I guess I still have hats on the brain. I’ve been trying to finish a lovely lace shawl, but it’s a little slow going, and I got sidetracked on Wednesday. It was James and my 14th anniversary, and I wanted to make him something even though he’s not here. I’m leading a knit-along next week on Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Maltese Fisherman’s Hat (from the Knitter’s Almanac), and I thought it would be good for me to have made one before helping others through it, so I chose to make that for James. (Shh… don’t tell!) It is a bit of a silly hat (I’m kind of a fan of silly hats), but quite warm and practical around here with the ear-flap-neck-warmer. And, everyone in town who’s seen it so far has wanted one, which either says something about the weather here or our collective taste in head-wear. Or both.

Here’s my friend Erica modeling the hat.

The hat is constructed beginning with the ear-flap neck warmer piece, which is shaped with short rows. Then you cast on a few extra stitches for the front and start working in the round.

Elizabeth calls her instructions pithy, and they are. Hardly line-by-line, they take up about a paragraph. I love this about EZ patterns-you still get to think a bit.

I made the hat in the pattern gauge, but in the knit-along I’ll teach how to make it using any weight of yarn, figuring a new cast on, short-row details, etc.

The pattern ends, “make the tassel of your dreams.” That’s about my favorite knitting instruction ever.

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.

I’ve now been in Cordova for a little over a year, and I’m enjoying being able to attend some favorite events from last year for the second time. Tonight was the Copper River Watershed Project’s Berry Festival. It’s a pot-luck dinner where everyone brings berry-themed appetizers, drinks, salads, entrées,  and of course, desserts in order to celebrate local food. Last year I brought berry-pear custard bars, this year I was imagining a blueberry cream puff, but I didn’t get to experiment with the pâte à choux – the special dough used with cream puffs and éclairs, and since I’d never made one before, I thought it might be a bit risky to test it out on a crowd. Instead, I came up with a sweet roll filled with some salmonberry-nectarine jam that my friend Becca made. You can substitute any kind of jam for the filling.

Berry Sweet Rolls

Dough (made in a bread machine)

1 c. soy milk
1/3 c. orange juice
3 T canola oil
1/4 c.  butter or non-hydrogenated margarine (I use earth balance)
1/3 c. sugar
1 t. salt
3 c. unbleached flour
1 c. whole wheat flour
1 t. cinnamon
1 1/2 t. yeast

Add all ingredients to your bread machine in the order listed. Set machine to the dough setting. When the dough is just about done, prepare the filling.

Filling

1/2 c. salmonberry-nectarine jam (or any flavor of berry jam)
1/4 c. butter or non-hydrogenated margarine
1 small handful of slivered almonds

Heat jam and margarine in a small saucepan until margarine is melted and whisk to combine. Remove from heat.

Assembling Sweet Rolls

When the dough is ready, roll it into a large rectangle approximately 1/4″ thick on a lightly floured surface. Spread the filling evenly over the dough, and sprinkle the almonds over the filling. Roll the dough up lengthwise, as tightly as possible and pinch to seal. (The seal might not stay, and that’s ok). Prepare a pan to hold the rolls by spraying with oil and lining the bottom with parchment paper. (I used a 14″ cast iron skillet, but any baking dish should work). Using a clean piece of thread, cut 1″ rolls and place them into your baking dish. Cover the dish with a towel and set in a warm place to rest for 20-30 minutes.. Preheat the oven to 375F. Bake the sweet rolls in the oven for 20-30 minutes, until lightly browned (or until internal temperature of the rolls reaches 160F).

While the rolls are baking, prepare the frosting.

Blueberry Buttercream Frosting

1/2 c. butter or non-hydrogenated margarine
2-3 c. powdered sugar (or enough to make a thick frosting)
1 T. vanilla
zest of 1/2 an organic lemon
1/2 c. fresh or frozen blueberries
1/4 c. slivered almonds for garnish

In a mixer, whip the margarine until fluffy, add the powdered sugar and whip until you have a smooth frosting. Add vanilla, lemon zest and blueberries, adding a little more powdered sugar if necessary to maintain consistency.

Frost the rolls as soon as you’ve removed them from the oven. Sprinkle with slivered almonds. Serve warm. (Note: I had a bit of frosting left over-it will keep very well in the fridge for the next time you’re making sweet rolls.)

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.

Are you a list maker? I love making lists and crossing things off lists. (I’ve been known to add just completed items to a list just for the sake of crossing them off). I also love paper and pens. Every year I agonize about getting a calendar/planner because most of the time, I end up not using it. I’ve finally realized that what I really like is a big book to make lists in–with a calendar in it for convenience.

My favorite planner until now is the Quo Vadis TextAgenda. It’s a small paperback book sized planner with a full page per day. It has a durable faux leather cover. It also has lots of useful little details, and it hasn’t changed since I first discovered it when I was studying abroad a million years ago in college. (They also make blank books and I carry one around as my sketchbbook). Unfortunately, I don’t make notes every day, and I find with the page a day format, I’m wasting a lot of pages.

