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!!

Shawls Are Not Just for your Grandma.... anymore!

I have started knitting shawls since January when I joined the Ravelry KAL (Knit A Long) Group12Dozen shawls in 20dozen. I must say it is very addicting, we knit different shawl every month, most of them are on my previous blog post.
It was my impression before that Shawls are just for Grandma's and/or elderly people but NOT ANYMORE! Once I have seen the different construction, design ,variety of styles of the shawls available for knitting , for sale in store/online,Shawls have evolved into one of the hottest  fashion trend.Shawls are made from,Silk to wool, cotton or any synthetic fiber .It can be use on Weddings, Proms, Dinner Party, Cocktail party ,any dressy occasion or just throw a lacy shawl with a pair of shirt and jeans. You can use it as a scarf, a hood, as a belt tied on your waist, or even as a headband.The versatility is endless.Shawls can be worn any season. A lot of women wear Shawls for dressing up or down around the world. So next time you see a Shawl, check it out, you will be happy you did! You can also visit my website Four Seasons Knits for my knitted shawls.

Check out this collage that shows how shawls have been one of the hottest fashion trend. Most photos are from the Internet. Enjoy!

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.

April Shawl Haruni

Finished another Shawl for the April KAL, Haruni designed by Emily Ross. It was not an easy pattern, it took me longer to finish compared to the other previous months Shawl but I was very satisfied with the result. It came out bigger than I expected. I think it is so pretty, maybe next time I will make it in a colorful yarn. I steam block the finish shawl since it was an acrylic yarn, it took me almost an hour pinning the lace edge and  I did decided to do the crochet bind off. The finished project measures 28"L by 54"W and very flowy. I just don't know where to wear it. In the meantime it will be stored with my other shawls. Now onto May KAL, I don't really have anything I like between the May choices , Wingspan for Beginner and Tibetian for Advanced. The advanced choice is too way out of my league and the beginner choice does not appeal much. Well I have about a week or so to decide , if not I'll do a My Choice for next month. Good day to all and Happy knitting. Enjoy the pictures :D

Work in Progress (WIP)

I haven't blog anything about my knitting projects in about a month, I have been working on a Haruni Shawl which is the April Advance choice for my Ravelry KAL. I was brave enough to do the advanced choice this time. However I am also working on another easy shawl Meandering Vines, it is my tv knitting project, I got use to knitting something while watching TV, if not I feel like something is missing, if I'm not knitting while watching TV,it makes me feel so useless just sitting there (no offense to anyone,that's just me). Knitting Haruni needs a lot of concentration on my part so I knit that during my quiet time, early in the morning when everyone else is  sleeping or when I'm alone. It is almost done just 5 more rows then I will be binding off, there are 2 options to Bind off but I have not decided which one I will do, I'll make the decision when the time comes to bind off.Really glad there is so much support on the KAL group, they will be able to help me with that. In the meantime the Meandering Vines shawl is slowly getting there, The pattern looks complicated yet so easy to knit. This is something a beginning lace knitter will appreciate to knit. I have also been using my Knit picks Harmony needle and I would say I have made the right decision when I bought them. The needle points make it easy to knit lace and the long cables are very convenient. I don't think I will ever use straight needles again.As usual all the patterns and instructions are available at Ravelry. Come and join if you are not a member yet.
Happy Knitting and Enjoy your day!

This is the beginning of my Haruni Shawl

This is where I am now, almost done!

Meandering Vines Shawl, the pattern looks really nice.

Meandering Vines Shawl in progress

Yarn Review, Red Heart Boutique

 

About two weeks ago I went to Michael's to get some supplies with my daughter and she saw this yarn. She wanted a scarf , pattern was included, I was hesitant to get it since it cost about $9.99, but I have a 40% coupon so I decided to get it for her. When I look at the pattern inside the label it has a Purl5, are you kidding me. I had problems with P3, i tried it anyway but I got frustrated so I decided on other lace pattern, it still looks wonky and I am getting tired of frogging so I just did a straight garter stitch (knit every row) knitted until I ran out of yarn then put some fringes. I am not too crazy about this yarn, probably would not buy it again unless the price goes down a lot, I feel like it was just long scrap of different textured yarn attached together. You can actually see all the knots at the beginning and ending of each different texture.Anyways my daughter loves it and that's all that matters :D

Have a nice day!

Smile :)

Good Morning and Happy Friday to all! I don't have any knitting projects to show today, i am working on a hand warmer to match the Garden view shawl that I will give to a friend for her birthday. I do have some funny pictures to show. This are not created by me but were posted on Facebook and G+. I thought it would  bring a smile to everyone. Enjoy your day!

