Ravelympics 2010

I decided to enter my Wavy Baby Blanket and Retro Ribbed Socks into the WIP and Sock Hockey Events, respectively, for Ravelympics 2010. I finished the blanket in time, but I am still working on the second sock! AND, when it became apparent I wouldn't finish the socks in time, I decided to knit a headband inspired by an Anthropologie one my student was wearing.

Wavy Baby Blanket
I basically took the Wavy Scarf pattern, CO enough stitches for 3 repeats, then knit the 44 rows about 3 1/2 times (I wanted 4 repeats, but I ran out of yarn!). Don't the waves look really fancy? Anyway, I started this blanket last May for a baby that was born in August. Then, my defense date got pushed up so I dropped the project and didn't touch it until the Ravelympics. AND I decided to give this to a friend's baby due this July.

I'll post my socks once I finish BOTH of them.

"Anthropologie" Headband
The rage this year seems to have been headbands and hats with big puffy flowers, generally not my sort of thing. BUT, my student wore this really pretty olive green one and I asked her where she got it from and she said Anthropologie. I told her I would just knit it myself so I studied it and picked up my US 7 circular needles using leftover Berroco Comfort yarn. I'm sure a similar pattern exists out there, but I was modeling it after that headband with my own little twists.
CO 92 stitches and knit in the round
K1, P1 for 4 rows
St st until desired height (~3”, I wanted larger than my ears)
K1, P1 for 4 rows, bind off
For the flower, I just used the Lydia Flowers pattern and attached a button I had.

I like it! I may make one for myself!

Bacon Cheese Turtleburger

So my friend Winnie sent me this link to make Bacon Cheese Turtleburgers. I showed it to my boyfriend and he said we just had to make these. So we went to the store and bought the ingredients. We decided to buy Angus beef hamburger, Ballpark franks, Oscar Meyer Thick bacon, and sliced Vermont Cheddar Cheese. We were really treating ourselves.



First, I was going to make quarter-pound burgers. They looked horribly off-scale with the hotdogs. I made half-pound burgers and added one slice of cheese (next time will add 2, in for a penny afterall).







Then, the thick bacon was actually too wide...so I had to cut it in half length-wise. I wrapped the bacon around the burger in a basketweave formation. I cut two hotdogs into thirds and used them for 4 legs, a head, and a tail. I cut slits into the legs so when cooked the hotdog would separate to look like toes. I cut the tail into a sharp point.



I baked in the oven at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, cut into one, and it wasn't done. I guess my half-pound burger was too big! I cooked for another 12 minutes and it was perfect!






I had to cut it in half to fit into my bun. Doesn't it look like this heart attack is worth it?

NEXT time, I will make a quarter-pound burger and use mini-hotdogs, with two slices of cheese, and maybe a maple bacon.

Cabled Neck Warmer

This is meant to go with my Cabled Ponytail Hat. I used a garter st border, but any border would work. I also like to slip the first stitch in every row. I find it helps lay scarves and blankets flat on the edges (thanks Cathy!). This pattern is easy to modify to change the width or the length to make into a scarf. The cable pattern is in a stitch count of 16, plus one p2 at the start, plus a border. The cable pattern repeats every 12 rows with the 1st cable row occurring at row 1 and the 2nd cable row occurring at row 7.

Cabled Neck Warmer
-US 7 straight needles
-Cascade 220 Superwash Paints (worsted weight)
-s1 = slip 1 stitch as if to knit
-C6F = place 3 stitches on cable needle to the front, K3 from the left needle, then K3 from cable needle

CO 42 st

R1-R4: knit across

R5: sl 1, k3, p2 (k2, p2) repeat until last 4, k4
R6: sl 1, k3, knit the knits and purl the purls until last 4, k4
repeat R5-R6 2x

R11 (initial 1st cabling row): sl 1, k3, p2 (C6F, p2, k2, p2, k2, p2) 2x, k4
R12-R16: s1, k3, knit the knits, and purl the purls until last 4, k4
R17 (2nd cabling row): sl1, k3, p2 (k6, p2, C6F, p2) 2x, k4
R18-R22: as R12-R16
R23 (1st cabling row throughout): s1, k3, p2 (C6F, p2, k6, p2) 2x, k4
R24-R28: as R12-R16
R29: as R17
R30-R34: as R12-R16
repeat R23-R34 until desired length (I started the end of the warmer at R150 to match the start of the warmer and include button holes)

R150: sl1, k5 (p2, k2, p2, k2, p6) 2x, k4
R151-R154: sl1, k3, knit the knits and purl the purls until last 4, k4
R155: sl1, k3, p2 (C6F, p2, k2, p2, k2, p2) 2x, k4
R156: sl1, k5 (p2, k2, p2, k2, p2, k2, p2, k2) 2x, k4
R157-R158: as R151-R154
R159 (button hole row): sl1, k3, p2, k2, p2, slip 2nd purl st over the 1st purl, k1, slip knit st over the purl, k1, p2, k2, p2, k2, p2, slip 2nd purl st over the 1st purl, k1, slip knit st over the purl, k1, p2, k2, p2, k2, p2, slip 2nd purl st over the 1st purl, k1, slip knit st over the purl, k1, p2, k4
R160: sl1, k3, knit the knits and purl the purls, but CO 2 st for each button hole, k4
R161: sl1, k3, knit the knits and purl the purls until last 4, k4
R162-R166: knit across

BO and weave in the ends

Cabled Ponytail Hat

It's been a long time. I have since defended my thesis and am now a doctor :) So knitting time has increased.

