Last week I was thinking it would be fun to make something valentiney, and then while I was working at The Net Loft, I re-discovered the Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Worsted semi-solid colors. This combined with the fact that I’m currently taking a knitting class in designing nordic mittens led me to try out a stranded hat with the new yarn and Valentine theme. I’m considering it a warm-up for the crocheted fair-isle bear sweater I’m about to start. I was out of practice doing crocheted colorwork, and I had to play around a bit with holding the yarn to get a comfortable technique. I ended up holding both colors in the left hand.

I began the hat at the top, and concentrated the increases instead of spiraling them throughout the crown so that I didn’t have to worry about changing colors and increasing at the same time. I also didn’t want obvious increase lines since the color patterning is what should get the attention.

I used the special tapestry crochet graph paper from Carol Ventura‘s More Tapestry Crochet to initially chart the hearts. The slanted graph paper shows what the charts look like in crocheted stitches which don’t stack vertically, especially when worked in the round. I then transferred it to standard graph paper so it’s easier to follow while crocheting.

Then after working the heart chart, I worked even to create the rolled brim. (BTW, the mist on the lake behind me? They call that “frozen fog.” Selma and I think the back yard looks like Narnia under the rule of the White Witch.)

I didn’t write a conventional pattern, but I drew out the chart so if you want to make the hat too, you can.

I used a partial skein of skein of Lamb’s Pride in Creme (M-10) and almost the whole skein of Strawberry Smoothies (M-200). My gauge with a 5mm hook was about 4.3 sts per inch. The hat has about a 23″ circumference.

Starting with 6 sts, I doubled in the sts in the 2nd and 3rd rounds and again in the 5th. In rnd 9, I increased again in every other st, and in rnd 12 in every 3rd st for a total of 96 sts. I increased once more to 99 sts before beginning the hearts.

The chart represents 1/2 of the hat. So, you’ll continue each pattern row as you began to the end of the round. (The rounds are spiraled, but I’d recommend placing a marker at the beginning, so you can keep track.) The x’s mark the white stitches. Clicking on the chart will take you to its flickr page where you can download a hi-res version.

Like I said, I had to fiddle a bit before getting comfortable again changing colors. I made a little (low-quality) video so you could see what I ultimately ended up doing. It also demonstrates how to yarn over with the new color in the stitch before the color change.

Let me know if you have questions. I’d be happy to answer them. We’re taking a trip to Anchorage with the kids for Valentine’s day. It will be my first time on the ferry in Prince William Sound and I’m looking forward to it. We’ll be seeing the new movie Coraline based on the book by Neil Gaiman that Selma got for Christmas and loved, and we’ll be stocking up on chocolate hard-to-find groceries.

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.

UPDATE: We’re Changing the date for Fair Use in Art and Craft Day to May 1st, so we all have more time to work on our projects.

Tonight I was talking to my brother about the recent revelation that the AP is suing Shepard Fairey over his derivative use of one of their photos in creating his iconic HOPE poster. We were both upset at what is obviously an attack on fair use. (I wrote about fair use last spring, and there’s a nice article explaining it on the Stanford University web site. Essentially it is part of copyright law that allows limited use of others’ copyrighted work). We feel that Fairey’s poster is a clear example of the Transformative Factor of fair use. Here’s a description of that factor from the Stanford University Web Site.

• Has the material you have taken from the original work been transformed by adding new expression or meaning?
• Was value added to the original by creating new information, new aesthetics, new insights and understandings?In a parody, for example, the parodist transforms the original by holding it up to ridicule. Purposes such as scholarship, research or education may also qualify as transformative uses because the work is the subject of review or commentary.

(Photo of Fairey poster Flickr by user Steve Rhodes, CC, Some Rights Reserved.)

We’re hoping a groundswell of support for fair use and Fairey might be created by actually exercising fair use. So we’re inviting you to do just that:

On May 1st post to Flickr, your blog, facebook or anywhere else, a picture of art or craft you created exercising the transformative factor of fair use in the spirit of Shepard Fairey.

What can you do until then?

