Here are my three kids in front of the tree we picked out for Christmas. I’m including it here so 1) you can see how huge my kids are and 2) you can see the hats they are wearing.

T1 (the tall one) is wearing a hand spun, hand knit hat done in “safety orange”. That’s so you don’t get shot at during hunting season. Each boy has a hat somewhat like this. The color is roving from Ashford, but I don’t know if they still make it. It really is florescent.

T2 (the middle sized one) is wearing a hat in Maine wool (heavy worsted) made on my knitting machine. It was too small for me, so I gave it to him. It’s based on a hat we sell at Unique One called the Reversible Hat. There are four layers of wool over the ears. Toasty!

T3 (the small kid) is wearing one of the very first hats I ever knit. It was for one of his older brothers. I had just learned to knit (note that it has a seam; this is from before I knew how to rewrite patterns to knit in the round). The pattern is Yankee Knitter hats and mittens and is available at the store. I knit it in bulky weight Lamb’s Pride Worsted.

I’ve been drooling for chocolate brown yarns for the past year or so and after trying out about twenty different combinations of yarn, I came up with this:

I love how it came out, even though I don’t think these colors are my best. I’m toying with the idea of knitting another one . . .

But my sister’s family is a pro-ball family. For the last two years she has requested Patriots hats for her gang (she also has three boys, but she wisely gave them each their own initials). These hats are knit in Encore worsted, my yarn of choice for non-hand-washing-families. I made up the patterns as I went along, but did my best to make sure the stripes were each different so the kids couldn’t get them mixed up. I made hats for my DS and BIL as well.

My sister tells me that the Pats did quite well this past weekend. And that her kids all wore their hats as they watched the game on tv.

My dear, rumpled T2 on Christmas morning. He had requested a leather lace rather than the knitted one the pattern calls for. It’s in a dark green–I honestly don’t remember the exact color.

Then I moved on to T3’s sweater. I decided that it would be cool to knit the stockinette parts on the knitting machine. Being the smallest of the sweaters, it went quickly and even the machine didn’t give me too much trouble.

T3 decided he wanted a knitted lace so I ran to the machine on Christmas and attempted to make one. I failed. So, this is what it looks like without the lace. I promise to make one soon. The color is Cornflower.

When I measured T1 for his sweater it dawned on me that he really needed an adult size sweater. He’s really growing up . . . and is growing his hair out. He didn’t want any lace at all, so I changed the pattern for him.

T1’s is in Navy Heather and the stockinette parts went really quickly on the knitting machine! And, yes, it looks like a dark charcoal color, but I was so happy that he didn’t insist on black that I was very happy with what he chose.

I’m still working on T, the DH’s, sweater. The back is almost done. His is in Black Watch (a lovely dark green and black). I put it aside to complete the hats in my post for tomorrow (hey, I’ve gotta keep those nephews happy!).

Of course he immediately put on his socks (you gotta love a kid that loves to wear what you make for him!)

I’ll put up some birthday day pics later, but it’s late.

Worsted weight yarn–Encore worsted is perfect; washable and warm–much less than one skein (I may make some baby mitts to go with it)
Size 7 needles–double points and 16″ circulars
Note: this project can be done with the double point needles alone, I find that the circulars are faster and I don’t mind switching.
Stitch marker

Gauge 5 st/inch

k2tog = knit two stitches together

CO 72 st on circular needles, join in round being careful to not twist stitches

K1, P1 ribbing for 1 inch

K around for a total of 4 inches from edge

Decrease as follows, switching to DP when necessary:
row 1 *K7, k2tog*
row 2 K around
row 3 *K6, k2tog*
row 4 K around
row 5 *K5, k2tog*
row 6 K around
row 7 *K4, k2tog*
row 8 K around
row 9 *K3, k2tog*
row 10 K around
row 11 *K2, k2tog*
row 12 *K1, k2tog*
row 13 *k2tog*

Cut 12″ tail and draw tight through stitches. Do NOT weave in at this time.

Make three curly-ques:
CO 25
row 1 knit in front, in back, and in front again in each stitch (total of 75 stitches)
Cast off loosely

CO 20
row 1 knit in front, in back, and in front again in each stitch (total of 60 stitches)
Cast off loosely

CO 15
row 1 knit in front, in back,a nd in front again in each stitch (total of 45 stitches)
Cast off loosely

Weave in cast on tails. Use Cast off tail to attach curly-ques to top of hat. Tie curly-que tails and hat finishing tail together. Weave in all ends.

As a bonus, you get to see my DH.

The scarf is made with two skeins of yarn, and even though it’s a space-dyed colorway, I didn’t do anything to try to make the colors match or continue in any specific fashion when I joined the second skein. Upon hanging the scarf around my DH’s neck I noticed that the pattern came out perfectly bookmatched!

I used up all except about a foot of yarn (a tail at the cast on end and a little bit at the end) and I think this is a very nice length for a scarf.

Want to know a little secret? This is only the second hand-knit scarf I’ve ever completed (the other one was for an exchange). I usually find scarves to be long and boring and don’t finish them. In the future I will make more like this though. I really enjoyed the stitch pattern!

But I am weak and found out that the show is available on the NBC website. By the end of the first show I was hooked. I won’t go on about the show, but I encourage you to check it out.

Over about a week I watched all 22 episodes of the season and knit on this little sweater. Over that time I cried over Jason, fell in love with the stitch definition of O-Wool, rooted for the Panthers, and finished this little sweater.

The sweater is now hanging in the shop (right next to the O-Wool). I can’t say enough wonderful things about the yarn and the pattern, Minnowknits “China Doll”, was simple and fast. I plan to make something cabled out of the yarn in the future.

My friend, PJ, picked out the absolutely adorable buttons:

After six months the sweater is mine. I will change the buttons to zebras if there’s a new little boy on the horizon (one of my sisters has big plans . I think these buttons are too girly for a boy though.

I was going to write about my new project for work, but I did some searching and found out that neither the yarn nor pattern are on-line yet (brand new products from Alchemy Yarns), so I’ll have to go take pictures of the yarn and pattern at the store tomorrow. I’ll write more about it then.

Or, over the head.

Here’s a closeup. This was a fun, easy project that I’d do again. It really shows off the handpainted yarn!

Whew. But, a good whew.

I found a size 17, 29″ circular needle at Reny’s for $4.99. If you aren’t from Maine, you’ve probably never heard of Reny’s. It’s the store that means we don’t miss Target or K-mart; and the prices are better. For those of you local, the large needles are at the Camden store near the Poppycock (nuts only).

My family and I went to see Odiako New England Saturday night. Loud, lovely drumming based on Japanese drumming, taiko. The kids and I really loved the traditional songs; the contemporary ones were less thrilling. The concert was a fundraiser for the Japan exchange program at Camden Rockport Middle School, so it really was a win-win evening. Go see O.N.E. if you get the chance. It was entertaining and educational (but not TOO educational).

Today is Easter, though with over a foot of snow on the ground it’s a bit difficult for me to believe. I was raised in a place where they’ve been mowing their lawns for over a month already. We hunted for (plastic) eggs in the living room and ate the candy around the kitchen table. Because we didn’t make plans for dinner (hey, no family in town means that sometimes you just don’t think like that), we went out for Thai food at Tamarind in Rockland. The food was amazing. Each dish had its own special flavors. It was spicy and tasty. I got to see my kids devour green beans and ask for more (it helps when the green beans crunch and make your mouth tingle). Go eat there when you have the chance. Say hi to Mel, the owner and a woman I just taught to knit. She’s already on her second vest (a man’s small) and she just started knitting the middle of February!