Unknitting

This is the item I am knitting (or trying to knit).

Don and I watched the opening ceremonies of the Vancouver Olympics. He really liked the American teams hat, which was designed by Ralph Lauren. It initially sold for $75 from Lauren, $400.00 on Ebay for one that had been actually worn by an athlete during the opening ceremonies.

So I scooted on over to ravelry.com and found the pattern. Helena Bristow reverse engineered the hat and created the pattern. I downloaded the pattern and bought the suggested yarns. Well, the suggested brand of Cascade 220 100% wool. Here are the colors I chose:

The red is a little deeper. The colors are beautiful together. Here is what was suggested:

I did use the same blue, changed the red, and selected an off white. I also am knitting on US #5 needles. Initially, she recommended US #7 needles, then US #5 to cast on and US #6 for the rest of the hat. Comments on ravelry.com say the hat is enormous, so I chose to use the US #5 needles.

So I am on row 19. Rows 1-15 are knit in the round. Rows 16-18 are knit in the round. The first 15 rows fold back under the hat for a more comfortable fit against the wearer's forehead.

I can't count when I cast on, so....I am going to have to decrease a few stitches to get to 108 stitches. I did start row 19 which is the white design, then had to unknit the row because some of the stitches were dropped and I didn't pick them up correctly. Which is OK, since I get to decrease and that is the perfect place to start. Perhaps Don will have it for next winter. LOL.

I'm also going to start a pattern titled Quaker Halloween.

I was going to change the colors, but pulled the floss first to see what was used. Hmmm, someone needs a better photographer for their patterns. Here are the colors:

Sorry about the order, it is bad. I will photograph the colors myself and post them tomorrow night. Anyway, the green is brighter in real life. The main color is Concord Grape.

And I really can't find any green in the picture of the cross stitch pattern. So stay tuned.

Oh, and I am stitching on 28 count fabric, sandstone. One thread over one thread. Wish me luck!!!

Pictures!

Here are some pictures of the finished baby hat. I am giving it to my great-niece Lily because it is too big for a newborn. Lily is 18 months old and adorable. I'm going to try the same pattern with 60 stitches cast on to make it smaller. The pattern calls for size 2-3 needles, I used size 6. Oops. Always makes sense to read the directions before starting to knit. :)

I don't like the top of the hat. There's supposed to be a little knot there, but I couldn't figure it out from the directions. So I'm off to Martha's to get instructions on how to make a tassle or pom-pom for the top.

I really enjoyed knitting this pattern. It's a keeper.

Finished projects!!!

I'm so excited. I finished 2, count them, 2 projects last week.

The first is a Christmas stocking. My friends talked me into taking a knitting class, even though I gave up knitting several years ago. I could not resist a Fairisle knitting stocking in chunky yarn. I finished that stocking last Saturday. It just needs to be blocked. Here is the picture from the website, I will take a picture of my finished stocking this week and post it.

The colors in the photo really don't reflect real life. The teacher of the class has gone crazy and made the stockings out of many color combinations, even red, white, and blue.

Then I just finished another beaded Christmas ornament. It is done in deep purple and silver.

I have also started another Christmas stocking. I'd like to knit one for 2 of my sisters for Christmas. Here is a photo of the pattern. I chose an olive green, cream, and brick red for it. I didn't realize a green for Christmas stockings would be so hard to find...