Happy new year to everyone!  I’m hoping that 2012 is full of as much excitement as 2011 was.  In our family, we gather to play silly games to ring in the new year.  Last year we had a moustache-themed murder mystery party.  This year we played the classic board game “Rat Race” the social climbing game where you strive to buy fur coats, artwork and cars to “keep up with the Jones’”.

We ended up laughing and carrying on until 12:03 before we realized that we missed the ball drop!  Luckily it was on youtube shortly afterwards.  Hopefully we wont be 15 minutes late for EVERYTHING in the new year.

During all of the fun I was working away on my latest pair of mittens.  I’m knitting “Avo’s Mittens” a pattern from Folk Knitting in Estonia by Nancy Bush.  {Ravelink}  It’s been a while since I’ve knit anything using a pattern book.  I think I’ll knit a few more pairs before the year’s done.  The yarn I’m using is Nob Hill Naturals which I’m really pleased with.  It’s 100% wool and is much softer than I’d imagined.

At the end of the evening, as per family tradition, we each lit a candle as we made a new year’s wish.  There are a few more of us this year in our family….It’s going to be an exciting 2012.

How did you celebrate this year?

Many of my friends are having babies these days, so I’ve started knitting some baby clothes to give them.  It’s a great way to use up some of my sock yarn/baby yarn stash.  The yarn is generally superwash wool or acrylic, which is suitable for baby clothes that tend to need quite a lot of washing.  This particular pattern is my new favourite.  It is the Garter Yoke Baby Cardi by Jennifer.  The pattern is so easy to follow, and is knit in one piece with absolutely no seams to sew up at the end.

To go with the cute sweater I knit up a “Top Down Bonnet” by Adrian Bizilia of Hello Yarn .  It is such a nice pattern that fits babies so well.  I just need to add some ties and it will be all done.

The combination will be packaged up, ready for the first girl to be born.

This post is written while laundry dries all over my living room.  What a muddle.  My perfectly timed 8:00 PM laundry run was  more complicated than necessary–all of the machines were full (for the first time in my laundry history), and after waiting for 15 minutes I hijacked a washing machine that finished its cycle–I got my wash started in time (my building’s laundry room closes at 10PM)–but when it came time to dry it all, there was only one machine that was empty.

With my fingers crossed, I loaded 2 washing machines worth of clothes into one dryer–the one dryer that is missing a lint trap filter–but my money was already in by the time I realized that.  Needless to say, an hour later, I was faced with an oversized load of damp laundry which is currently drying in my living room.

In any case, I’m giving up on the laundry now, and focusing on my mitten in progress.  It’s my usual pattern, Fox and Geese from the book “Fox and Geese and Fences, a Collection of Traditional Maine Mittens” by Robin Hansen, and the yarn is from Topsy Farms on Amherst Island.  The pattern makes very sturdy mittens with long cuffs which I love.

Somehow now that it’s almost November it seems appropriate to be starting on mittens again.

It’s hard to believe I’ve made 30 hats.  It’s amazing what these hats have done for our robotics team (K-Botics).  We’ve set ourselves apart and created an identity–we certainly stand out in a crowd.

Each hat is unique, but bonds our group together–some have even said the hats are helping to make us such a tight knit group!

It’s not just me knitting…students and mentors are getting into it too. Some of the Knitters Anonymous have now started building robots. Some of the robotics team members have learned to knit specifically so they can make a robot hat!  The smile on a kid’s face, when they get a hat–made just for them–is priceless.  That’s why I keep knitting!

Here’s a free pattern, so you can make some too.

This hat making enterprise would not be possible without the generous donation of K-Botics coloured yarn from one of the team’s families.  If you’d like to help us purchase yarn, please donate. For $5 you could sponsor a hat!

And here are the hats that I’ve made….All 30 of them!  Click on the pictures to enlarge.

It all began in the spring of 2009, on a very long bus ride to Atlanta for the World Championships of FIRST robotics.  I needed something to do on the bus for 24 hours.  Robot knitting, inspired by hats I’d seen on Ravelry, seemed to be the right choice.

First to get hats were our drive team and some mentors

Some hats were quite plain, while others had huge pompoms, and curlicues coming out of the tops, for added flair.  This was a sign of things to come!

Spring 2010: Hat making began at the kick-off of our season in January.  Hats had horns knit with copper wire, or were reversible “transformer” hats (ravelink).

Preparation for our Chairman’s Award presentation required more hats!  They are kind of a trademark of our team now.

Hats now had holes for hair (ponytails or many curls) to show through.  We even made a hat for the MC of our competition to wear.  His team colours included red, so we added red just for him.

There was a sad tale…the first version of this hat went missing on a ski trip, so the second version was created–note the pink tentacles…that’s why they’re there!

Head bands are preferred by some…

Others don’t mind the more unique aspects like tassels and beads.

Sometimes the hat needs only one robot.

Fall 2010: It’s not yet kick-off for this season, and hats are being made at an astonishing pace.  Some of these hats include glow in the dark yarn.  If you want some, you can order it from Seed Stitch Fine Yarn in Salem MA.

