It's Been a Hot Minute

This poor sweater has been languishing for decades. There were two sweaters that I wanted to make in the Spring/Summer 1991 issue of Vogue Knitting. I never finished the other one, either. We moved, and then we moved again, and then life happened, and... I recently dug it out and discovered that all it needed was the other sleeve attached, the collar knit, buttons sewn on, and the matching hat made.

The hat is a hoot. It's such an odd shape lying flat, but it looks great on the kid in the pattern picture, so I think I just need to find a four-year-old model. The instructions said to knit the hem, purl a row for the fold, knit the outside, and sew it down later. Twenty years on, I know a better trick then that - when it was time, I just knit the first and last rows together.

I'm somewhat astonished that in all these years I never lost the project, the yarn, the instructions, or even the buttons! Tiny German sailboats:

The yarn has yellowed with age and sunlight along the exposed edge, and I don't think it will wash out; maybe the rest of the sweater will age to match. Or maybe it will just assure some young mother that sweaters, even white ones, are for playing in and getting dirty.

Needles: US 8 (5.00 mm)
Yarn: Bernat's Gloucester Cotton in Natural (discontinued)
Pattern: Carey Nicholson's #16 Child Cardigan and Beret
Mods: None that I remember, other than the aforementioned hemming hack

Slouch Hat

Most of the Flower Garden leftovers went into a bag for a future project, but I had enough of the pink to try a pattern I've had my eye on for quite some time. It was, as I suspected, fun to make, and I'm pleased with the result. My yarn was Aran weight instead of Worsted weight, but the hat fits, and is just a little slouchier than planned.

Needles: US 8 (5.00 mm)
 - it did not fit easily on dpns, so as soon as it was 2" in length I switched to a circular
 - the circular was too long to just start the hat on; I don't understand why knitted material stretches better once it's a couple of inches long, but I'm glad it does

Yarn: I Love This Yarn! in Hyacinth and Soft Pink
- I had the total yardage called for, but a little less of the Soft Pink than required, so I wound up switching to just the other color at the end

Pattern: Amanda Muscha's Mint Chocolate Beanie

Flower Garden

My enthusiasm for hexagons wound down just as I finished the second blanket - good timing! There's yet a third layout I want to try, but I'm okay with taking a hexagon break for a while. This layout is called Grandmother's Flower Garden, and I'm reliably informed that it's an old quilting pattern.

Needles: US 8 (5.00 mm)
Yarn: partial skeins of I Love This Yarn! in Navy, Dark Country Blue, Soft Blue, Dark Raspberry, Hyacinth, Soft Pink, Forest Green, Light Sage, and Orchid
Pattern: Vicki Mikulak's Knitted Hexagon Blankie

Into the Light

I finally got around to blocking this shawl. I had forgotten that it was Icelandic wool until I was pinning it out and marveling at the change in texture of the yarn - right! Ístex! (Do Icelandic sheep fluff up in the rain?) It blocked out beautifully, and I am really pleased with it.

I was a little nervous about the blocking, since the spiral shaping convinced me that blocking wires were going to be no help at all. I had read someone else's advice not to be concerned if there was overlap. I didn't understand until I began to pin it out. I quickly realized that the lacy edge was what mattered - I didn't really need to pin out the inner edge at all. I also decided to pin out the petals, not the crochet chain edging, having seen lots of versions where pinned-out loops became sharp zig-zags.  Three-quarters of the way around I realized I was going to wind up on top of the beginning. Overlap. No problem.

Needles: US 4 (3.5mm)
Yarn: Ístex Einband: 6 g Black Heather, 3 g Dunkelgrau, 27.5 g Grey Heather, 52 g Hellgrau, 50 g White
Pattern: Carfield Ma's Begonia Swirl
Mods: Other than the color changes, none.

NKD saw it folded up and commented that it would be really cool to have a skirt like that. So I took a picture and filed the inspiration away for another day.

Time to Restart the Carousel

I feel as though no projects are getting finished. Of course not, you say, you've done nothing but knit hexagons for a month, what did you expect? I'm thinking of setting up the project carousel knitting bag again, because so many things are close to being finished, but the hexagons beckon constantly.

This will go in it: two months later, and only grown by an inch:

Still a Busy Bee

These hexagons want to be flowers.

This is slightly ridiculous. It’s not as if I don’t have other things to knit. But hexagons are soothing.