Anemone Hat #2–Knitting FO

 

As soon as I finished knitting my first Anemone Hat, I simply couldn’t wait to cast on another!

But what a bummer - my conservative little teenage friend loved my hat but picked Oxford Gray yarn for hers. Oxford gray, seriously? “Trust me,” she said.

*sigh*

So here’s her hat in Lion Brand Wool-Ease worsted. This is the “Everyday Anemone” version of the hat, with picot-edged but non-Moebius brim.

 

She didn’t want the Moebius brim, but she did want the picot edging as shown in the “Arctic” version of Cat Bordhi’s Anemone hat pattern.

Since the picot edging instructions are only given as cast-off for the Moebius brim, I used this tutorial from Heidi Bears to cast on the 5-stitch Twisted Picot edging:

http://heidibearscreative.blogspot.com/2011/02/pretty-pic...

And now that it’s finished, it really does look cute – maybe she was right?

 

I just love knitting these hats! Thank you, Cat!

--MaggieBelize
Designer, kNotes for kNitters
Creator, Happy Hands Hand Cream for Knitters
Sandia Park, NM

Anemone Hat! Knitting FO

 

Wow, what fun!

This is a great knitting pattern by Cat Bordhi. Lotsa new techniques, love that links to video demos are included. The pattern includes a lot of options – the brim can be knitted up in Moebius fashion or straight, you can use worsted or bulky yarns, in adult and children’s sizes.

Here are photos of my Anemone Hat “before” and “after” washing & drying, which really made the tendrils stand up.

I used a merino worsted superwash yarn from Sunshine Yarns in the Bitterroot colorway.

I knitted the Moebius brim version in an Adult Large, using a 38” cable. After I finished the brim, I used the Magic Loop technique all the way up.

I really, truly, can’t wait to cast on another! I want to knit one up in Lorna’s Laces … and one in bulky …

--MaggieBelize
Designer, kNotes for kNitters
Creator, Happy Hands Hand Cream for Knitters
Sandia Park, NM

Yard Sale 2-18-12! And You’re Invited!

We are hosting a one-day-only, everything-must-go, whole-house yard sale at 14 Digby Lane, Edgewood, New Mexico, this Saturday, February 18, from 10 AM to 4 PM.

And you're invited! Bring friends! ;) The current weather report says Saturday will be the prettiest sunny day of the week, and we believe it, ahahahaha.

This is a "whole house" yard sale, including items for every room. Here's just some of the stuff we've got for sale … click the linked items to see a full description on Craigslist Albuquerque:

· Oval dining room Table & 6 Windsor-back chairs Table $150, Chairs $40 each, or $300 for the whole set!

· 2 Kitchen Bar Stools Ready to paint or stain. $25 each or $40 for both.

· Upholstered Chairs

· Glider Rocker (needs repair) $30

· Full-size Futon couch

· Media Center & Cabinets Low media stand table $75, two cabinets $30 each, or $125 for all three

· Contemporary home office Desk, Chairs & File Credenza $100

· Dishes & Kitchen gear

· Men's & women's Jeans & Clothing

· Kids' stuff (clothes, toys, books, games & DVDs)

· Color TVs (not HD)

· Assorted Hand Tools,

· Universal Gym

· Large wooden Dog House

We hope you can stop by on Saturday to say "hello" ... and please feel free to forward this link to everyone you think might be interested!

--MaggieBelize
Designer, kNotes for kNitters
Creator, Happy Hands Hand Cream for Knitters
Sandia Park, NM

Daybreak Shawlette–Knitting FO!

 

Gosh this was a fun knit! It’s a semicircular shawl – or, as I made the smallest size, a shawlette. Here it is, drying on my blocking board:

This is the Daybreak pattern designed by Stephen West. I like that the designer shows it worn bandana-style, very Western looking. Here’s his pattern photo:

 

This pattern calls for fingering weight yarn in two colors. I was inspired by this colorway called “Early Autumn”, hand-dyed by Crafty Hippy:

And I paired it with a forest green colorway of Araucania Ranco Multy:

I still have quite a bit left of both yarns … hmm, I’m thinking a matching pair of fingerless mitts … striped, maybe?

--MaggieBelize
Designer, kNotes for kNitters
Creator, Happy Hands Hand Cream for Knitters
Sandia Park, NM

Gotcha, Wiley Coyote!

Living in the near-wild as we do, backed up to the Sandia National Forest, we hear and sometimes see a lot of wildlife. Specifically, a lot of coyotes.

Our goal is to avoid conflict with these coyotes, and to protect our dogs. The foundation of our plan is to “know thy enemy”. So last week we  purchased and installed a wildlife surveillance camera.

Here’s our first capture:

That’s right, it’s the infamous Wild Weimaraner. *sigh*

We’ve got lots more photos like this one of our dog … and several of our cars … and of us changing the storage card, etc.

It wasn’t until last night that we got this one:

Yep, that’s a coyote!

At the bottom of the frame you'll see that he cruised by last night about 11:30 pm - the camera automatically records the date, time, temperature and even the moon phase of each photo. (We love this camera: it’s a Primos TruthCam 46.)

But because the nighttime shots are infrared, the detail isn't great. I've edited the photo to brighten & sharpen it, but I still can't tell what he's got in his mouth - and not sure I want to know anyway - it looks like a femur!

Stay tuned for more as we catch them!

--MaggieBelize
Designer, kNotes for kNitters
Creator, Happy Hands Hand Cream for Knitters
Sandia Park, NM

Sprout Blanket! Knitting FO

 

Just finished knitting this Sprout Blanket for a dear friend’s little one (knitting pattern by Hanna Breetz).

As it turned out, I cast on only one hour before the baby was born, so I knitted like mad to finish before he starts high school (grin).

Love this pattern, really fun to knit. The chart & instructions are very clear, and the symmetrical nature of the design makes it easy TV knitting.

Because the recipient wanted easy, EASY care, I used machine washable & dryable Caron Simply Soft, one-and-a-half skeins (about 475 yds) in Pistachio.

I found the yarn just a wee bit splitty, but switching to blunt needle tips solved that problem. It really a soft, light yarn for baby gifts, and launders beautifully.

Would definitely knit Sprout again!

--MaggieBelize
Designer, kNotes for kNitters
Creator, Happy Hands Hand Cream for Knitters
Sandia Park, NM

The Dogs Ate My Car. Seriously.

I own 3 large & normally well-behaved dogs. This afternoon I put them outside while I mopped the floors.

After 30 minutes or so I heard them yipping - sounded as if they'd gotten themselves stuck in something. I went out to discover they'd apparently cornered something under my car in the driveway. But I couldn't see anything there.

So I put the dogs in the house and got down on my hands & knees to look, but still couldn't find anything underneath the car. Then I opened the hood and there was a terrified squirrel, hissing and squalling and scrambling and clawing all over the engine.

I jumped back, and that is when I saw what the dogs had done to the car trying to get the squirrel out.

They pulled out the wheel well liner entirely, and chewed up the whole front quarter panel of the car. It's all plastic, right, so they literally ate it. I mean, pieces are chewed off, bite marks & scratches everywhere. The damage is amazing. b 


Here are some samples of their work:

My question is, does anyone know if auto insurance normally covers something like this? Should I say it was a bear? I phoned home to ask my dad but he can't stop laughing long enough to answer me!


--MaggieBelize
Designer, kNotes for kNitters
Creator, Happy Hands Hand Cream for Knitters
Sandia Park, NM