Skaterhead Beanie with pompoms

My daughters got me into watching this Korean soap opera Boys over Flowers on Netflix. It is such a cute young love story, reminds me of the good old days, crushes and cuteness :D I enjoyed it watching with my girls sometimes with my husband too yep! that's true he did not finish it but he was curious with the ending. My younger daughter and me actually watch half of the season on Saturday.Our favorite character is JiHoo a very caring and gentle boy and Jan Di,the corky and cute girl. We were bummed that they did not end up together. OOPS spoiler !The cast wears a lot of beanies so I was inspired into knitting them, I especially loved the ones worn by Jan Di (main character) and GaEl (best friend). While we were watching I was knitting a skaterhead beanie which resembles several of the beanies I just needed to add an extra large pompom and adjusted the length.They turned out really cute. I will be making several of them for Christmas presents.By the way I am still knitting shawls for the KAL and I am almost done with the September shawl, the Bind off is killing me. I will try to get it done today.
Here are the pictures of the beanies.Enjoy!

Where did August go?

Wow! Month of August is almost over and I realized there were no knitting updates for this month. It has been a crazy month, we had relatives that came over first week of the month for my father in laws b-day celebration, hubby finished putting the floor up for my daughter's room and she also decided to paint it, then her car broke down and transmission need to be replaced, it is not in the budget , car is still working ok but she is scared to drive it so she decided to get a new car, we help with the down payment and the insurance but she will have to pay it herself, This is a big responsibility for her,and I am so proud of her <3
 On knitting updates I  joined a Ravelry group that meets every Friday morning  ,We already met twice, the first meeting was on 8-17 and it was really nice meeting other people with the same interest. I am looking forward to Friday mornings.
 Project updates: Finished my August Shawlette click here if you want to see it :)
I also finish another Skaterhead hat in Fall color, working on another one in Autumn Red ( i really like this one) , also finish 2 Cross Body Street Purse for my daughter, orange and black. I am trying to write the pattern for this as I just made them up as I go. So that is where August went here comes September that means Holidays is coming whether we like it or not. Better start making those Holiday presents Oh My!!
Here are some pictures of the Cross Body Street Purse. Enjoy your day!

2 Simple Knitted Skaterhead Beanie

A week ago I drove by the City park and saw several teenagers skateboarding, they are all wearing different kinds of cool beanie, I have also seen other Young adults  both male and female wearing those kinds of beanie, so I started to think of how I can make them. When I came home, search thru my stash of yarn and found a dark blue and heather gray simply soft yarn, this 2 will be a great start. After looking around ravelry for some pattern, most of them were just really basic knit and purl. I decided I'll make it up as I go. The first one I made a wider brim ,the idea was from the slouchy beret that I recently knitted, then I just knitted in the round endlessly ,while watching the Olympics.then started the crown decrease.Next time I will make another one with stripes and maybe with a design so it does not look too plain.The following day I started working on the Heather Gray yarn and to be a little different from the blue beanie, I knitted the brim in knit and  purl2 ribbing,  I like how it look so I just continue with the pattern instead of just plain stockinette stitch,I like this one better, it is not as plain as the Dark blue beanie and you can choose to fold the brim or not, it is also very stretchy.I have written the instructions in case you want to make one for yourself. This is just basic beanie/hat instructions,  ( I improvised this pattern. Any resemblance/similarity to a copyrighted item is purely coincidental. Yada,yada,yada, etc, legal jargon. :D) you can also find other pattern thru Ravelry.com. Have Fun!
  
Skaterhead Beanie #1

Materials:                                                                                          

1 skein of yarn, Dark Country Blue ( I used Simply Soft Caron)             
Size 8 Circular knitting needles 16"           
Size 8 DPN                                                            
Stitch Markers                                                        
Darning Needle.

Finished Measurements:    19” circumference and 15” long
Gauge: 5sts = 1 inch                                                                         


Cast On 88 stitches
Place marker and knit in the round. (Be careful not to twist)

Knit the K2 P2 rib for about 4" (wide brim, you can make it shorter if you like)
Next Knit in stockinnete endlesly until about 8 or 9 inches. ( while watching a 2 hour movie :D
 Note: Place marker in every 8 stitches on the very last round before decreasing. Make sure you use a different color from the marker you use at the beginning of the round.
Crown Decrease:
Switch to DPN
R1 (k6,k2tog) x 11 (77sts)
R2 knit around
R3 knit around
R4 (k5,k2tog) x 11 (66sts)
R5  knit around
R6 knit around
R7 (k4,k2tog) x 11(55sts)
R8  knit around
R9  knit around
R10 (k3,k2tog) x 11(44sts)
R11  knit around
R12  knit around
R13 (k2,k2tog) x 11 (33sts)
R14  knit around
R15  knit around
R16 (k1,k2tog) x 11(22sts)
R17  knit around
R18  k2tog around (11sts)
R19  knit around

