. It's difficult enough to keep your interest but easy enough to memorize. And somehow I always know right away if I've made a mistake.

I've made three of these, so far

I love the cables with ladder-like dividers:

A great hat, courtesy a great knitter via Ravelry.com:

Gingerbread Hat by Angela Whisnant

why do I knit?

2011-11-17T11:02:00.000+01:00

My husband really can't understand why I love to knit. When we are having a serious discussion, he gets irritated if I knit. He doesn't believe me that knitting helps me think.

But it does.

Somehow the repetitive movements of my hands puts me into a zone that's hard to get to otherwise. In this zone, I can think clearly, without undue emotion, about any topic that interests me. I've written short stories, articles and poems in my head while knitting in complete quiet and peace.I've thought through knotty problems, generating and testing solutions. I've reasoned out events and behavior that otherwise baffled me.

My nature is so easily excitable and over-sensitive to external stimulation that living with people is a real challenge. I react to every passing sound, smell, sight, touch and taste. You could say I have ADD.

Over the years I've learned how to shut all that out and focus on what I am doing, but I pay a price when I do this. As a teacher, I had to be in that straight-jacket of focus all day long, so that I was not constantly distracted by my students, the temperature of the room, stray sounds, hunger, need to go to the bathroom, etc. I switched into focus-at-any-cost mode so that I could teach my lessons.

The price was a general numbing-down of my personality. It was too great a price, in retrospect.

Knitting is a much gentler, sweeter way to focus my overactive mind. When I knit, I feel soothed and peaceful. My environment doesn't overwhelm me, so I can listen and think with ease.

By the way, washing dishes by hand, sweeping the floor, and cutting hair also put me in this zone. Drawing puts me in a deeper version of the zone, wherein I almost stop thinking, stop absorbing the sensory input around me, and simply exist, like a tree or a flower.

So, yes, I knit to make items that are beautiful and useful. But even if I never completed an item, I would still knit. It keeps me sane.

Fingerless mitts

2011-10-31T07:52:00.002+01:00

according to Melissa, Amelia is stealing her mitts, so I knit her a pair all her own:

everything was rainbow, rainbow, rainbow

2011-10-31T07:50:00.001+01:00

Thanks to poet Elizabeth Bishop, who wrote this line in her poem "The Fish." I went to Fashion Martina with Nadine and bought 4 balls of Spanish yarn by Katia, all variations on rainbow colors. The superbulky INCA knitted up like this:

The AZTECA heavy-worsted yarn kit up like this:

Nice!

hat giveaway

2011-10-27T19:08:00.000+02:00

Last Saturday we had a wonderful stitch-n-bitch meeting. We even atttracted a new member by flashing our knitting needles and wool! I took some hats to give away!

where did summer go?

2011-09-22T07:10:00.000+02:00

August was a wonderful month.

I visited our children in the USA (Melissa, Noah, Tina) and our granddaughter Amelia. I bought tons of yarn, since now I know I can't get the yarn I like best here in Prague. In Ithaca I visited Knitting, Etc. and could have stayed there for a week.

Now I have three projects on the needles--photos are coming soon!

No hats, but a summer sweater

2011-08-02T09:04:00.000+02:00

July was chilly and rainy here--my kind of weather! I didn't make any new hats, but I did make myself a summer sweater from the Austrian cotton yarn I bought in May.

I really like this cardi. The colors are subtle, the yarn is simple, the cut is drapey.

As often happens, though, I now need a shirt to wear under it, as it's too loosely knit to be worn alone. For some reason, my entire wardrobe is like that: when I make or buy something new, I have to buy other new things--the domino effect.

I know from assiduously reading Glamour as an 8th-grader that you are supposed to BUILD you wardrobe, using the garments you own as a foundation. But I am so reluctant to buy new clothes that, by the time, I do add an item, the stuff I already own is half worn-out. So the new item makes the old stuff look shabby.

My husband doesn't understand this. He really does build his wardrobe, addin new items that harmonize with the old. Anyway, I do like my new sweater.

Yarn: dyes, splittiness, softness and color depth

2011-07-04T20:21:00.000+02:00

One thing I've learned from knitting is that dyes are crucial to the overall quality of yarn.

For example, the Capri cotton yarn I've been using all summer is so different in different colors that it's like using a different yarn. From these differences I can make some generalizations. I've included comments on wool yarns, too:

http://www.yarndex.com/images/Capri-2004.jpg

1. red yarn is just a gamble. Before synthetic dyes, red was achieved with cochineal, a dye made from ground-up beetles. It was relatively expensive. Synthetic reds are cheap, but they are harsh and tend to produce either to a dull, flat pink shade or a livelier orange shade. A true red is rare. The harshness of the dye makes the yarn texture either flaky or or gummy. The Capri red I used is on the pinky side, which I don't like at all. Red wool yarn has all the same problems as cotton yarn. I love red, and when I find a good red I am happy, but good reds are hard to find. This is also true in ready-made clothes.

2. black yarn is nearly always flat and lifeless. The dyes commonly used produce a yarn that has no spring and is splitty/one-dimensional. It's very rare to find a good, inexpensive black yarn. I didn't buy the Capri black as it was not nice. It was almost nasty. Black wool yarn tends to be stringy and splitty. Black yarn is best used in small doses, I have found.

3. blue yarn seems to be a better choice, especially at the low end of cost. The blue dyes are not so destructive of the yarn's natural life and bounce-back. The Capri blue-greens that I used in my German boy hat were very smooth (not splitty) and full of depth. I am not very fond of true blues, so I don't tend to buy them, but they're usually fairly dependable overall, in wool or cotton. I like cadet and colonial blue--the tendency toward grey or green is attractive to me.

4. greens are iffy--the yellowy greens tend to be gaudy and overbright, in a day-glo way, while the forest greens are deadly dull. The green Capri cotton yarn I used on Marie's hat was a good green, not too bright but not dull, either. It was a bit splitty, but I doubled the yarn and used large needles (10.5) which helped. Overall the Capri green was pretty good--maybe 8 on a scale 1-10. It looks pretty with Marie's dark hair and hazel eyes.