• Work on your craft or art
• Spread the word by linking, or tweeting to this blog post. (Here’s a short sentence you can easily tweet):Creating transformative work for Celebrate Fair Use in Art and Craft Day: May 1st, 2009. http://tinyurl.com/fairday
  

• Sign up for the facebook event.

Selma came home from school in the middle of the day with a stomach ache. As she was convalescing, she re-discovered my stack of fiber-related children’s books. After reading Cashmere If You Can, she decided to write a review, and we thought it would be fun to share it with you. The following is Selma’s book review.

Cashmere if you Can, written by Terron Shaefer and illustrated by Christopher Corr is a funny and fantastic book. It’s about a goat that becomes a super model. It is great for children and adults of all ages, and it even has a moral of honesty and truth. It is a goat’s life story. Wawa (the goat) and her family live in a city that’s inside a canyon called New Rock in Mongolia. They live on everything tourists leave behind. One day, Wawa’s little brother Hauhau found a camera that was his sister’s ticket to fame. The illustrations in the book are colorful, abstract and cartoony. The book may be short, but it is not for babies. To find out the rest of the story, you have to read the book.

Here is my favorite illustration:

I like how the illustrator fits everyday things (like graffiti and art) into a totally not everyday story.

I got a bit of a late start today. My work continues on the teddy bear book–I’m completing a pair of swim trunks today (I hope), and earlier this morning one of my two guest designers, Robyn Chachula, mailed me her contribution. She’s posted a sneak peek on her blog. I can’t wait to see the whole thing.

I had to slow down this morning because I’d invited a couple of people over for coffee and stitching. Last night, when searching around for something to make for them (I originally had thought muffins, but wasn’t really inspired in the muffin department), I remembered that a few years ago, I adapted a coffee cake recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. This is one of those recipes that you can usually whip up on the fly because most ingredients are probably in your pantry. It’s fluffy and sweet with a nice crumb and a yummy streusel topping. The only thing I’d change is the color–I’d like it to be a darker golden brown, I might have to play around with adding something like coffee or brown sugar to make the cake a little darker.

Here’s the recipe:

Dry

1 1/2 c flour
3/4 c sugar
2 1/2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt

Wet

1/2 c unsweetened soy milk
1/4 c + 1 T canola oil
1/4 c water
1 T arrowroot powder (substitute cornstarch or tapioca flour)

Topping

1/4 c brown Sugar
2 T flour
1 1/2 t cinnamon
3 T margarine
3/4 c chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 375. Grease a 9×9 square baking pan. Prepare topping: mix sugar, flour and cinnamon. Cream in margarine, stir in nuts. Set aside. Whisk together dry ingredients and set aside. Whisk together wet ingredients. Combine wet with dry and stir until smooth. Pour into baking pan. Spread topping over batter. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until done.

Just a few days left and the hat and scarf I designed for the Twist Collective will no longer be free! After February 1st, the Elissa hat and scarf will be available for sale on their web site, but until then, you can still download it. (via the Twist blog)

Feel free to Tweet/Retweet this post by simply pasting the following into Twitter:

Countdown for Elissa: Amy (@plainsight)’s hat & scarf pattern available free at Twist Collective only until Feb 1 http://tinyurl.com/alzv5f

It’s interesting (and a relief) to finally begin to dig down into my virtual and actual to-do piles now that I’m  catching up on things after the move. In May, right before moving, I was putting the finishing touches on a few new patterns, getting them ready for the Columbus TNNA trade show, having photoshoots and finalizing pattern details. Then, the movers came, and the actual “publishing” of the patterns got delayed. (Even though I had mentioned most of them on the blog back in the spring). So, over the next few weeks, I’ll be releasing them one-by-one.

Since we’re already on the subject of soft and warm yak yarn, I thought I’d start with Yogan’s Hat.

This was my first experience knitting with 100% yak down, and it was lovely and natural feeling, and perfect for being next to sensitive baby skin. The yarn was soft and springy while I was working with it, but after I finished the hat, I gave it a quick wash and it bloomed and softened even more.  The beautiful chocolate brown is the natural color of the yak. As with the Cosmopolitan Cowl, I actually got the inspiration for this pattern while at TNNA looking at the beautiful pictures of the yaks in Eileen and Carl‘s booth. The Yak who inspired the cap was named Yogan so I named the pattern after him.

