GRANNIES!!!!!!!!!! This is how Julie Holetz and I have felt lately talking about granny squares.  Julie and I are working on a new project: A small book of granny square and granny inspired projects that will have you running for your hooks and your scraps of yarn.

What is it about grannies that are so appealing? Maybe it’s because they’re small, self-contained and take only a few minutes to make each one. They allow you to play with color.

“Grantastic” by ChocolateGirl64 on Flickr CC, some rights reserved.

We’ve been brainstorming and coming up with ideas and trying to limit ourselves because the possibilities are endless. So I’ve been thinking a lot about how granny squares are designed and I thought I’d share a bit of my process here.

First the important bit: Granny Squares are not *really* squares. When you’re making a granny square, you’re working in the round and your artfully placed chain spaces determine the ultimate shape of the thing. (Note in the photo above, that the first two rounds are, indeed, round, but the ultimate motif is square).

You can design your own granny squares! You just need to be consistent. Just like when you’re working a hat in the round, making a granny square involves using a consistent number of increases. In a traditional granny square, like the one in the chart below, there are 20 new stitches per round.

So, if you wanted to play around with the look of the square–you could alter the arrangement of the stitches and chain spaces as long as you kept the number of stitches and the rate of increase consistent.

A first round like this one:

Establishes the corners right away, but one like this:

Would work just as well. Sort of like this one:

The way they get to square is by concentrating the increases in the corners in the final few rounds.

I love how this one by KnittyCent turns the square on its side, then back again.

Julie is working on a great post about planning the arrangement of your squares in a project. Stay tuned to the Skamama blog to see it.

Yesterday we got a huge dump of wet, wet snow, the city almost shut down which is saying a lot for Cordova. The snow removal machines (And James who seems to be constantly shoveling our BIG driveway) have had a very hard time keeping up. Snow keeps falling off the roof (roofalanche!) and piling up in front of our windows,  so we get a lot less light in the house during our short days, but the view outside is very pretty now that its gotten a little colder and the snow has slowed. I’m just hoping everything is cleaned up by the time we fly out on Sunday.

Meanwhile, even in the thick of the snowstorm people were out in droves walking through the foot-deep slush in town shopping and generally having a good time. The Net Loft was busy yesterday and several friends stopped by and we did some exchanging of gifts. I gave my friend Angela a little Noro scarflette like the one I made myself back in May.

Angela gave ME this adorable little handmade doll by an Alaskan artisan. The doll is a weaver and has a little in progress basket in her hands. She’s also wearing a Kuspuk which is a traditional native Alaskan garment.

I haven’t mailed this little scarf yet, and the recipient may or may not be reading this blog post, (I hope she likes it when she gets it!) but Colleen was kind enough to model it for me. The scarf is made using the snowflake garland pattern from Red Heart, I made it with Brown Sheep Bulky and a USM hook, and added the tassels at the end.

Finally, I re-discovered this custom colorway of Three Irish Girls Gallenas at The Net Loft on Wednesday, and had to get it to make some small ornaments for gifts. This is the heart from simplebeans.

I hope you’re all finding a little time to crochet during these busy weeks. I’ve been saving this skein of handspun from Blonde Chicken Boutique since I bought it last spring. I’m thinking of making my Elsinore Woods Scarf [Ravelry Link] with it this evening if I get the chance. The scarf pattern is in the latest issue of Inside Crochet (issue #5).

Well, this hat actually isn’t new. It’s been in the wholesale catalog for the Stitch Cooperative for some time, but somehow I didn’t realized I never released it as a retail pattern. So here it is! I designed this pattern last year and my friend Lisa knit the sample for me. It’s become my favorite hat. I love that it’s loose enough to wear without smooshing my hair, and the bright red color makes me seem more awake and alert on chilly Cordova mornings. Here’s my friend Heidi modeling the hat last year back in Maryland.

The cool ruching affect is achieved by dramatically increasing and decreasing the stitch count as you work the hat. I’ve been thinking about making one in blue. I have a skein of Hazel Knits in a light aqua that would do the trick. Ironically, while I was putting together this post, I got a call from my friend Lisa who knit the hat saying, Hey, I’d like to make that hat again, do you still have the pattern? So it must be the right time to release it.

The details: Knit with one skein of Pagewood Farm Chugiak Handyed Sock yarn (100% merino, 450 yards/5.5 oz) using size 2 and size 3 circular needles. Gague 23sts/4 in. in stockinette st. with larger needles.

Finished Measurement: Hat Circumference, 22″ at brim. The hat has a loose fit.