5. the tan/light brown/khaki yarns are usually a good bet. The dyes are not so invasive of the yarn's strength, and the colors tend to be softer and less strident than, let's say, red or black. btw, this is also true of wool yarn--even the cheapest wool yarns in this colorway are usually pretty. Capri khaki and cream are quite nice--the cream is plumper, and more fun to use, but the khaki is acceptable. There are quite a few Capri yarns in this colorway.

6. Charcoals and other greys can be nice. I prefer a charcoal over a black, for some dark contrast. Some gray yarns, especially wool, have interesting depth and richness. The greys in Capri are limited.

7. Oranges/rusts/golds can be gorgeous. I love these colors anyway, so I am drawn to them--problem is they don't go well with most people's skin tones. My daughter looks ravishing in pumpkin and mustard, but most people--not so much. I haven't bought any Capri in these earth tones.

8. let's talk purple. I love almost any purply-red/blue: currant, lavender, cherry, burgundy, violet, and so on. The Capri purple is on the brown side and has limited brilliance, but it has depth and body. It's not splitty or flat. Doubled, it knits quite well. Joanna's hat is doubled purple and it looks great on her blonde hair.

so--any discussion of yarn needs to bear in mind that the dyes used to produce the colors chosen have as much influence on the yarn as the fibre, the ply, the weight, the gauge produced, and the conditions of spinning.

Short summary: buy the best red and black yarn you can afford. Go for neutrals and earth tones in cheaper yarns. Blues are usually good; greys are dependable; greens and purples are variable. I didn't mention yellow, as yellow yarn is, well, nearly always ugly. Sorry, but it's true. And white? Aside from natural/unbleached shades, I avoid white's starkness and splittiness.

wool of the Andes

2011-07-03T17:53:00.001+02:00

when I was in Florida in March, I bought some Patons wool yarn at JoAnne.

I like this yarn quite a bit, but my real love is Knitpicks "Wool of the Andes." The price is right; the colors are great, and the color descriptions are most helpful (not just "Jalapeno"--but "Jalapeno is a medium yellow green with black undertones. Reminiscent of the color of a jalapeno pepper, it will have you hopping with excitement. Combine with Daffodil for a spicy and fun combination, or tone it down with a selection of neutrals for a softer appeal.")

Now I'm going to NY in August, which gives me time to make a Knitpicks order and have it sent to my daughter's house, where I can pick it up. I've spent hours searching Ravelry, which has a wonderful "yarn" filter that shows you what people have made with any yarn you can imagine. So I get to see finished items in the colors I like, which is great. You'd be surprised how a yarn color that looks good in a small square is too bright or too intense in a garment.

This is so much fun, I intend to play with yarn colors till the week before I go to NY.

I have a weakness for red:

Firecracker Red

Note the color differences between the yarn photo from Knitpicks and the red fox below, made with this yarn. The fox was knit by sarcygurl, a Ravelry member.

Trio of happy hats in secondary colors

2011-06-25T17:41:00.001+02:00

I made my first happy hat last winter:

It was a wool blend I bought at MarLen. I love this hat--it makes me happy.

Sp I made two more, in cotton (doubled):

I gave the green hat to Marie and the purple hat to Joanna. Now there's a trio:

Three happy hats for three happy people. btw, I gave Marie the orange hat for Antti, because we thought he might like it.

Capri in Prague

2011-06-09T11:41:00.000+02:00

Here are the completed "Capri" cotton projects:

Lime green happy hat (a gift)

Crayola crayon colors cardi (for my preschool children's color education)

New Kindle case ( my Kindle fell off the table and the ink got scrambled. I called Amazon and they shipped me a new Kindle to the Czech Republic, in three days. And it was all free, as the Kindle has a one-year warrantee and was a gift from Noah. I learned my lesson: it needs a case that can be secured. Thank you, Amazon!)

Summertime: knitting in cotton

2011-06-07T10:22:00.000+02:00

I have been on a cotton yarn kick--"Capri" by an Austrian firm, Steinbach. I've made myself a cardi/vest in bright colors for my job as a preschool teacher, beginning in September. Here it is, on the needles, before I added the purple:

I then doubled the yarn to see what would happen and made a little bag, which is still in progress.

I just started a double-yarn green cotton "happy hat" and it's so pretty!

I also have a second cardi/vest on the needles, khaki and red:

Spring Lace Fair

2011-05-15T18:33:00.000+02:00

Annie called me last week and reminded me that the Spring Lace Fair was this weekend. This fair is a huge craft fair, with all kinds of lacemaking, knitting, beaded jewelry, tie-dye, quilted items, toys, carved wooden figures, crocheting, enamel jewelry, and on and on...the gamut of crafts.

All I bought was some yarn:

100% wool, 42 kc

Marie bought a pin: a green felted peapod with red bead peas. We didn't spend much money, but we got lots of ideas and inspiration. Then we went to Book World, a mind-boggling bunch of books in booths. It was almost too much for me!

Thanks, Annie--spinning, knitting and weaving supplies in Prague

2011-04-04T19:22:00.000+02:00

Annie told me where she bought her spinning wheel.

http://www.dalin-praha.cz/index.php?lg=EN

Annie says the owner is very kind and gave her lots of personal attention. However, the website says CLOSED as of September 2010. I don't know what this means, so it's worthwhile to call her if you're interested in knitting and spinning supplies in Prague.

Buying yarn, spinning supplies and Easter crafts in Prague

2011-04-03T18:11:00.000+02:00

I just made a new friend, a knitter from Finland who's visiting Prague over the Easter weekend. She asked me three very good questions, so I will answer them here, in case anyone else is interested!

1. YARN SHOPS in PRAGUE

The yarn shops here are not quite what I expected, after buying yarn in the USA and Canada. There are only two "official yarn shops" downtown, and only one of them has Czech yarn (Marlen). The other has German yarn.

MARLEN: http://www.marlen.cz/
Karolíny Světlé 12 110 00 Praha - 224 236 728.
The store, which is small (like most Czech stores downtown) is packed full of fabric and yarn. It's near the Vltava River, in the Old Town on a small side street. The owners speak English and have a big selection of yarn made in their own factory, in the CR. Most of the yarn is a blend of wool/acrylic/cotton/mohair/angora, with interesting combinations of colors and textures mixed into one strand. The price is high: 120 kc per skein, about $7.00, but some skeins are quite large. You can't see the yarn very well, as it's on a wall behind the cash register; you may want to take it out into the sunlight to see what you're buying.