Finishing: Cut yarn leaving about 6" tail,Weave thru all the remaining stitches, pull tight. Weave in ends.
Wear proudly :)

Skaterhead  Beanie #2

Materials:                                                                                  

1 skein of yarn ,Heather Gray ( I used Simply Soft Caron)            
Size 8 Circular knitting needles 16"           

Size 8 DPN                                                            
Stitch Markers                                                   
Darning Needle.
Finished Measurements:    15” circumference and 12” long 
Gauge: 5sts = 1 inch   (stockinette)     
                                                                            
Cast on 87 stitches ( if you are casting a different amount of stitches it must be divisible by 3)
Place marker and knit in the round. (Be careful not to twist)

Work K1,P2 Ribbing until 11"

Crown  Decrease:
Switch to DPN
R1 (k1,p2tog)  repeat ( ) until end of the round
R2  k1,p1 until end of round
R3  k2tog around
Repeat R3 until 8 sts remain

Finishing :
Bind off using 3 needle bind off.This method makes the top of the hat flatter.
If you do not know how to do the 3 needle bind off click here
Weave ends.
OR
Cut yarn leaving about 6" tail,Weave thru all the remaining stitches, pull tight. Weave in ends.
 **** If you have any questions or corrections on the Instructions feel free to comment.
Have a nice day!!

Product Giveaway!!!!

I reach more than 250 Likes on my Four Seasons Facebook page yesterday, thanks to my daughter and her tumblr followers. So to CELEBRATE , I am giving away a Slouchy Beret with matching Neck wrap/cowl. I will be drawing a winner from the list of people who click like on my page by July 27,2012. I will be using a Random Number generator to pick the winner. If you want to be added on the list just click here and Like the page. I will also give away a Lovely Autumn Red Lace Shawl once I have 500 likes!!!

Here the pictures of the items I will be giving away :D

HOT off the needle!!!!

I did it , Yes I did. I finish July shawl KAL project in 4 days including blocking. I was very hesitant in starting this project since I was not in the knitting mood at all but I want to complete the Shawl KAL that I signed up, the group is not strict about it but I want to do it for ME!.
I was leaning on knitting the Beginner choice Ashton but when they posted August Beginner choice  Budding Shawlette, i decided to use the yarn for it. There was 2 skein of  Simply Soft Caron in Autumn in my stash so I decided to do the Summer Flies. Once I cast on Summer Flies shawl, it just went so fast. The instructions were so easy , the FO's on the project page look all complicated but it was not. Another Instant gratification project to get my Knitting mojo back.
Happy knitting and Enjoy your day!
Here are some pictures!!!

Four Seasons! My shop....

I finally had the courage to open my own online shop for my knitting FO's (finished object)It has been sometime now that I have been thinking of opening a shop and also thinking of the Shop name,  there were some crazy, lame , funny, and interesting names we  came up with,  my 2 daughters are my consultant but then Four Seasons just came to me and I said that's it. I  have also search and look into different websites to open my shop like Etsy, Artfire, Zibbet, Ebay  etc.. Etsy is the most popular however there are so many fees involve, Artfire does not really appeal much, Ebay is too big and then there is Zibbet ,not as popular as Etsy but they are on its way, Also they offer Basic Free Account for Sellers to start of ,  When they say Free, it is really free, no fees, no charges for listings, no commissions ( 50 items limit), then you can upgrade to Premium account if you want to. Signing up for Basic Account is perfect  to try it out and if the shop business is good then I can go ahead and upgrade, and since there are no added fees my item prices will be more reasonable. It took about 2 days for me to set up the account, it is easy but I am just too fussy about things I would like to put in the shop info, my daughter Lorylaine help me with the banner. Now  the most important thing is to list my items, just need to take more photos.

 I  am also waiting for some of the designers to give me permission to sell the projects that I have made from their pattern, I have research about whether it is okay to sell products made using other Designers pattern but there so many conflicting information ,as a courtesy I ask for permission. It will probably be a good idea to design my own to avoid any issues in the future, in the meantime most of the items are from basic and generic pattern so I should be okay.

The shop should be officially open by Monday, (cross fingers) Wish me Luck. I hope you can take a few moments of your time to check it out. http://www.zibbet.com/FourSeasons

Happy Knitting and have a wonderful weekend.