I’m rather struck by hexagons these days.

They are fun to knit, and can be made with many intricate designs, or stripes.  What’s really cool is that they can be joined together to form a flat surface.

Do you want to use up your yarn stash and make some hexagons too?  Here are my steps.

1. Cast on 6 stitches (this is what makes it a hexagon).

2. Increase one stitch in every stitch (I knit into the front and back of each stitch to do this) [12 stitches]

3. Kfb, K1 around [18 stitches]

4. Kfb, K2 around [24 stitches]

5. Kfb, K3 around [30 stitches]

Keep going, and you can make a really big hexagon!  I’ve made mine with 10 stitches per side [60 stitches around].

I’ve joined them up as I go to form a tube (it’s taken 12 hexagons so far).  Now I’m trying to figure out how to make hexagons curve into a dome shape to form the top of the hat.  I think some hexagons are going to be slightly misshapen to make this happen.

This project is fun because I can sit down and make a hexagon or two at a time, and see great progress being made.  Sometimes if you sit down and knit 6 rows on a hat, you don’t really see the difference.  The one thing I’m not looking forward to is the number of ends I’ll have to sew in to finish this hat, but I think the end result will be worth it!

While searching for Harry Potter scarves earlier this weekend, I discovered a great resource for Hermione’s knitted fashions.  Here are links to two free patterns for a beautiful fairisle scarf and cable and eyelet hat.  Thanks to JL Yarnworks for doing such a great job of these patterns.

Hermione’s scarf (JL Yarnworks) from the movie Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Hermione’s Hat (JL Yarnworks) from the movie Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

I am getting excited to see the Deathly Hallows movie(s).  I wonder what knitted goodies will appear in those films.

What are your favourite Harry Potter patterns?

P.S. If you are a Twilight fan, check out Bella’s Hat pattern…it will keep you warm as a werewolf!

The seventh Harry Potter movie (part one of The Deathly Hallows) opens in theatres on November 19th.

You know that most people will dress up with their Hogwarts gear and make a party of the opening night experience.  Why not knit a scarf for yourself, or for a little (or not so little) Harry Potter fan that you know.

For the Muggles: Wizards like Harry Potter are educated at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry.  When they enter the school, a magical sorting hat reads their character and assigns them to certain houses which each have different colours and crests.

The houses are:

Gryffindor (gold and red) values courage, bravery, loyalty, nerve and chivalry	Hufflepuff (yellow and black) values hard work, tolerance, loyalty, and fair play.
Ravenclaw (blue and bronze) values intelligence, creativity, learning, and wit	Slytherin (green and silver) values ambition, cunning, leadership and resourcefulness and most of all pure wizard blood

You can sort yourself by various web-based personality tests.  My results seem to say I’m a Hufflepuff.

The sorting hat says that I belong in Hufflepuff!

Said Hufflepuff, “I’ll teach the lot, and treat them just the same.”

Once you know what house you’re in, you need to invest in some yarn in your house colours to make your scarf.  There are a few choices you’ll need to make.

Choice 1:  Which movie are you basing your scarf on?

VERSION A:  Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

VERSION B:  Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

The width of the stripes vary between the two films.  Your needle choices and yarn weight will dictate your gauge.  It’s up to you to change colours when it looks right.  Just be sure to keep note of how many rows you knit, to stay consistent.

These scarves are long.  The general rule for scarves is to make them as tall as the person who wears them.  These scarves are probably about six feet long, and being worn on young children.  For an authentic look on an adult, you’ll want to make the scarf at least 7 feet long.

VERSION A: Scarf is about 8-9 inches wide, and stripes are each about 6-7 inches.

VERSION B: Scarf is about 8-9 inches wide.  Main Colour 6 inches, 1/2 inch Contrasting colour, 1 inch Main Colour, 1/2 inch Contrasting Colour

Choice 2: Method of scarf construction.

To make a scarf that lays flat, there are two main options:

1.  Knit stockinette in the round (double thickness, so it takes twice as long and twice as much yarn but looks authentic to the films)

Cast on 100 stitches in Main Colour, join in the round and knit.  Change colours as needed to achieve the stripes.

2.  Make a flat ribbed scarf (not as authentic, but you can finish it faster)
Cast on 50 stitches in Main Colour.  Work in K1, P1 ribbing.  Change colours as needed to achieve the sripes.

No matter what scarf you make, you’ll need to save yarn for fringe at the end.

Here’s a nice video tutorial on “fringe making” by Judy

Last night I finished a pair of mittens that I started a while ago.  I love making mittens because they are portable projects, and a rather necessary accessory for the Canadian winter that is quickly approaching.  I like customizing colours and patterns and making sure that my cuffs are long enough.

Really warm mittens are often knit with a stranded pattern in two colours.  The stitch pattern usually includes a maximum of 4 or 5 stitches in a row of one colour.

I knit with a rather tight gauge, using 4mm double pointed needles and worsted weight yarn from Topsy farms.  My general recipe for stranded mittens is as follows:

Decide on a stitch pattern: Colour in some squares on graph paper being sure not to make more than 5 stitches in a row one colour.