Filium: http://www.filium.cz/
Textilní galanterie Filium s.r.o.
OC Palladium, patro market
náměstí Republiky 1078/1
102 00 Praha 1
Tel.: 225 771 575
E-mail: palladium@filium.cz

This smallish store is on the ground floor of the glitzy Palladium shopping center in namesti Republiky. It has buttons, zippers, knitting needles, and four or five yarn displays.They don't speak English but you can point and buy. They sell Schoeller+Stahl yarn, which is made in Germany: http://www.pleteni.eu/prize_alpha.htm.

Having said there are only two yarn stores, may I now say that you can buy yarn at many stores not dedicated to yarn:

Kotva, the large department store on namesti Republiky, has a large yarn selection on one of the upper floors. They sell Schoeller+Stahl yarns, as well as embroidery thread, needles, ribbons, elastic, needlepoint supplies, and so on.
Galanteries are small "notions" stores. They are everywhere, as Czech women have traditionally bought from these tiny neighborhood stores. All of them sell buttons, zippers, and odds and ends of underwear, scarves, cheap jewelry, and so on. Many have yarn, but often the yarn is ACRYLIC!! I was once scolded for trying to buy wool yarn in my galanterie, as everyone knows acrylic is far superior--no moths, and machine washable. These stores are little time machines--I feel like I've gone back to the 1950's. My two favorites are downtown:
Galanterie Karolina on Spalena street, across from the large Tesco at narodni Trida tram/metro stop.
Galanterie Karolina on Trziste.
This website is for both of them:
www.karolina.galanterie.sweb.cz - Praha-Malá Strana, Tržiště

2. SPINNING SUPPLIES in PRAGUE

I know there's a shop in Prague 10 or thereabouts that sells spinning wheels, spindles, etc, but I can't remember the name. I'll ask my friend Annie and post it later.

3. EASTER CRAFTS in PRAGUE

The Easter craft markets are gearing up, and soon you'll be buying decorated eggs, etc. The markets are all over Prague, especially in Staromestske namesti.
Prague Easter markets

Two extreme hats

2011-03-30T08:36:00.000+02:00

Just at the tail end of winter I bought some new woolen yarns. Then I knit Jarda's ultimate hat. My husband hates to be cold, so this hat is double-thick pure wool. The cream parts are hand-spun Czech wool, extremely thick and textury. The gray parts are two strands of Paton Canadian yarn, one gray and one oatmeal heather. Now he can't complain about having cold ears.

Then for myself, for spring, I knit a cotton hat. I bought the yarn in the Czech galanterie by pointing. The nice lady was kind and helped me get what I wanted. The yarn is from Austria, DK weight and mercerized, so it has a subtle sheen. I knit a finely striped hat, enjoying the complete non-splittiness of the yarn. When I put it on, Jarda said I looked like a German boy.

Hats but no photos

2011-03-26T09:50:00.000+01:00

I'm at an in-between point for hats as the seasons change. I made Jarda a super-thick wool hat, as he hates to be cold. Then I made myself a spring hat with cotton yarn, to go with my windbreaker. Jarda told me I looked like a German boy in this hat. Bah!

German boy with cabbage

Photos will follow.

new Canadian yarn

2011-03-05T20:51:00.000+01:00

Bought some Canadian yarn, Patons, in Florida. This is your basic yarn, not way-out or fashiony. It's one of my favorite all-wool heavy worsted yarns. I knit my son a "colorful scarf" (his words) and it came out quite nice. Had enough left over to knit myself a scarf out of this "cognac heather" yarn. I'll post photos when I get home tomorrow.

Mitts, not hats

2011-02-21T11:01:00.000+01:00

I've been on a fingerless mitt kick lately.

Knitting group

2011-02-17T16:46:00.001+01:00

Our Prague chapter of Stitch-n-Bitch is doing well! We are knitting away, waiting for spring so we can take a few "field trips" to our cabin in Mechenice, a chata in Southern Bohemia and a sustainable community home near Tabor.

Spring miscellany

2011-02-06T09:59:00.000+01:00

We are having unseasonably warm weather, so I somehow don't want to knit a new hat. Instead, here are some hats I knitted in times past, for your viewing pleasure.

Rasta hat in Prague

2011-01-30T10:12:00.000+01:00

Joanna and Oscar

knitted in Florida as a part of the "Rasta" series of hats--worn in Prague!

not all hats are knit

2011-01-25T17:54:00.000+01:00

you can hardly see it--it's a guy in a chullo, from the tram window

Very put-together lady in brimmed cap

I took some photos of hats the other day, here in Prague. Here are a couple of them.


Many-colored fleece hat


Lady on the tram

Christmas catch-up: Lukas' hat

2011-01-05T11:42:00.000+01:00

It looks like I didn't post yet Lukas' hat. Lukas (pronounced "Loo-kash") is Jirina's younger son. He's pretty hip, as he works in film production. I made him another "Dan" hat in Ignis natural/"Ice" Wool of the Andes. The look of delight on his face when he opened it confirmed that I'd sized him up correctly!

a new hat for Jarda

2011-01-05T11:38:00.000+01:00

I just finished--you guessed it!--a hat. It's for my husband, who was telling me that so far every hat I made him was too small. So, this is a big hat! It used some leftover yarn, the undyed natural from Ignis and the bits of "Ice" Wool of the Andes from the frogged sweater. Here it is:

Happy orange new year

2011-01-04T13:23:00.000+01:00

For the new year, I went orange. I bought some Vlnap yarn right before Christmas at a small galanterie across from Tesco at Narodni Trida. The shop was about to close--the woman, although friendly enough, only spoke Czech--a nice young woman appeared from over my shoulder to translate--so I chose quickly. My standard preferences for orange and purple (there was no green!) guided me. The yarn with the highest wool content was Geisha, 64% acrylic, 24% wool, 12% mohair. So I ended up with a lovely DARK purple, almost black, and a nice orange with heathery tones. I also bought a red/pink/purple mix and a blue/green/purple mix Geisha.

