Pattern Published

I did it .. managed to get it typed out and it even still manages to make sense :D

You can find the pattern at Chalices Hat Pattern along with pdf links for your convenience ..

For Ravelry users it's been added to my designs .. G's Stitches

Looping Chalices

After a false start and a really twitty error, I finally got my hat for ME finished. On the chunky cable beret I used the wrong weight. For some stooopid reason I thought that I had a worsted weight yarn while it was a double knit / sport weight. So I was lucky it was big enough to be considered a beanie LOL .. I'll do that one again, with the proper weight yarn.

Now back to the main topic .. my hat .. I wanted a hat that would hold the rat's nest that I call hair in a manageable fashion as well as a hat that wouldn't make me look like a total git .. me and hats .. ICK!! We just do NOT get along - They are not flattering to me in the least - not even ball hats .. So i was looking for a slouchy type beret hat that would cover all these requirements for me .. I sort of found one, but you know how that worked out, so I decided to flip thru a stitch dictionary I have 440 More Knitting Stitches and found a few all over lace patterns that I liked so a swatching I went.

Horseshoe

Chalice

Oriel

I really liked the horseshoe and the chalice .. the Oriel .. well that was wrong on so many different levels it wasn't funny . something with my yarn over or yarn over needle went wonky .. so that one was out for the time being .. But I opted for the Chalice pattern .. I found it to be delicate and with this specific yarn the details still stood out enough to make out ..

It only took a few day to do, even with some back stitching as i was easily distracted (Oh look, a shiny thing! plus contending with my back again .. But I really do like it and it looks pretty nice on me surprisingly enough!! I was worried that I would look like Toad from Super Mario Brothers, Princess Zelda, but I really don't! Reg rather giggles a bit when he sees it at first .. heartless bugger, but I think that he's more doing that to get under my skin than it looks really awful ..

it IS warm!! I've to write the pattern out to put on FiberBabble pattern Blog as well as make a scarf for me .. I can call this one a success :D

Re-stitch 2010 ...

Just a wee bit early for me .. I was watching the mercury drop and drop and drop as it got colder and colder for that week before Christmas .. so i went digging for patterns .. found some beauties, then dove into my stash .. hmmmm - okay this isn't going to work .. i've stripes, marls, marbles - or black .. i do NOT want black .. grumbles ..what to do ... what to do ... AHA! I know it's only early December, but why can't I start my Recycle project a wee bit early .. find a sweater, frog it and then make a hat n scarf :D w00t w00t w00t .. i'm so clever!! heh

Let's take a few steps back here .. i've an issue with hats ... they look like garbage on me .. even ball hats look horrid .. so I don't wear them .. when we had a car, earwarmers were great .. but no car this year .. soooo - i have a choice .. freeze my kazots off, or buckle and find a hat .. what i decided on was a type of beret / slouch hat .. large enough to hold the rat's nest i call hair, and classy enough I might not look like a total git in it! Then I would make a scarf that matches .. found some really nice ones and added them to my scarf queue ..

So off to the local thrift shop .. I found 2 beauties to use .. and started with the plum coloured one since it matches the dark trim on my coat .. i've a lavender coat so this does look good .. only concern it's a fuzzy type yarn .. but that's cool .. makes life a wee bit tricky to knit with at times .. but I'll adapt :D First off I took off the collar and then started to work on the hood .. next victim was a sleeve ... Now I had more than enough to do a hat (I didn't frog the collar - just the hood and sleeve) at this point and that's all I needed to jump in both feet without looking.

I start working on a chunky cabled beret ... knitted up great .. now I did this double stranded and my cast on was too tight, so that made the ribbing band TIGHT .. easy enough to fix .. rung the needles thru the ribbing stitches, unravel it to the needles and do a ribbing w larger needles :D Awesome plan .. but for some reason it ended up small .. I put it on my husband goes .. you look like the Pope ... :O I put it on and show my friend helene and told her what reg said .. she laughed and said .. well you do! LMAO .. oi vay! I knit it to gauge CRAP!!!!! So froggy came visiting and took my Pope beanie away .. You do realize that's the second project that i've frogged at starbucks .. altho that would've been frogged regardless .. so while frogging I had my stitch dictionary with me and started to look thru the panels .. and then I had a nova thought ...

I decided that I would write my own pattern that would fit my rat's nest and go from there .. and it would have a matching scarf to go with it :D Since the yarn is fuzzy, I've opted to do test swatches of the panels I like the best and decide how they look in this yarn and see how they knit up with this weight yarn at this gauge ... So far - one is done .. the horseshoe panel - done over 2 panels and the pattern 3 times ..