The following is a hat for me and is the merge of two different patterns, and my second attempt, to make a pony-tail hat (Hannah hat) with a little bit of flair (Sarah's cabled hat), both of which are available as ravelry's downloads. I got permission from both of them to publish in my blog so here is what I did.

Cabled Ponytail Hat
-US 7 straight needles (14" +)
-US 7 DPNs
-size is med/large? I wanted it stretchy, to see the cables, without it being overstretched, that would give me a headache. I normally wear medium knit hats...and I hate gauging, especially with cables
-Cascade 220 Superwash Paints (worsted weight)
-C6F = place 3 stitches on cable needle to the front, K3 from the left needle, then K3 from cable needle
-C4F = same as above only with 2 on the cable needle, K2 from the left, then K2 from the cable
-C2F = same
-k2tog = knit 2 st together
-p2tog = purl 2 st together

CO 148 (do not join)

Flap with 3 button holes:
R1-R4: (k2, p2) until the end (2x2 ribbing--works really well to flow with the cables)
R5 (button hole row): (k2, p2) until last 5 stitches, p1, slip previous st over st just p, k1, slip previous st over st just k, k1, p2.
R6: k2, p2, cast on 2 st over gap, p2, (k2, p2) until end
R7-10 (and R13-16, R19-21): repeat R1-R4
R11, 12 (and 17, 18): repeat R5, 6

You can stop it at row 15 if you like for 2 button hole rows if you have a smaller head than me and decrease the CO to 132 st (stitch count of 16 repeated for the cable pattern in 12 rows).

Brim (can just bind off, and start cabling pattern immediately, but at the time I wanted to sort of separate this for this hat--didn't really come out the way I wanted so I would skip this)
R22: BO first 20 st, then p across R22
R23: p across

Body of the hat (cabling; this 16 st repeat has alternating cabling twists that flow from the 2x2 ribbing)
R24 (1st cable row): (C6F, p2, k2, p2, k2, p2) repeat until end
next 5 rows: knit the knits and purl the purls
R30 (2nd cable row): (k6, p2, C6F, p2) repeat until end
next 5 rows: knit the knits and purl the purls
R36: (C6F, p2, k6, p2) repeat until end
next 5 rows: knit the knits and purl the purls
repeat R30-36 for the length you want before you start your decreases. Start on a cabling row.

Decreasing on even rows (decrease by 1 stitch per repeat following cabling pattern)
R42 (like R30): (k2, k2tog, k2, p2, C6F, p2) repeat until end
all odd rows: knit the knits and purl the purls
R44: (k1, k2tog, k2, p2, k6, p2) repeat until end
R46: (k4, p2tog, k6, p2) repeat until end
I joined onto DPNs at R48. This depends on how high you want to wear your ponytail and I wear mine pretty high. You can join when you start decreasing if you wear a lower ponytail.
R48 (join, like R36): (C4F, p1, k2, k2tog, k2, p2) repeat until end
R50: (k4, p1, k1, k2tog, p2) repeat until end
R52: (k4, p1, k4, p2tog) repeat until end
R54: (k1, k2tog, k1, p1, C4F, p1) repeat until end

Decreasing every row (crown)
R55: (k2tog, k1, p1, k4, p1) repeat until end
R56: (C2F, k2tog, k3, p1) repeat until end
R57: (k3, k2tog, k1, p1) repeat until end
R58: (k2, k2tog, k1, p1) repeat until end
R59: (k3, k2tog) repeat until end
R60: (k2tog, C2F) repeat until end
R61: (k2tog, k1) repeat until end
R62: (k2tog) repeat until end

Finishing
Cut yarn and thread tail on to a yarn needle. Slip remaining stitches onto yarn needle and pull stitches tightly and secure. Weave in ends and attach buttons.

BU Stitch Markers

Look at what my friend Cathy Waldie sent to me! She makes these! And I love them! I'm sure she's giving me a big hint to start knitting a sweater so I can be a real knitter :)

My bf and friend thought these were earrings and wanted to know why they looked like candy canes...they are my school colors. Go terriers! Thanks so much Cathy!

Other random knitting

I finished my chocolate chip dishcloth also from my friend Cathy to match my Christmas lace sack sock. This is for my own personal kitchen so overall its taking forever (since everyone is having babies--need baby things now lol). I posted pics of my sock before.

Here's part of my mom's Christmas gift (yes, already, but I wanted to endeavor to make things other than hats). This is an oven mitt from knitpicks. I have to felt it still but I wanted to take a before picture. The close up is my first Kitchener stitch, which I'm quite happy with! I will make the pot holder, and perhaps another oven mitt for both hands (I bought enough of this yarn I think).

I'm now knitting a burp cloth in just a basic stockinette pattern with garter stitch border. I wanted it for gauging purposes to make something more fun, but we'll see!

Pouffy Baby Blanket

I finished my friend's baby blanket, my first one. Pattern comes from Cathy, per my usual choice for first time projects. Its her puffy basketweave baby blanket, but I call it pouffy since it just seems more appropriate to me. Its ~40" x 40" and I decided to use two yarns unlike Cathy's pattern. Basically I couldn't stand knitting something so large in one color. I wrapped a baby-sized stuffed animal with the blanket to give you some sort of scale. Aww. Now its time to knit more baby things. Why is everyone having babies right now?