It's fuzzy and it sheds. It's not ideal, but it's fun and somehow appealing. So far I've completed an orange set: the hat is one strand orange, one strand pink mix, on 10.5 needles.

The fingerless mitts are the bomb. I am in love with them. We spent New Year's holidays in Krkonose, the Giant Mountains, and it was cold. I wore the mitts indoors in our pension (some rooms were warm, others not) and outdoors over a pair of fingered lightweight stretchy gloves (29 crown specials from a Prague Christmas market of the past--29 crowns is about $1.25 at today's rates). They are one strand, on #8 needles.

I'm working on a vest from the blue/purple yarn. I already knit a hat from the pink mix stranded with the purple as a birthday gift for Bozena.

all in all, for 42 crowns a ball, I'm happy with the Vlnap yarn.

Sick of hats

2010-12-27T09:15:00.000+01:00

I am hat-repelled today. The last mad rush to finish Vilda's hat, which was off the needles just minutes before we went to their flat for Christmas Eve dinner, has put me off hats temporarily. I am now working on a vest for me with some strange Vlnap yarn (Geisha) I bought from a galanetrie near Tesco. The yarn is acrylic, wool and mohair--light as a cloud and fuzzy. It's pretty and not hard to work with, but I don't know if this vest is the best way to use it. I bought 2 of 4: 2 dark purple, 2 red mix, 2 blue/green mix and two orange. All the colors are fairly muted, with undertones of gray. Kind of pretty in one way, kind of trashy in another way. Oh, well.

Last night I cast on a purse from the leftover hand-dyed, handspun yarn that I made the blue/green Gingerbread hat from. I intend to make a purse with stripes and perhaps a big graphic snowflake with this yarn and some natural hand-spun wool from Ignis. Then I want to felt the bag. I haven't gotten felting out of my system.

Christmas hat rush!

2010-12-23T09:22:00.000+01:00

St Ludmila (Neo-Gothic)

I'm rushing to finish the Christmas gifts of hats for Jirina's family! Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, when Czechs have their family celebrations. Our wonderful friends, Jirina and Vilda, have invited us to celebrate with them. We'll begin with singing Christmas carols in the afternoon with the people in their apartment house (a tradition), then have the traditional Christmas dinner with them and their grown children in the evening. Then we go to Midnight Mass with Jirina and our cousin Kaja, either at St. Ignace in Karlovo namesti, or at St Ludmila at namesti Miru. A memorable Christmas!

St Ignace (Baroque)

Christmas party!

2010-12-19T15:36:00.000+01:00

Yesterday our Stitch-and-Bitch group had a fabulous party. We ate and talked--and a few of us actually knit!

Some of us relaxed.

Others took photos. We all has a lovely time.

Frogged and reborn

2010-12-14T17:37:00.000+01:00

I had made a slouchy hat with this Marlen yarn but it was awkwardly heavy and huge. So I frogged it and reincarnated it as a basic toque for me--a hat the wind won't blow through. Here it's posed with my little blue Czech clock--a souvenir from my first trip here in 1990.

..

Gingerbread cable and lattice hat

2010-12-14T17:32:00.000+01:00

For Jana, the "Gingerbread hat" from two kinds of yarn (handspun natural and "ice" Wool of the Andes seems appropriate. It's thick and springy to the touch.

New hat: Dan's hat

2010-12-14T17:29:00.000+01:00

Here are some new hats that I just completed.

"Dan's hat" is a gift for Kaja. I love the gray/brown color. This is a "pro bono" for the people pattern that Annie gave me, along with the yarn. Thanks, Annie!!!

"Just say no" to wool

2010-12-14T16:31:00.000+01:00

In my neighborhood there's a 6-foot-wide galanterie that sells, among other items, yarn. Galanteries are pokey little hole-in-the-wall stores that sell quirky kinds of buttons, trimmings, zippers, McCall's patterns from the 1970's, cheap kid's underwear and pj's, scary ladies' bras and suchlike. They are a holdover from communism and are usually owned by--ahem--older women who are just hanging in there till they can retire. I can't imagine how they stay in business, but their operating costs are probably low, and they have their loyal local Czech customers.

It requires some guts for me to go into a galanterie alone. The women usually only speak rapid-fire Czech, so any chance of my understanding them is nil. They never speak English, German or any other language I know, so I must talk in grunts and sign language.

The yarn in this galanterie is way up high, accessible only by the owner's stepladder, mostly wrppped in huge sheets of clear plastic. So I asked if any of the yarn was wool (vlna).

When she understood what I was saying, the owner immediately got all excited and expressed quite clearly (even though I couldn't understand a word she was saying) that she would never, never have wool yarn! No, no, no, no, no!!!!!!!!!!!!! (side note on language--Czech is full of ways to say no--one easy way is that you can put the prefix "ne" in front of just about any word and it becomes "no." "Nemam' or "nemame" ["I don't have" or "we don't have"] is a standard answer when you ask for anything the least bit unusual.) This lady "nemamed" me in no uncertain terms. No wool! She only sold acrylic yarn!

Another lady in the store who spoke a bit of English tried to placate me. She didn't tell me that the lady thought I was out of my mind to want wool yarn, though it was obvious that the lady has said just that. Instead, Lady #2 tried to appeal to my reason. "Acrylic is so much better," she said. It's softer, not itchy, and--best of all--bugs (moths) won't touch it! The store owner hadn't carried wool yarn in 20 years!

This 3-way lecture went on for about 5 minutes. Then the store owner admitted she might have some part wool/part acrylic yarn. She got up on the stepladder and fussed around for a few minutes, then handed me down a big skein of pink acrylic. 100% acrylic.

At this point, I just wanted to get out of the store alive, so I said, "Dekuji Vam" (formal "thank you very much") and "na scheldanou" (formal goodbye) as I slipped out the door. I am sure that when I left, the two ladies had a ball laughing at me, so stupid to want such inferior stuff as wool when they offered me lovely pink acrylic.