Once I post this, I'll be starting on the next panel .. I hope to have even a quick pic and blurb to put up for both of them before the end of the week .. but please do not hold your breath .. time hits a warp around me lately and runs off at mach 9 .. seriously .. where does it bloody well go!?!?!

anywho .. wish me luck and I do plan to have fun on it .. we do have a community site ready to launch soon .. keep an eye on this page for future announcements ..

OMG .. I am such a freeeken twit! Yes I know .. you've heard this before .. well twit for brains here started to look at the yarn she was using .. now, while the swatch knitted up to gauge that was with me doing double stranded knitting for the first time AND my tension was rather wibbly .. so of course as I get used to it .. it evens out .. so of course the beret wouldn't fit .. i was using worsted and NOT bulky .. oi vay .. some days i should seriously lock myself away for sharp objects .. pfft

Underground RR ... again :S; updated layout

Not sure how i feel about all that brown .. it looks to me like there's going to be a brown blob in the middle edges of my quilt - while the rest of it will be more colourful ..

After I finished the middle section the other day, I brought all the sections to my bedroom and laid them out on the bed .. nope I just didn't like it .. just tooo much ... brown splat - framing this bright center .. the design of the Underground RR block is great - I just love that look I got, but not with that ..

I've been looking at it and looking at it and I'm just not sure I want to keep the Underground RR sections like they are - I am thinking of frogging the sections apart and using them instead for the outer blocks around the quilt - more like a frame and keep the rest of the colours more in the middle .. I'm just not liking it as it looks right now ..

Again, picking colours is my clue .. can't decide on red or blue and both would work just fine - but it's not a matter of it looking fine or okay . .but do **I** like it .. and i'm not sure i do .. it's a GREAT design and look for those blocks, but does it really fit well with the look i want?? I'm thinking not more and more .. might be part of the reason that I've been dragging my feet on this .. (besides batting issues :D) - batting issues wouldn't stop me from putting the top together .. i'm just hemming and hawing at it ..

So, i'll boot up quiltpro again and fiddle around with it some more .. the more i think about it, the more I like the idea of having this quilt framed by these blocks at the edges .. and these edges are the ones that will be part of my drape off the bed .. and use more sisters blocks, ohio star, simplex star and the double X blocks .. yup - I think I like that better .. and if I need more of the Underground, I do have more of the brown vines fabric that I can make it with and use reds for the inner colours :D or creams or lighter browns that i have :D

Update

With fidding a few things around - I came up with one layout with 2 different looks dependng on if i 'spread' the colours out that I used for the center section - For the Simplex Star I would use a darker / different background so that creates a frame .. I like this so much better .. only question would be if I wanted to keep the outer sisters blocks with the same background as the inner blocks.

Comments, suggestions, praises, criticisms?? Please comment and let me know :) And if you want a response back from me, please do not leave it as no-reply@blogger.com .. rather hard to reply back to that address ;) Thanx

Thursday is for Quilting ;)

Tomorrow is going to be a great day quilt wise :D.

1. 
   The attic windows charity quilt has a home with Ruth in Georgia - I just have some diagonal quilting to do as the 90% of it is already done and it'll be time to put the label on and close up the top where I did the quilt birthing. I'll be sending this quilt along with some fabric and boo-boo blocks. It is my goal to have this quilt finished tomorrow. God willing
   
   
2. Reg's Quilt has finally resolved itself in my mind .. i'm going to do a variation of double irish chain. Since my quilt pro is so outdated, it won't accept new fabric images from me .. so, this is a close representation of the fabric that I'm going to use. The background isn't country but is off-white in colour and has flowers and 'foilage' that pulls most of the colours that are represented together; the greens, reds and blue are pretty close in tone and hue. This quilt is all strip piecing then cutting, so this shouldn't take me all that long to do. it was fun getting all these colours to work together .. The colours I ended up with are not the colours that I started with for the most part. Reg's quilt should go very quickly for me. Cut strips, piece, cut and resew ;) .. voila .. gotta love quick quilts. And he will prolly only use it for the winter to keep his feet and legs warm, so this one needs to get soon!
   
   
3. 
   Kyle's quilt is finally back in blocks - I finished that this afternoon. I'll press the blocks then square them up. Then sew them all back together :S .. I hate it when I'm a twit! Hopefully that will teach me .. prolly not tho. I'm going to finish up Kyle's top after I get reg's fabric cut out. I still need to get some backing for this quilt so there isn't that much of a hurry to get this all together until I have the backing fabric.
   

I'm going to have a busy day tomorrow me thinks .. wonder how much I will get done .. it will be GREAT to cross off items on this very old list .. But Lordy is it GREAT to be back sewing again!!! WOOO HOOOO **kittyhappydance