$5.00

Downloadable PDF

This pattern is available as a downloadable file in PDF format. To read this file, you will need appropriate software such as Adobe Acrobat Reader. You can download Adobe Acrobat Reader for free here.

By purchasing this pattern, you are granted a limited license to download the pdf file to a single personal computer and to print out a hard copy of the pattern, solely for personal non-commercial use. Any other use, including commercial reproduction, modification, distribution, transmission or republication, without prior written permission from Amy O’Neill Houck is strictly prohibited, and is a violation of intellectual property rights. Garments created from this pattern are not to be produced for commercial purposes, nor are they to be made into items for sale.

There’s been a mini spinning boom here in Cordova. Earlier in the summer a couple of people in town expressed an interest in learning to spin, and Dotty had a class. I dusted off my wheel which had been hibernating most of the year and started spinning a little too. Selma wanted to learn, and when The Net Loft put a couple of their old floor model wheels on super-dooper-I-could hardly-believe it-sale, I bought her one as a finishing 3rd grade with honors gift. Dotty has been giving Selma spinning lessons over the summer and she’s now doing great. I’ve been spinning at least a couple of nights a week, and I actually find that spinning long draw is good exercise for my shoulders undoing the tightness that sometimes builds up from knitting, crocheting and computer use. (Spinning as therapy, yeah!). So, when I admitted to Dotty that I don’t really use my handspun, I just spin for fun, and to look at the pretty yarn, she couldn’t believe it. My friends all admonished me too. Peer pressure can be a great thing.

So, last week, I made this:

Well, two skeins of it, actually, about 220 yards, 9 wpi. The yarn is made from roving I bought at the 2008 Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. It’s from Handspun by Stefania, and it’s all plant dyed. One ply is indigo dyed corriedale with silk noils, and the other is a coopworth silk/wool blend dyed with Osage-orange wood. The coopworth was a grey wool, and it, blended with the silk has given the osage-dyed yarn an amazing golden quality. The plied yarn reminds me of old maps with blue oceans and baroque golden continents. My friend Erika says it reminds her of bull kelp floating in the inlets where she likes to kayak.

I didn’t spin the yarn with a project in mind (because I never do), but once I had finished it, I knew it had to be a hat. A slouchy hat that I could wear without smooshing my hair, kind of in the style of my Elissa hat, but warmer and more substantial. Good for rainy days–like yesterday when I had to take this picture.

Then the wind really started blowing.

No, it’s not blurry, those are raindrops on the lens. Today, it’s sunny and bright, and I had worse luck trying to re-shoot because the shadows were so harsh, but I got this o.k. shot of the back (cropped heavily to get rid of the rotting salmon I didn’t notice was on the beach in front of me–that’s fall in Alaska!)

Wow. Where did September go? Things have been so busy around here–I spent a little over a week at the beginning of the month playing with mushrooms and lichen and fiber, and I have lots to show and talk about, but I was waiting until I had washed most of the yarn that I dyed so I could show you the finished product. So that’s my next post. I’ve also been spinning again. My wheel had been put away for almost a year, and at the end of the summer I started spinning when Selma and a few friends in town wanted to learn to spin, so I’ve got some handspun to show you in a future post as well.

Today, I had a lovely surprise in the mail. Emily McKeon who’s part of the family that owns and runs the Denise Needle Company sent me a set of the new Interchangeable Crochet Hook set that they’ve recently released. I have played with a prototype hook and cord for several months now, and I am thrilled to see the finished set. The hooks have a lovely feel and a great taper and point.

But you may be wondering, what you’d do with a set of interchangeable hooks and cords. The most obvious use is Tunisian crochet. Having cords of differing lengths and hooks of various sizes all in one place will make it easy to work on a variety of projects, and change gauge mid project just by changing hook sizes. (The set has 12 hooks ranging in size from 4 to 15 mm). I’m most excited about playing with mixing knitting and crochet. I think there are a lot of unexplored possibilities there. There are also uses for knitting–for instance, say you’re knitting along with your Denise needles and need to pick up stitches along the side edge of something. Pop on a crochet tip and the picking up just got easier. Or, the Denise folks suggest that using a hook tip in your right hand while teaching knitting might make things easier for a new knitter. So, I’m looking forward to digging in and figuring out things to do with this new tool.