 

Garden View Shawl

Its end of January and I have finished the Garden View shawl, its a very easy, quick knit shawl.  I will make another one but would be bigger. I will be giving this to a friend as a birthday present, hope she likes it.This is the February Shawl for the Ravelry group. There is no choices for March Shawl as of yet, can't wait to find out which ones will be winner. The moderators for the group are so nice and awesome,the group does not have any hard and fast rule,you can knit every month or skip a month and its ok, everybody helps each other. There are a lot of awesome projects from other group members. Since I am new to knitting lace shawl, this a good way to learn , now if I can only get my brain to handle reading chart instructions. I still have to rely on the written instructions to knit the shawls, its easier for me to understand. Well here are some pictures of my Garden View Shawl ( I really need a better camera). Happy knitting everyone.

Yarn Finds and more!

Happy new year again to all! Days went flying by and its almost half of January, before we know it another year will pass. This is my first blog of the year 2012. I have been knitting and have finish a sock before 12midnight of 2011 so I was actually wearing it on New year. I also finish a matching hat and scarf, I'm thinking about giving it to a previous co worker as a late Christmas present and a slouchy hat for my daughter, I also managed to knit a mitten for my daughter's friend.. I  also finish baby hats and socks for a niece and the most exciting well at least for me was finding this $1.00 yarn from my local dollar store.Im always on the lookout for bargain yarns.  I bought 9 skein/ball color summer rose,cerulean and thistle.They are made by Caron. I know they are acrylic/nylon,but who cares, watch out yarn-snobs!I love the colors and will probably use the summer rose for KAL i joined on Ravelry for the February project. Yes! I'm still working on the January KAL which is 198yds of heaven, I will definitely finish that before end of January(cross fingers). Enjoy your day and here are some pictures :)

My yarn finds!

A slouchy hat for my daughter

My New years day stripey socks.

Pompom Hat and Scarf

Christmas is here!

Well actually in 4 days, this will probably be my last blog of the year. I've sent/given most of my Christmas knitting presents.. whew ! I still have 3 hats, a scarf and a mitten to finish, it should be done before Christmas (cross fingers). At least all the ones that needed to be mailed were already sent out. I think I will have to start earlier next year if I want/decide to do this again. I wish I had taken pictures of the presents before sending them out but I was too much in a rush. I also got to see a friend today, we use to work together before I quit.I gave her their presents, she also gave me one of her homemade pie and a cake, she's wonderful and she looks really good. I do wish I'm back to work, well maybe :) I will cut this blog short as I need to finish a few more projects so enjoy your day !

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Yummy cake given to me by my friend Rachel, it looks so good! I had to take a picture before it disappears.

 

WIP Wednesday and Totoro Hat

10 days before Christmas! Oh my., I started knitting Christmas presents since August and still I have more to go at least in my mind. I should just be happy on what I have now instead of thinking adding more stuff like hats, mitts to go with the scarf. On top of that I will have to wrap and mail them too.And then I have some other projects in between. Well today's WIP Wednesday is a Faire Isle ear flap hat for Brianna's mom. My daughter gifted her an ear flap hat last week for her birthday and Brianna's mom loved it so Brianna ask(thru my daughter) if I can make one for her mom and she will supply the yarn (how sweet!). I told her I'll make one and not to worry about the yarn since I have the blue and white in my stash.I also finished my daughter's Totoro Hat and of course as usual it was small , thank God for blocking. I keep on forgetting to adjust the size even if the instructions says it will fit an adult head :)
Here are my pictures, enjoy and have a nice day!

Totoro Hat! If you are wondering what Totoro is, It was a character from a Japanese fantasy anime movie called My Neighbor Totoro.

Earflap hat, I still have to work on the sides and ties!

Those little voices in my head....

Did you ever have that time when you just want to scream at your brain to stop thinking, I swear sometimes i want to have an on and off switch for my brain to stop running a million miles per hour :D There is so much to do and so little time maybe because it is just 16 days before Christmas and I'm not finish with my knitting presents, I need to do some finishing touches on some and additional accessories, i guess others will have store bought  presents or a Christmas card (that's it). I have to buy the Christmas tree so we can start decorating for Christmas, my son put up Christmas lights and decorations outside yesterday and I did some garage cleaning, the girls dump all their new guitar boxes ( they had an early Christmas present from their dad) need more work but its less clutter. We also have some home improvement going on,replace the sink, needs new carpet, paint the girls room, fixed backyard, we're also turning a loft into a bedroom for my son, he use to have his own room and the girls shares a room but when he went to college the youngest one took over his room and when he came back she would not give it up, both girls want to have their own room. It would be less of an issue if we do not have to submit a permit but of course we have to follow the rules and go thru proper procedure, we decided to build it ourselves (which means hubby and son) since it is cost effective but this person at the city building department is giving us a hard time when we try to submit the plan requirements, she knows we are not engineers/architects and kept on asking for stuff we do not understand instead of explaining it layman's term. She scribbled some notes on the papers and basically shun us out and told us they will be closing soon and she has other people waiting. We'll try again Monday and hopefully get a more helpful person. And also I need a job, left my job 3 months ago reason would be another story. I'm trying to write all this out so my brain will stop thinking. Of course I still worry about my children constantly and my mother who is in the Philippines, it's her birthday on Christmas day I wish I could be with her , have not seen her for more than 3 years. Oh and I was also able to finish the baby blanket, hat, booties and mitts that I was knitting in time but my nephew has to delay his flight to Australia, he was in a car accident, he is alright but needed some medical attention. That would give me more time to make another set of baby stuff . I'm currently working on a Totoro hat for my daughter, still have my lace shawl on hold :( wont be able to work on that until next year. My other daughter and my son is also requesting for beanie hats. I better stop this and start knitting. Enjoy your day!
Here are some pictures of the baby stuff I made :)

