“Thick N Quick” Cap is . . . Quick!

I made this for a neighbor-boy.  Took only a few days.After taking this photo, we found it looked better with the BACK part of the brim folded up, versus the FRONT part.  I failed to get another photo, however; he’s 4 years old and moves around a lot.

I had given up on this yarn (Jiffy Thick & Quick, by Lion Brand; color “Ozarks”), and put it in the “go-out” bag, but decided to give it another go from a different angle.  The main problem was that this very bulky yarn needed to be worked on US size 15 needles, and my dpns in that size are home-made from dowling and not especially smooth.  The yarn kept catching horribly!  I have a 24″ circular with nice metal tips, but I consider that length too short for magic loop, and too long for a child’s hat.  What to do?  I NEVER make hats flat, shunning the idea of a seam inside a snug cap, and especially with yarn so thick as this.  But, this time, I did.  I got out my nice 24″ Addi Turbo, and cast on 6 stitches.  I kept first and last stitches in stockinette, and increased until “big enough” — my target was 17″ or so.  The stitches actually stretched out near enough to the tips that I was able to join into the round at this point and continue the cap body in the round.  Phew!  I worked 3 ridges in garter stitch on 13’s at the bottom, and made a sewn bind-off after a purl round.  Now to deal with the gap at the top! I had left a long tail, wound into a butterfly, at the top.  I used this to work the seam — but I “unvented” a new way to do that seam, because I didn’t want it to “take in” even a half-stitch on either side.  My solution?  Rather like duplicate stitching a single column of stitches, catching one leg of each stitch on each side as I went along.  (I felt SO CLEVER!)

See the seam?  It’s the column of red stitches going up the center there.

Looked at with the ends-of-round facing the camera, I think that the change from stockinette to garter stitch, and the bind-off edge, and the seam all look pretty good.My sweet-smiling recipient likes it, to boot — a winner!  (Hurray!!)

Autumn is Definitely Falling around Here

We had a very blustery Monday, and it made quite a change in our foliage.

Here’s the maple tree in front of our house.

Maple BEFORE; 14 October

Maple AFTER; 27 October

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But what first brought my attention to the change was the locust tree in the back yard — I see it out the sliding-glass-door when I sit down to breakfast.  More specifically, the sight of our back porch!

Patio covered in fallen locust leaves!

Here are views of the source-tree.  (As you can see, the aspens have not fully turned, down here near town.  On the Peaks, they are past their peak of color.)

Locust BEFORE: 19 October

Locust DURING: 26 October

Locust AFTER; 27 October

Kilt Hose Mending

This summer was the third time Aaron Shaw had mending for me to do.  His kilt hose are splendid — the work of Debra Gilding of D&D Natural Fiber Co. — and I’d hate to see them come to the end of their useful life.  They had to wait until after I finished the pair for Robert (posted to him last week — yay!), so I’ve only just finished the job.

kilt hose "in the field" -- argyll matches his tartan

toe hole re-knit with Cascade Heritage

back-of-heel hole fixed and stitches picked up for new heel

I first learned to repair knits from Rena Crockett’s book, Flawless Knit Repair, and used her techniques in 2008 and 2009.  I’ve modified them this year — simpler.

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That heel hole is just above last year’s repair (brown) and reinforcement with nylon (purple)  The whole thing was starting to look a bit ragged and thin, so I knit a new heel.

picking up stitches in first row of old heel

new short-row heel that closely matches shape and size of original

grafting new heel over final row of old (marked with thread)

Aspens are Starting to Change

First clear signs of yellow in the aspens on the San Francisco Peaks this week!

far

near / zoomed-in

Autumn Approaches and Kilt Hose are Done!

First, the knitting:

the cuff on his favorite pair

cuff on new pair

I am pleased.

I very much hope that Robert will be pleased as well.

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Fall is definitely coming to the Colorado Plateau.

We expect our first overnight freeze of the season tonight.

The sumac has gone through it’s colors, and is getting rather bare.

14 September

21 September

1 October

3 October

7 October

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But the locust is just beginning to change.

7 October

Meanwhile, inside, the geranium and cactus are happily putting out buds and new “leaves”, respectively.

And this morning, we have the first snow on the Peaks!

Nearly Done with Forest Green Kilt Hose

Soooooo close!

I’ve bound off the first cuff with Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-Off and am now about halfway through the second cuff.

I may try a different BO on that one (one developed by Susan Rainey), and see which I prefer — both for looks, for lying flat, and for stretch.

I also think I may decide to shorten the cuff by a half-rep (2 rounds) in the cabled area, as the first one turned out a bit longer than I’d originally planned.  Robert’s favorite pair have 3 3/4″ cuffs; but these are just over 4″ tall past the turn-over.  Close.  Still not sure.

Both will match when I’m done!  🙂

Perhaps I’ll also make a video tutorial comparing these 2 “stretchy” bind-offs. . . .