Flint Knits

One of the best things I did this spring was go to a big-ass cabin in the middle of central Michigan with some of my favorite people and dearest friends, who also happen to be knitters. There’s about a dozen of us, we live all over the U.S., and this was the fifth time we’d (almost) all gathered in one place to spend a weekend together.

We loafed around, we drank tequila, we ate cheese, and we swapped hats.

Photo by Minty. Also pictured: Christy, Caro, Nova, Julia, Ashley, Diana, & Sarah.
So many hats!

I used the occasion of the Hat Swap to design a jaunty chapeau for Ms. Frick Knits, otherwise known as JulieFrick.

I give you, in keeping with the FlintKnits tradition of silly pattern names …

*** Frick Frick BERET! ***

(This and all subsequent FrickFrickBeret! photos were taken by the amazing Caro Sheridan.)

I loved knitting this hat so much that I immediately made a second one for a swap with Chawne (she, like Julie, looks smashing in red). The second version is slightly less slouchy – un soupçon de slouch, more of a classic tam shape.

Sarah was kind enough to model it before I blocked it and sent it off to Chawne.

The angular leaf lace ends in star-shaped crown decreases.

A closer look at the two sizes, side by side.

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About the pattern: The Frick Frick BERET! pattern includes instructions for two sizes; options for either plain or rolled-edge brims; and both charts and written instructions for the lace pattern and crown decreases.

Skills needed: Knitting and purling in the round, increases and decreases, yarn-overs.

Materials:

• 1/2 skein Little Red Bicycle Hipster Sock (430 yards; 80% merino/20% nylon), or about 215 yards of another fingering weight yarn
• US 3 (3.25mm) circular or double-pointed needles (or size needed to get gauge) for your preferred method of knitting in the round
• US 2 (2.75mm) circular or double-pointed needles, for brim (or one size smaller than main needles)
• stitch marker
• tapestry needle

Sizes:

• un soupçon de slouch (a hint of slouch, pictured on Sarah)
• un petit peu plus de slouch (a little bit more slouch, pictured on Julia)

Brim circumference for both sizes measures 17″ unstretched, and up to 24″ stretched.

Gauge: 8 sts and 8 rows per inch in main lace pattern

Cost: $5 US

Let’s hear it — Frick, Frick, BERET!

 

The randomly-chosen winner of my cheeky Atlas Shrug contest was Lisa Gutierrez, of goodknits and omgknits. If you haven’t checked out her blog or her Etsy shop, you should. The photography is beautiful, and she sells these tiny doily pins that are freaking adorable.

Along with her skein of Manos Wool Clasica (in Citric, a colorway close to my own heart), Lisa asked me to knit a cap to donate to a cancer treatment center. She probably didn’t know it at the time, but that’s a cause that’s also close to me. I’m a two-time leukemia survivor, and I swear to kittens sometimes during the Chemo Years the only thing I could stand to put on my naked, sensitive head was one of my mom’s handknit hats. My own treatment center here in Flint is usually pretty flush with hats, but Lisa introduced me to headhuggers.org, which distributes hats to cancer treatment centers that need them. Win!

(So what hat pattern should use to knit or crochet a chemo cap? Do you have a favorite? Share!)

And then I realized that I have at least five unblogged finished hats sitting on my Ravelry projects page. Let’s knock a few of them out right now! I knit all three of these hats in 2009, gave them away, and completely forgot to blog about them.

First, Rose Red by Ysolda Teague. (Remember January 2009 when I still bothered trying to look serious? Good times.)

 

[raveled]

I love this pattern. It’s quick and pretty, and has just the right amount of slouch. Love. I gave this one away to a pink-loving friend, but I obviously need to make another for myself.

Second, the Wood Hollow hat, by Kirsten Kapur. A perfect cabley cap that also has a matching mitten pattern.

[raveled]

And third, another of Kirsten’s patterns that I changed up a bit. Her super-popular Thorpe is a simple earflap hat knit in chunky yarn. I just switched out the colorwork chart and skipped the garter stitch trim.

[raveled]

Aaaand the end of 2009, when I’d given up on pretending to be a Serious Model.

It turns out nothing welcomes Fall like Rhinebeck. I went to my first New York Sheep and Wool Festival last week, and not only did I have a great time with good friends, but I also met some new folks, saw loads of lovely handknits, and got to hang out with Caro’s kitties.