 

Shawl/Shawlette Progress....

Okay so far I made it to the first 22 rows of lace and working on the repeats. I did not have to ripped back my work since I have place a lifeline but im still keeping it just in case.It looks wonky right now hopefully it will look better after blocking.

Happy knitting and Enjoy your weekend!!

Lifelines in knitting

Wow it's November already, hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween, I still have sugar rush just by giving treats to little monsters and also big ones in my neighborhood. I manage to have 3 projects in my needles so far, 2 projects are pretty much the easy shawl and the one row scarf, yes I'm still working on my Christmas presents, hopefully ill get them done by the end of this month. I actually challenge myself by knitting my first lace shawl. I use a pattern that I got from Ravelry, it should be a beginner lace shawl/shawlette but I actually frogged it so many times but I am not going to give it up, so far I am on Row 9 ... 63 more to go :D and I do not want to ripped my project back from the beginning if I make another mistake which I am sure will happen so I decided to try the lifeline which is pretty much a scrap yarn threaded through the live stitches on the project, as you continue knitting,the scrap yarn will stay on the stitches and if for some reason you make or I make a mistake and needs to rip back I only have to rip back up to the lifeline (scrap yarn on your stitches), this makes a lot of sense and it would help prevent frustration from starting all over again especially when working on lace pattern. On the picture below is what i have knitted so far and as you can see there is a white scrap yarn for my lifeline, I will keep going and plan to place lifeline maybe every 5 rows just to be safe. I will try to post more pictures of my progress. Happy Knitting!!

To Block or Not To Block!

Until last night I did not know that I can block Acrylic yarn. I have been using mostly acrylic yarn since it is the least expensive and easily available to me so I can do what I love to do, knitting :) hopefully someday I will be able to afford the fancy yarns. I have always been happy with the way my knitted projects look even if it was not block. If you have seen theEar flap hat I made for my daughter which came out a little too small so I was going to make her another one, however my son requested me to make one for him first which ended up too big I don't know why since i even did a gauge swatch so I knitted another one, And of course it turn out to be a little too small and I am not making another one, I heard and read about blocking but most of them were about other fancy yarns and that acrylic cant be block since it is not a natural fiber but I remember someone had mentioned that we can block acrylic so I did a Google search and lo and behold I found Bead Knitter Gallery, she talk about acrylic can be block, this is the link ( http://beadknitter.blogspot.com/2009/03/you-can-block-acrylic.html?showComment=1319658734282#c2787138813915084037). I followed her instructions and started steam blocking the hat , I was so happy with the result , it fits perfectly and it looks great. I have been steam blocking since this morning and I can say I'm a fan of blocking now.

Below is the example of a before and after for the Earflap Hat

     This is the hat before blocking,edges were uneven and you can see some puckering on the hat.

This is the hat after blocking edges are straight, no puckering and I actually like the texture too.

Happy Friday and have a good weekend!

Fingerless Mitts

Photos of the most recent FO's, fingerless mitts I made for my daughters. The pattern is available in Ravelry, http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/alices-mitts.

FO Fridays

Its FO Fridays so here are some of my finished projects. It is also I LOVE YARN DAY Today!!!!

Earflap Hat I made for my daughter, As I suspected its a little bit small, so I will have to make her a new one .

 A simple easy lace scarf. I used 2 yarns together. A very light rose finger weight yarn and a ribbon yarn (from one of my recycled sweater stash).

This is a hat and scarf for one of my friends 9 yr old son. Basic Ribbed hat and One row handspun scarf. For the yarn. I used Joans sensations Rainbow Classic.

HAPPY FRIDAY !!!!!

WIP Wednesday

I started this earflap hat for my daughter on Monday, and I should finished it today. Im thinking it might be small for her since she wears her hat differently, she does not pull it all the way down, I guess Ill just wait and see until its all done.