This year, I decided to do something different. I found a notebook I liked, and then in the beginning of the book, I added calendar pages. There’s a little software program called DynamicTemplates that allows you to print out calendar pages just for this purpose in all different sizes. I used some leafy paper I had stashed, and I’m using a binder clip to make it easy to flip from the calendar section to my listmaking section.

I like how the notebook is spiral bound so there’s a place to put the pen. This particular notebook also has graph paper and a little pocket in the back.

I know there are lots of much more creative handmade planners out there (You can see a bunch on flickr, but I was able to put this together in an hour or so, and now I’m actually using it, lots.) Alright, time to go cross blogging off of today’s list.

“The Three Musketeers” is what Dotty, who owns The Net Loft and taught this class called us when she sent me this picture. My friends Becca and Pam and I got together on Friday morning to learn how to create patterns in lace and texture on the rigid heddle loom. We ended up spending all day working on our little tweed plaid bags. We got the weaving done, but I still need to line mine and make a strap and sew it all together. I’ll post finished photos when I’m done. I really like the rigid heddle loom because it’s small enough to put away when it’s not in use and Dotty taught us a warping method that’s relatively fast and easy.

UPDATE: Here’s a picture of Becca beginning to warp-it’s a bit of a dance, but it does simplify the process quite a bit.

James bought me one for my birthday which I still need to oil and assemble, but it’s just like the looms we were using here in the class, from Ashford. We used Jo Sharp Tweed yarns-the colors are great and the yarns are very soft, and soften considerably with washing.

What I didn’t notice before seeing this picture is that all of our yarns matched what we were wearing that day!

Selma started fourth grade today.

Of course, she chose her own first-day-of-school outfit, including the jacket which was my mom’s in college. Yeah, my mom is pretty tiny. I love school supplies, clean crisp notebooks, backpacks, new pencils. Since I don’t get to go back to school, but I do need a new date book/organizer right about now, I’ve treated myself to a new notebook and I’m going to try making a little diy date book. I’ll show pictures if it turns out photo-worthy.

I finished a little project this week using Organik from The Fibre Company. It’s a squishy single ply that’s 70% organic merino, 15% Alpaca and 15% silk. I can only show you a little sneek peak because it’s for an upcoming book. (Oh yes, it’s knitting).

This morning I took a cross stitch class at The Net Loft. The event was billed as a tea and stitching time to celebrate the first day of school. Dotty has been having some great classes this summer, and I love doing things at the shop that I wouldn’t ordinarily do at home. We started and finished a tiny cross-stitched forget-me-not and inserted it into this sweet little English ceramic box.

Here’s the pattern Dotty created for the class. I love how organized she is-look how the threads each have a little place right on the pattern card.

There’s enough thread and fabric to make another flower, so I think Selma’s going to give it a try.

I’m off to watch the new season of Project Runway!

I tried to think of some witty post title about felting, but they all seemed too cheesy.  At any rate, Selma and I taught needle felting last week at The Net Loft. Students made little needle felted portraits on craft felt and then framed them. Selma and I had made little portraits as class samples. Mine is a bit of fireweed:

Selma’s is an Alaskan black bear:

So, after we got our students going we worked on other projects.

Selma made this wee chick, nest and eggs:

(I’m particularly fond of the feet).

I made a little needle-felted pendant:

Yesterday I met a knitting/crafter blogger mom who’s visiting Cordova. Her blog is called Gypsy Forest, and shows the many beautiful things she makes. I’m looking forward to following her as she gets to know her new surroundings in Lousisiana where her family has just moved.

Tomorrow night we’re having a “yarn tasting” at The Net Loft. I’ve never been to a yarn tasting. Should I have dinner first? I’ll take pictures and report back.

My friend Becca (rav link), who grew up in Valdez, Alaska, and who modeled these socks for me helped me pick the name. Landlocked Bay is just around the corner from Cordova, and it used to have a big coal mine, so the beaches are black. Becca said that when she was a kid there was a huge anchor on the beach there.

Crocheted from the toe-up, these socks offer durability with a single-crocheted toe and heel as well as softness and stretch by crocheting in the back-loop for the body of the sock. The arch increases are placed within the anchor design on the front of the foot, and the sock offers lots of opportunities to customize the fit.

One of the fun things about this sock is that even though the heel is what is traditionally called an “afterthought” heel, it is actually worked before the ankle of the sock. That way, if you were unsure of how much yarn you had, you could make the feet of both socks and then just use up as much yarn is left on the ankles making them as tall as you needed to.

This pattern is going to be available as part of a small booklet that I’m working on with Marliana Bird that will be distributed by Bijou Basin Ranch to yarn stores and on their web site. It’s also available as a PDF download now. And, if you’re in Portland for Sock Summit, you can find it at the Bijou Basin Ranch booth.

$5.50

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.