I also got the chance to take advantage of Caro’s superior photo skills — along with the crisp New England weather, striking Fall scenery, and gorgeous afternoon light — to document Pickadilly, a sweater I designed and finished knitting just in time for Rhinebeck. (Literally. I made my carmates stop at WEBS on the way to the fairgrounds so I could buy buttons.)

Pickadilly will be for sale here, and on Ravelry, starting November 1.

In the meantime, here’s a sneak peek:

 
[RAVELRY LINK]

All of which fun has lead up nicely to what is clearly the bestest thing about Fall: Halloween. And while I’ll be playing a music fest in Florida over Halloween weekend, I had a chance to get crafty all the same — on behalf of my niece, who (with no encourgement or intervention from me) has decided to dress up as a lamb this year.

 

Lamb Ears tutorial (Ravelry link)

MATERIALS:

• chunky boucle yarn
• approx 20 yards of pink sport or fingering weight yarn
• small amount of pink flannel fabric
• tapestry needle
• embroidery needle

STEP 1: KNIT AN EARFLAP HAT! (Use the chunky/bulky boucle yarn. Thorpe is a great pattern for adults; Sandi’s Ear Flap Hat is good for kids 2 and up.)

STEP 2: EARS (make 2)

Cast on 16 stitches.
Work 5 rows in stockinette stitch.
Row 6: k1, ssk, k 10, k2tog, k1 (14 sts)
Rows 7-13: stockinette stitch
Row 14: k1, ssk, k8, k2tog, k1 (12 sts)
Rows 15-21: stockinette stitch
Row 22: ssk, ssk, k4, k2tog, k2tog (8 sts)
Bind off all stitches purlwise.

STEP 3: FINISHING:

Cut 2 matching pieces of pink flannel large enough to cover the ears, with about 1/2 inch of white showing around the edges.

Using the embroidering needle and pink yarn, affix the flannel to the wrong (purl) side of the left ear with a blanket stitch or whip stitch.

Using a tapestry needle and an 18-inch length of the main yarn, tack together the two bottom corners of left ear. Sew the ear to the hat as pictured.

Repeat the two previous steps for the right ear.

Happy Halloween!

Thanks to all the folks who offered to test-knit. I’ve now got about a dozen people working hard, out of the goodness of their hearts, to make sure I get to start selling that mitten pattern at the beginning of the new year. People are so freaking nice.

In the meantime, I finally wrote up a tutorial for that little baby hat+mittens set I made earlier this year. Check it out on Ravelry, and on my Free Patterns page.

[wee leafy baby set]

 

Oh, and I made a hat! With a giant pom pom! Woo!

(Seriously, check out that pom. It is massive.)

pattern: Snowball Hat, by Kate Himmelberg
yarn: Lion wool ease thick + quick
[raveled]

First, of all, congratulations to Elizabeth! The random number generator picked her comment from among the 343 entries to win Minty’s Tapestry Cowl pattern and the yarn to make it. I knew Elizabeth from Flickr, but didn’t realize she had a knitting blog–it turns out she’s a teenage knitting prodigy from right here in Michigan.

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I was recently lucky enough to test-knit the Joni hat pattern from Through the Loops [ravelry link].

Kirsten cranks out patterns like it’s nothing, and they’re all classic and clever. The Joni hat is no exception.

pattern: Joni, by Kirsten Kapur of Through the Loops
yarn: Shibui sock merino
needles: US 3 Addi circular
[ravelry link]

Shibui yarn is lovely to work with, but, as others have noted, it pools. In obvious ways. Always. A lot. You can see in the photo above where it makes a huge swooping barberpole around the ribbing.

So, while it’s not my favorite for socks, I thought the Shibui was fine for the small, three-dimensional pieces of the Eden scarf. And now I think it looks fabulous in this kind of two-color work, where the pooling is less of an issue.

I just sent the finished hat to my friend Michelle, who will wear it and brighten up the Chicago winter this year.

Next up? Kirsten’s popular Thorpe hat [ravelry link] for myself, and a fingering-weight top that I just started. The top took me by surprise, and now I haven’t knit anything else in days. I expect to get heaps done on it while I’m glued to the TV during Tuesday’s election night party, but am a little concerned that my gauge will get VERY TIGHT as we watch the returns come in…