Figure out how many stitches and rows are in your pattern repeat:  Choose one point in the pattern and count horizontally and vertically until you have mapped out a repeatable pattern block.

There are 4 stitches and 6 rows in this repeat

There are 6 stitches and 10 rows in this repeat

Decide on how many stitches to cast on: This should be a multiple of the number of stitches in one repeat, and it should fall somewhere between 48 stitches for size small to 54 stitches for size medium/large.

Using the first pattern, the cast on could be (4)(12)=48 or (4)(13)=52 or (4)(14)=56

In the second case it could be (6)(8)=48 or (6)(9)=54

Cast on: Use one colour, cast on the appropriate number of stitches and join in the round being careful not to twist.

Knit cuff: Join second colour and work until the cuff measures 2.5 to 3 inches (depending on your cuff preference).

Thumb Gusset:  Mittens are very form fitted at the cuff, and you need to increase stitches to account for the width of your hand at the thumb area.  The way to do this is to increase 2 stitches every alternate row on the thumb side of the mitten.  The increases will affect the stitch count, and the pattern repeat.  A good work-around is to change the patterning for the thumb gusset.  A checkerboard or striped pattern on the thumb is easy to do.

Continue until the gusset is  17-21 stitches depending on thumb size.  Keep gusset stitches on a stitch holder or piece of scrap yarn, and cast on a full repeat of stitches, or whatever is needed to maintain a consistent pattern across the hand.

Knit Hand: Keep knitting in pattern until the mitten fits up to your little finger.

Decreases: Put the mitten on your hand.  Mark the stitches at the little finger and index finger edges for decreases.  There should be equal numbers of stitches on the palm and back of the hand.

Keeping pattern consistent repeat the following two rows until approximately 16 stitches remain

Row 1:  knit until 2 stitches before the little finger edge.  K2tog in main colour, SSK in main colour.  Knit in pattern until 2 stitches before index finger edge.  K2tog in main colour, SSK in main colour.

Row 2: knit in pattern.  Use main colour over the 2 stitches on the little finger and index finger edges.

Kitchener stitch bind off. video credit: the knitwitch on youtube.

Thumb: pick up and knit (in pattern) the stitches from the scrap yarn/stitch holder, and stitches from the cast on edge around the thumb hole.  I often choose stitches that are not right on the edge of the thumb hole to avoid creating holes around the thumb.  The number of thumb stitches is not critical.  Make it fit your thumb.  Knit in pattern in the round until the thumb is 1.5 to 2 inches long.

Decreases: K2tog in pattern until around 6 stitches remain.  Cut yarn leaving a long tail.  Draw yarn through stitches and pull tight.

Weave in ends

So, a friend of mine has been going on and on all summer about “glow in the dark minions”, and how much he wants one.  This was long before I had seen Despicable Me, and I really had no idea what he was talking about, so I smiled and nodded, and went on with my day.

However, after my crazy road trip this summer, a few things lined up that allowed me to make his dreams come true.

1:  I saw Despicable Me at the drive in theatre in Wellfleet Massachusetts, and saw the minions in context.  I get it now!

2:  I saw a knitting pattern for minions! (ravelink) So cute.

image source: kat-knits.blogspot.com

3:  I bought glow in the dark yarn in Salem at Seed Stitch Fine Yarn.

image source: seedstitchfineyarn.com

It really does glow…

Anyway, I got to knitting up a little minion for my buddy.  It is a quick project.  I spent a few minutes over a few evenings, and ended up with this cute little guy.

I decided against the button eyes to make goggles because I didn’t have any buttons, and also because I wanted the eye parts to glow in the dark like the rest of the little guy.  I embroidered the goggles along with the rest of the face.

The overalls are knit in light blue sock yarn, and the hands and feet are knit in black sock yarn.  You can use anything though, as long as the yarn weight matches that of the body.

Here’s proof that he glows!  (It’s hard to take a picture of things glowing in the dark…it looks way better in person)

What would you make with glow in the dark yarn??

P.S.  If you are looking for this yarn, Seed Stitch Fine Yarn does accept online orders!

This afternoon I delivered my second pay it forward handmade gift.  I signed up back in November to do a pay it forward challenge, where I had a year to make 3 gifts and send them to the first three people that signed up on my blog, provided that they also promise to make 3 gifts, and pay it forward to other people.

Since November, I have sent a pair of mittens to Lisa

…and I have received a lovely package from the sweet sheep

…and today I delivered a package to Noor–the very first pair of butterfly mittens made from my handspun yarn.

These are the mittens that are inside the package.

When I arrived, she was in the midst of applying henna, so I got to watch and learn.

It’s neat to get a glimpse into other cultures, and their traditions.  Henna is applied to decorate women’s hands during celebrations.

This weekend is Eid, a celebration which marks the end of Ramadan, the month of fasting.

This is the colour that the henna stains the skin, after the paste dries and comes off.

Thanks for the tea, goodies, and interesting lesson today Noor!

How have you payed it forward today?