Bad Schandau: the wind blows through my hat

2010-12-10T09:06:00.003+01:00

We were in Bad Schaudau, Germany, last week to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary. This spa town in the former East Germany (DDR) is on the way to Dresden. The original idea was to take day trips to Dresden, but we liked Bad Schandau so much that we stayed there all week. It's a charming little town, with a nice Thermal Bath complex over a natural hot spring, The surrounding mountains, known as the Saxon Switzerland, are actually old volcanoes. It's a very picturesque and friendly town.

The only problem we had in Bad Schandau is that the cutting wind that accompanied the snow went straight through our hats. I made the hats in Florida, so it's not all that surprising that they are not up to task in windy, snowy weather. I have a new, thick hat on the needles, so today is hat day!

Some felted knitted items

2010-12-03T14:44:00.000+01:00

When I was a kid, if you threw your favorite wool sweater in the washer and it came out so small that it might just barely fit a newborn baby, you were stupid. Now you're a felter!

"when it snows, I want to knit"

2010-12-03T10:28:00.000+01:00

Joanna wrote this as the subject line for our next stitch-n-bitch meeting in Prague--as she looked outside, she could see about 8" of snow on her balcony. I agree. I have been in a knitting frenzy, using up scraps to make patchwork pillows and purses, small and large. Some will be Christmas gifts. I've felted the purses--pictures are forthcoming.

In the meantime, here's how it looks outside my window:

pretty, huh?

Green hat I knit for Joanna

2010-11-24T17:03:00.000+01:00

It took some guts to knit a hat for Joanna. She is so creative and original that I was afraid my hat-style would be too tame. But I wanted to give her a hat, so I chose some mohair yarn, as I think she likes the texture, and a nice green color, as her eyes are hazel/dark blue, and green would bring out the green tones.

She often wears her hair pulled back, so I made a slouchy hat. Here it is:

The photo doesn't capture the green color as it is--the real green has more pizaaz. But you get the idea.

Here the color is somewhat better.

I gave her the hat (actually, I gave her a choice of 4 hats and she chose this one). I hope she wears it!

"24" pillow: pattern stitch and yarn color variations

2010-11-24T16:55:00.000+01:00

Here's the patchwork pillow I made as a scientific experiment. These three variables are the same for every square:

1. all squares are from the same German superwash wool, made in Italy (Schoeller and Stahl, Limbo Superwash).

2. all are made on size 8 needles.

3. all began with 24 cast-on stitches.

The two variables are:

1. pattern stitch.

2. color of yarn.

Pattern Stitch Variations: Some squares are garter stitch; these are huge and stretchy. Some have cables; the cables pull in the yarn, distorting the shape and size of the square. Some squares are done in variations on moss stitch; they are middle-sized and kept their shape the best. None are done in stockinette, as I don't like it much.

Color of Yarn Variations: The black yarn had the roughest texture. I have found with many black yarns that they are rough and stringy. I think the dyes used may be the problem. Even so, this yarn was the 2nd easiest to knit with in terms of resilience and "spring." The red yarn was the least pleasant to work with. It was not springy, and the color was pinkish. I didn't like it at all. The grey was the best yarn. It had lots of life. Maybe the grey dye is less harmful to the wool.

So my experiment shows me that you MUST make a gauge swatch with EVERY yarn and EVERY pattern stitch. What worked once with a certain yarn may be very different if ANY of the conditions are changed.

Swatches

2010-11-20T10:51:00.000+01:00

Every time I use the purse I made from swatches, I get compliments on it. So now I'm on a mission to make swatches, to make things that people will like.

I will post a photo of "24," my experiment with different stitches. Every swatch began with 24 cast-on stitches, on #8 needles. I used only one type of yarn (in 3 colors) : worsted Superwash that I bought at Palladium Yarns in Prague.

The range of sizes of swatches was staggering. A garter stitch swatch was huge; a swatch with one center cable was tiny. The basketweave swatch (K 4, P 4 moss stitch) was teeny-tiny.

I crocheted them all together and looked at my squarish creation. What was it? A purse? No.

It fit perfectly over an ugly pillow I had, so now the pillow has a beautiful knitted cover. My husband loves it-he finds the wool to be soothing on his kidneys.

knitting and knotting

2010-11-13T08:21:00.001+01:00

Knitting is basically knotting. You take a straight, basically two-dimensional object (yarn) and work with it to make a three dimensional object (hat, sweater, whatever). The process of knitting is really just making knots, using needles. Most knitters realize at some point that, theoretically, they could knit with their fingers alone, but that using needles makes it easier. Even the fanciest knitting is still just knots.

What's most fascinating to me about knitting is its provisional nature. The knots can be unknotted--unraveled--with just a slight tug (unless you're the kind of knitter who splits stitches and catches half the underneath sticth, which makes a terrible mess when you unravel it--believe me, I kow!).

The craft of knotting has two interesting variations besides knitting:

1.Boy Scout knot work

2. Fisherman's nets

We speak of people who have an enduring relationship built over time as being "close-knit." Their lives are knotted together. But, if you remember how easy it is to unravel something, you know that being close-knit is not permanent. Unless, of course, you're unskillful and have lots of split stitches!

So what is, to me, a relaxing craft is really a methodical process of making knots. That doesn't sound relaxing at all. Is it the routine (the pattern) I like? The way that knitting keeps my hands busy, freeing my mind to process incoming sensations and to create? Is it the way that knitting grows under your hands, giving you a sense of accomplishment? Or is it the satisfaction of the finished item, and the pleasure it gives to the person to whom it's given? All of these reasons make me love to knit.

back in the Land of Woolies

2010-11-11T18:46:00.000+01:00

as the weather gets cooler here, the woolies are emerging. Hats, scarves, sweaters, leg warmers--they're out on the streets in great number. I really have no excuse not to sell hats here, even though you can buy them very cheap. Mine are hand-made, so worth the extra cost.