Back in February we took the kids to Anchorage for the weekend. It happened to be Valentine’s day weekend, and we had a nice time going to movies (Coraline for Selma and Me, I can’t remember what the guys saw) and doing things you can’t do in Cordova.  For instance, we saw moose (four of them!) roaming in the hotel parking lot:

We learned there are rules about this sort of wildlife appearance in the city:

And of course we made safety a top priority:

On the ferry to and from Anchorage I worked on a Valentine’s gift for James. He liked my Valentine Hat and wished for a not-so-pink hat for himself. I did finish it not too long after Valentine’s day, but never got a picture of it until today because he ran off with it so quickly.

It’s done in crochted fair-isle and I improvised the pattern as I went.

The wool is Jaimeson Chunky, which is rustic and sturdy and perfect for an Alaskan hat. You might be able to see that I concentrated all of the increases into a couple of rounds in the crown of the hat. I did this so I wouldn’t have to worry about increasing in pattern on the sides of the hat. It did work out, but it looked ruffly for quite a while and I just had to have faith that it would smooth out when the hat got to the right size.

By the way, it was a beautiful and warm day today (in the low 60s!) but when you’re heading out to fish in the evening it never hurts to wear your hat. Keeps the bugs off as well as keeping you warm.

James caught three sockeye salmon which he’s cleaning now. Since this post began with a photo of snow, I’ll end with a slideshow of our exploration of Orca Inlet today at low tide.

Yesterday I was teaching at The Net Loft when I had one of those strange convergences whereby the need for something springy to wear (brought on by a bit of rainy weather) and the urge to crochet a quick project ended hitting me right as I walked past the cubby of Noro Silk Garden. (I swear, I didn’t plan this, I even had to buy a hook as I had only brought one with me for a lace project).

I didn’t mean to scowl, but it was cold and wet, and I’m not so good at the hasty self-portrait. This was before I blocked the scarf. It’s crocheted with a point at one end beginning with just one v-stitch and increasing in each row until I had 8 v-stitches. I then worked even putting in a keyhole (basically a buttonhole made by chaining and skipping stitches) after a few rows. Then I continued to work even in v-stitches until the scarf was about 36″ long. I finished the crocheting in about 2 hours, it was a nice change from the hard to see lace-mohair that I’ve been working on.

After about 3 inches of work on the little scarfette, my friend Becca had to put down the socks she was knitting and go get her own ball of Silk Garden to make a scarf too. So now there are two of these scarves in Cordova. (It takes a wee bit more than one ball to get the length and width I wanted, but you can get two scarves easily from three balls, so Becca plans to make one in the color I used yesterday and I’ll do likewise with her color).

I washed it last night in Unicorn Fibre Wash. I knew that Noro was pretty minimally processed (there were lots of twigs to be removed while I was crocheting), but I was still suprised at the amount of actual DIRT that came out while I soaked it. It’s much softer after blocking. I hard blocked it with pins, but I’m actually planning to wet it again and re-scrunch it a bit, because I like it’s rustic, scrunched up look better.

I feel like there are two kinds of yarn acquisitions–for the yarn and for the project, right? The other day, I just *had* to buy some Hazel Knits DK because, well, it was gorgeous and I hadn’t ever tried it before. It’s sitting in the yarn basket on my desk in my studio making me happy every time I look at it. I don’t have a plan for it though.

But when this yarn came in the mail, I immediately had an idea for it. When I finish the baby sweater I’m working on now, this yarn will be my reward.

On the right is Panda Silk DK from Crystal Palace, I had been expecting it, I’ve tried the fingering weight before, and I was looking forward to trying the DK. It came with a little surprise, the Kid Merino in the same colorway. As soon as I saw the pair I knew what it had to become. Can you guess?

Because everyone should get a little treat on tax day, and because I wore Waltz the other day and renewed my love for it, I think you should have one too.  Therefore, for today only, Waltz is only $2.00. Enjoy!

Waltz is cozy, and lightweight, stretchy and lacy all at once. It’s flattering and fun to wear. It’s worked in fingering-weight organic O-Wool 2-ply yarn, (sock yarn would be a great substitute, and would require just 2 skeins, most likely). The pattern is sized from 32″ – 44″. I used a 3.5mm hook.

Robyn alerted me to the fact that Detroit Public Television has episodes of Knit and Crochet Today streaming on their web site, including the episode where Drew Emborsky, The Crochet Dude, demonstrates how to crochet my toe-up sock design.

Drew does a great job of showing all the fun parts of sock-making. It was nice to see all of those darn step-outs I made put to use! And the pattern for the socks is still available for free from the Knit and Crochet Today web site.

Today I taught at The Net Loft but instead of working on a teddy varsity jacket like I intended, I felt compelled to create something valentiney. I’m giving myself the rest of the evening to work on it, and if I like the results, I may have a wee love-day gift for you all before the weekend is out.