This is Lars. I grabbed him at a neighborhood Easter egg hunt back in Takoma Park and convinced his mom to let him be my model.

You can buy the pattern PDF for $4.00.

If you have a yarn store and you’d like to offer the pattern to your customers in print or via PDF download, please visit The Stitch Cooperative.

Sometimes my designs are inspired by fashion or nature or an idea or problem I want to solve, but sometimes, they are the simple result of harmony between yarn and hook. This cowl is such a design. The quiet undulating texture and soft scalloped edges developed organically as I worked.

Forgive the self-portrait–I had to take the photo while there was still some acceptable level of daylight, and there was no one around but me. This was at noon, but it seems like nearly dusk. The sun is at such a low angle these days, we never get bright sunlight, but the sunrises and sunsets are spectacular.

At TNNA, Eileen and Carl, the owners of Bijou Basin Ranch asked me to come up with a one-skein pattern using their luscious Yak-Cormo yarn. This yarn is a bit thick and thin, and it’s soft and light as a cloud, and extremely warm. It was certainly one of the exciting yarns at this years’ show. Clara wrote about it in her recent TNNA recap. I had first envisioned using it for a lace pattern, but the yarn wanted to be more of a solid fabric. I was chatting with Jess, who helped me wind the yarn in the bar/lobby of my hotel on Saturday night, and she mentioned she had been thinking of a feather and fan cowl which is the idea that eventually lead to the textured stitch you see here.

I checked in with Eileen on Sunday morning, and she liked the direction the cowl was going, so I proceeded, happy to have something non-teddy-bear-related to work on. The plane ride home was all it took to finish, and I put it to the test today. It did a great job keeping me warm in Cordova where it was crisp and in the high twenties today. (It didn’t help me remember that it takes extra time to scrape off the car before going anywhere so I was late to work at the yarn store this afternoon. By the way, nowhere else I have lived have I found frost INSIDE the car. Does anyone else have that issue?)

In the spirit of momentum, I wrote up the pattern today, but I’d love to test it out before releasing it. So, I will give a free draft of the pattern to the first five people who request one in the comments. The pattern uses about 150 yards of fingering (sock or slightly heavier) yarn and a 2.75mm crochet hook (USC). Please don’t ask for the pattern if you don’t think you have time to test it in the next week. Thank you!

I got back Monday night from TNNA with a cold. I’m recovering, and it’s nice to be home. Cordova has noticeably more daylight than when I left. There were hurricane force winds and torrential rain while I was gone that washed away all the snow.  I’m hoping well have more snowfall before winter is over.

TNNA was productive and fun despite people’s fears about poor turnout. The yarn companies I spoke to were feeling optimistic about their place in this tough economy. It seems like people still want to knit and crochet–especially with lovely handcrafted yarns from independent companies–these were the folks who did best.

I’ve been trying to remember to check up on the Knit and Crochet Today web site to find the URL for my Step by Step socks pattern. It’s there now. You can now download the PDF for free.

I know, I should be done with the holiday baking. But we were invited for dinner at a friend’s house the other night, so I made a batch of cookies to bring along. I also made quick work of eating the extras we had lying around the house. These cookies are dangerous, I have no resistence to them. It’s great to have a go-to vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe. This one is authentic, tollhouse-style, and it’s also easy using standard pantry ingredients.

I made just a few adaptations to Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s recipe from The Post Punk Kitchen blog. I doubled the recipe, and used a 15ml (1 Tablespoon) melon baller to scoop out the dough, which got me about 5 dozen 2-inch cookies. I did not flatten them, the oven took care of that nicely. I also baked at 360 degrees for nine minutes. If you read the PPK post you’ll see lots of comments with ideas for creative adaptation including adding cinnamon, pecans, dried cranberries. I’m sure that would be delicious too, but I’d rather not let anything get between me and a chocolate chip.