Oops

2010-11-10T19:52:00.000+01:00

I made my friend Jirina a warm winter hat in the dark colors she wears. It's a lovely hat, and she likes it, but I forgot to take a photo of it before I gave it to her! I'll get a picture when she's wearing it and post it. The yarn is from Marlen and is unusual, as are all their yarns. It's wool, mohair and acrylic, in tones of soft black, deep brown and dark gray, with a thread of coral.

a very funny website: what not to knit

2010-11-07T20:25:00.001+01:00

I found this blog on ravelry.com--it had me laughing so hard, my husband came to look. He dismissed it by saying you can see that kind of thing on the streets every day.

It was so funny! Especially the Vanna White-hosted Lion Brand fashion show video, which is just after this picture of the fringed shawl. Click on the title of this post to go to the blog, or click here: http://whatnottoknit.wordpress.com/.

photos and a big let-down

2010-11-01T12:05:00.000+01:00

Here are photos of the felted fall tam, the black Sam's brimmed cap and the brown Ingis Sam's cap.

You will notice, maybe, that the tam I meant for Jirina was such an ugly flop that I am burying it somewhere. I'll have to start all over for her!

Felted tam, unfelted tam, a scarf and a crazy hat.

2010-10-31T13:41:00.000+01:00

I knit myself a tam and then felted it. The felting was so successul that the tam, which was huge, is now too small for me. I'll put up a photo when my husband returns the camera!

With some superwash wool, I knit a tam for Jirina. It's also huge--but--superwash doesn't felt. I should have figured this out. Now I am left with a huge, clean tam. What shall it be?

I'm now knitting an interesting scarf with my Ingis wool and a few leftover wools. It's very pretty and soft. And with the few bits of other yarn I have, I'm knitting a multi-color hat, just to make a hat, as I am addicted to hat-knitting. It's so rewarding!

On Friday I plan to meet Hope at Marlen. She's offered to navigate me through the store, where I had very little success in August. I am ready to buy yarn!

Tams and mags

2010-10-26T09:29:00.000+02:00

I found a nice "Tweedy Tam" pattern on Ravelry.Right now I have two on needles--one for me and one for my friend Jirina.

This is the photo on the pattern for Tweedy Tam

Generous Joanna

Joanna was feeling more than usually generous (and that's REALLY generous) at the SnB on Saturday,and gave away some lovely knitting books and magazines. I've been perusing them and getting many great ideas. Thanks, Joanna!

More changes of plan

2010-10-22T09:26:00.000+02:00

photo by Nicole Caudill

The hat I was knitting with the bit of orange became an ULGY as I knit it. It's amazing how strong orange is--just three rows dominated the soft beige natural color of the next 30 rows. So I unraveled it back to the three orange rows at the beginning.

"If you can't beat them join them" is the motto of the moment. I won't fight the orange; I will find other equally dominant yarn to complete the hat.

Knitting and frogging

2010-10-20T14:59:00.000+02:00

I took 3 small balls of wool with me on our weekend car trip. First I tried a scarf with all 3 (red, black, light grey) in narrow stripes. Frogged it--too much contrast. Then I tried just black and grey--too harsh. Frogged it. Then I made a narrow 1x1 rib scarf in light grey, but ran out of yarn when it was about 10" long. Frogged it. When I got home, I tried a scarf with 4 rows of natural and two rows of light grey. Boring. Frogged it.

I hate to knit scarves.

frogged hat

So now I'm making---a hat! with the natural yarn and a tiny bit of orange yarn that I recycled from a frogged hat I knit last spring that doesn't go with anything I own here. We brought just a minimal amount of clothing when we moved to Prague (stored most of it in FL) so I have only one jeans jacket, a big black thick sweatshirt, a blue/white snowflake fleece pullover and a purple fleece vest. The clothes are so expensive here that I refuse to buy anything except in the Vietnamese shop around the corner--the same clothes as in the mall stores, but about 1/3 cheaper. I truly believe that all the clothes are made in the same factories in China, but with slightly different styling and different labels.

ravelry obsession

2010-10-12T12:54:00.000+02:00

Knitters and crocheters have their own FB. It's called "ravelry" and it's free to join. You get your own space where you can display what you've created, have friends and groups, send and receive messages, choose favorites and build a queue of items you want to make. There's an extensive library of patterns available, many of them free. I have fallen in love with this website. It's a wiki-thing and full of amazing features. It's the most efficient social networking site I've ever been on. The pattern search has a sophisticated filter/tag system that is so easy to use. I highly recommend ravelry.

click this link to sign up! ravelry

Sprout

2010-10-11T22:30:00.000+02:00

Here's a picture of a radish seed that's sprouted. I like it--the colors, the textures, the connotations. (This has noting to do with knitting, but I have been staring at it for several minutes. It seems to be telling a story.)

Ignis Craft Workshop and Store

2010-10-07T20:55:00.001+02:00

My new friend Nadka took me to this store--it's right around the corner from my flat and it's amazing! Take a look at their website. http://www.ignis.cz/. They create jobs for handicapped people in their workshop, where they make kits for cloth dolls, candles from beeswax, and woolen products--fleece, spun wool and yarn. It has a lovely atmosphere. I would love to go to one of their classes in making dolls or nativity scenes for Christmas.

Christmas fever

2010-10-06T09:31:00.000+02:00

It's October, so I am now launched into Christmas fever. Not Christmas in a religious sense--that comes in December--but Christmas in a craft-show, making presents, getting excited sense.

I'm working on my daughter's gift hat and so far I really like the pattern, a new one for me. I'm getting low on yarn, so soon it will be time to go to Marlen, with cash in hand, to buy yarn for gifts and for my sleek little sweater that I'm knitting along with my SnB friends.

Prague weather helps my Christmas fever, as we've already had some cool, grey days. In Florida, it's still danged hot, and it's hard to get Christmas fever when you're still wearing shorts and tee shirts.

Christmas fever+yarn+time to knit=lots of presents!

Guerilla knitting in Prague

2010-10-04T09:17:00.000+02:00

Yesterday I was on tram 22, and we passed the huge glass theater built under communism on narodni trida. I looked out and behold--the guerilla knitted ball is still there!

More baby hats

2010-09-29T14:52:00.002+02:00

From the stash that just won't quit: 3 more baby hats, modeled by bunny and puppy.

Smiling Joanna

2010-09-26T11:40:00.000+02:00

Here's Joanna S--she was serious in the group photo!

SnB

2010-09-26T11:37:00.000+02:00

Yesterday I had a great day! First I went to the Expats Expo, where I visited the Montessori booth and gave away my recent hats. The I went to SnB, where we knitted baby hats. I really enjoyed the entire day.

What to do?

2010-09-24T13:15:00.000+02:00

aren't these pretty? photo from misi.co.uk

I've just about used up all my charity stash and now I'm wondering what to do next.1) I want to knit my daughter a brimmed cap for Christmas--she likes to wear caps. 2) I could used a wintry-type knitted vest or sweater in a solid dark color for wearing around the city. 3) Or I could try knitting myself some slippers, though I haven't had very good luck with hand-knit slippers--they tend to fall off when I walk.
What to do?

Klaus models teal fuzzy hat

2010-09-23T12:03:00.000+02:00

Usually I can't get my dachshund Klaus to stand still for a photo. But when I put this stylish and soft hat on his head, he posed beautifully!

Sparkly yarn and yarn snobs

2010-09-23T08:40:00.000+02:00

I am a yarn snob--I want to knit with natural fibres only. Wool, cotton, linen, mohair, soy, silk, bamboo--all these are the yarns I will buy.

But inside me lurks a girl who loves sparkly yarn. And I suspect that many "natural-yarn" knitters secretly love those yarns, too. On ravelry.com, there's a gallery of knitting projects gone wrong. They are hilarious! And most of them involve sparkly yarns.

Sparkly yarn--and variegated!

I also love variegated yarns, which are more acceptable but not really a "yarn snob" choice. Still, in any yarn shop I am drawn to the yarns that shade from blue to green and back again, with many shades in between.

Stash charity hats

2010-09-22T09:38:00.000+02:00

3 newborn hats

At SnB, Joanna let me rummage through the group stash. I came away with lots of small amounts of different yarns--perfect for hats! Here are some hats I knitted; they will go back to SnB and on to people who can use them.

Striped hat (adult-size)

My new bag, modeled a bit after a Greek bag that I gave to my daughter

2010-09-17T13:02:00.000+02:00

I am most thrilled with my new bag. It's pieced together from 6 knitted swatches that were in the stash. I lined the bag with a placemat so that pens, etc., won't get caught in the lining. I have used this bag every day since I made it on Monday. I love it!

Some new hats for newborns and adults

2010-09-17T13:00:00.000+02:00

Newborn hat to give to charity

I have been knitting like crazy! So far I've knit one cream/multicolor flecks newborn hat from Joanna's stash, and have another one (yellow) on the needles. I knit a festive purple adult hat and have another purple hat on the needles. My red hat is finished (from the German yarn, made in Italy, that I bought in Praha).

Yarn stash

2010-09-16T11:55:00.000+02:00

Joanna gave me a big bowl of odd yarns! So far I've knitted one newborn baby hat and one fun purple hat for whomever. In the yarn stash there were some swatches (I guess some people actually care about gauge!). I put them together and made myself a bag, sort of based on a Greek bag I used to own that I gave to my daughter. This bag is bigger than my little Sherpani body nag but not a s big as my Ameribag over-the-shoulder bag. I like my new bag. I took it to the Foreign Police (see my Praguepies blog) and shopping at Flora. I'll post photos later--this photo is from a book by Elizabeth Zimmerman.

praguepies.blogspot.com

Priti and Sara at SnB

2010-09-12T11:14:00.002+02:00

2 Joannas and Marie at SnB

2010-09-12T11:13:00.002+02:00

new yarn stash from SnB

2010-09-12T11:10:00.000+02:00

Hat giveaway

2010-09-12T08:52:00.000+02:00

I took some giveaway hats with me to SnB. The ladies liked them! So now at home I have only the hats that belong to me or my husband; for the first time in almost a year, I have no giveaway hats. But! Joanna gave me some lovely yarn from the SnB yarn stash and I can make some new hats!

Fun at SnB

2010-09-12T08:47:00.000+02:00

Yesterday I went to the SnB meeting in Prague 6. Jarda accompanied me and met the ladies. We had so much fun, I forgot my needles! I'll post some photos later.

Renata took a hat

2010-09-07T18:06:00.002+02:00

I offered our cousin Renata a woolen hat for the upcoming winter in Zurich. I had six for her to select from. She immediately chose the red/purple ski hat. Good choice!

red hat

2010-09-07T18:05:00.000+02:00

now working on a little red hat, for myself. I love red. The photo is too tomatoey-red; it's really a true clear (but not bright) red wool yarn.

Owl hat

2010-09-07T18:03:00.000+02:00

I finished the light grey owl hat. I like it so much, I'm keeping it. Should I put the buttons on for eyes?

Stitch-n-bitch in Prague; German/Italian yarn

2010-08-31T12:07:00.000+02:00

Well, I went to the Saturday meeting of the knitting group and had a blast! The hostess was warm and relaxed, the other knitters were friendly and interesting. We got to know each other a bit, as two of us are new members--both of us just moved here with our Czech husbands, though neither of us is Czech! We're going to knit tiny hats for preemie newborns to donate to a hospital, as a group project. I started a hat for myself from the German wool I bought (actually, it's made in Italy) and I like the yarn--it's soft and well-twisted. It's an owl hat, like the one above that I made for Kelli.

Prague Stitch-and-bitch meets!

2010-08-24T20:50:00.000+02:00

Inspiration to knit: the lovely colors on the floor of Dublin Cathedral

The woman who runs this knitting group in Prague is admirably energetic. She's carrying on with the normal meeting schedule during August, the month when Prague is empty. Everyone who can leaves the city for their cabin or to visit the shore in Croatia or Italy, so the meetings are small (she tells me--I haven't made it to a meeting yet). The next one is this Saturday at 2 PM. I'm determined to get there, with my new yarn!

automatic knitting

2010-08-21T13:42:00.000+02:00

I am finishing up the rather dull slouchy hat I started with my MarLen variegated yarn. I will take my new yarn to the Knitting Circle here in Prague next week and decide what to do with it. Basic black, a nice warm grey and clear (but not bright) red superwash 100% wool.

German yarn in Praha

2010-08-21T08:32:00.000+02:00

I found a little yarn shop in the glitzy new Palladium mall on namesti Republiky. They had a basic selection of colors on some interesting German yarn: Schoeller-und-Stahl. On their website, the yarn company solicits charitable knitting projects like this one:

Schoeller-und-stahl yarn

History of Knitting

2010-08-19T12:03:00.000+02:00

Knitty magazine has an interesting article on the history of knitting. Of course, like many "history of..." articles it begins with an apology, saying the the origins of knitting are a big mystery. But then there's some good info and amazing pics.

Aw...this is cute!

2010-08-19T11:55:00.000+02:00

the dog days of summer

2010-08-18T10:08:00.000+02:00

When it's hot, stormy and sweaty outside, somehow I don't really want to make yet another hat. This fella has the right idea--chill!

Guerilla knitting!

2010-08-17T09:29:00.000+02:00

Here's an article in the Prague Post, giving a description of a new thing in knitting--knit out in the open, not modestly hidden at home!
"

Since beginning operations back in January, the rebel "yarnbombers" have left their mark all over the Golden City by creating a series of eye-catching, impractical covers for lampposts, statues, benches and trees.

" 'Guerilla,' as I see the term, means doing things in a different way, to put something into a new context," explains founder Hana Nováková. "Guerilla for me is knitting on road fences or something in a public space."

http://praguepost.com/tempo/5325-going-rogue.html

Here's another take on guerilla knitting, from a very interesting blog:

http://girlinczechland.wordpress.com/2010/06/08/guerilla-knitting-czech-style-girl-in-czechland-goes-stitching-and-bitching/

ho-hum

2010-08-14T19:48:00.002+02:00

so I'm knitting again--a slouch hat in the MarLen yarn. I tried putting in some pattern, a kind of cable and rib. It's not interesting. I am torn--rip it out or keep going?

New issue of Knitty

2010-08-12T17:04:00.000+02:00

This is not a secret for most knitters, but there still may be some people out there who don't know Knitty. So...reader, meet Knitty! Knitty, meet reader!http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEff10/

New yarn

2010-08-11T20:34:00.000+02:00

I finally got to MarLen in the Old Town of Prague. On the plus side: they manufacture their own yarn, in Moravia. The owner speaks English. On the down side: the wool she told me was 100% wool was really 30% wool, 30% mohair and 40% acrylic. One colors I bought knit up rough, so I abandoned that one and used the other color (same yarn)--it's softer.

I have nothing to say

2010-08-09T15:09:00.000+02:00

How do you blog when you have nothing new about knitting? I've been in Prague 5 days and still haven't made it to MarLen. Today we went to a funeral (I'll write a post about this on my praguepies blog--note the knitted blueberry pie above that's my praguepies mascot) and I bought some kitchen items in a nice little store in the neighborhood. The store, like most old-fashioned Czech stores, is absolutely stuffed with items. I had fun selecting some kitchen essentials.Yesterday we entertained my husband's cousin; Saturday we stayed close to home as my husband just arrived from the US the night before. So the days slip through my fingers.

Looking around on the web

2010-08-05T22:32:00.000+02:00

I'm ready to make some new hats--really new, with yarn I bought just for the hat and not leftovers from another project (though there's nothing wrong with that). So I'm wandering through Hatland on the web. I'll post some good pics.

I'm in Prague

2010-08-05T22:16:00.000+02:00

I feel bad to be so long between posts, but I've been busy packing, flying and unpacking as we move from Florida to Prague. Now I'm here! I wanted to go to the MarLen store today to **just look** at yarn, but didn't make it. Maybe tomorrow.

2010-07-29T14:38:00.002+02:00

Off to work. My last day at the Academic Success Center! I am sad to leave these lovely people. They encouraged me to build my hat business--they asked me about what I was knitting, admired the hats I made, and bought hats from me! I'll never forget their kindness.

Restless days

2010-07-29T04:41:00.001+02:00

We're moving to Prague in less than a week. 8 years of preparation is coming into reality. It seems almost biblical. I am restless and excited about the move, so I've been fiddling with the design of this blog, and started a new one, praguepie.
http://praguepies.blogspot.com/

The ski hat

2010-07-28T02:59:00.000+02:00

This is your classic tight knit hat. It covers the ears, cuts the wind, and makes a bright spot of color on a snowy day. I have knit dozens of these, and love every one of them. They're versatile and practical. On the left are a number of examples: the sea blue/green Fair Isle, Amanda's Fair Isle, the blue double thick hat.

The brimmed cap

2010-07-28T02:51:00.000+02:00

This is a nifty style--I haven't made one yet, but intend to make one for Melissa. It's not as loose as a slouchy hat, but not so tight as a ski hat. I'm posting a photo on the left--this is not one that I made, but is a nice example.

The slouchy hat

2010-07-28T02:49:00.002+02:00

This hat is large and loose. It may have a small brim in the front (then it's a rasta hat). It holds a big bunch of hair! I usually run a small strip of elastic around the edge of the hat, so it stays in place. On the right are several slouchy hats: Josh's rasta hat, camo rasta hat and floppy rasta hat. The Tim Burton rasta hat is also on the right.

What are the three basic hats?

2010-07-28T02:44:00.000+02:00

1. The slouchy hat (beret, rasta hat, tam o' shanter, snood)
2. The brimmed cap (newsboy cap, driving cap)
3. The ski hat (beanie, toque, toboggan)

No Knitting!

2010-07-27T01:28:00.001+02:00

I am on a self-imposed knitting fast till I move to Prague next week--then I'll go wild buying Czech yarn. So, instead of knitting, I am giving away hats. Today my former student Kelli came by my workplace and took a nice bag o' hats, for herself, her grandma, Karen, Wil and Molly. Happy Hat Day!

Brad's coolest-ever slouchy hat

2010-07-21T14:43:00.000+02:00

Now this is a hat. Love the simple lines and discreet color. Also love the stripey hat on the child: it's BASIC!

Sunday in paradise

2010-07-18T15:29:00.001+02:00

This is the kind of morning that people come to Florida to experience. Blue skies, nice gentle breeze, low humidity, in the 80's. Now if I only had something to knit...