All posts by Peneloping

Tutorial: Ribbed Man Beanie

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I wanted to make a bunch of beanies as Christmas gifts but I couldn’t find a beanie pattern for men that I liked so I came up with this one. It’s pretty basic and quick so it makes a nice last minute gift.

Materials:

– ~200 yards worsted weight wool

– 1 stitch marker

– US size 9 circular needles (I used longer ones and used the magic loop method)

– US size 9 DPNs

– darning needle

Hold yarn double and cast on 64 stitches.

Place marker to mark beginning of the row and knit in the round, k2 p2 all the way around.

Continue k2 p2 rib until the entire thing is 7″ long for a fitted beanie or 9″ long for a slouchy one.

Decreases (repeat what’s between the [ ] until the end of the row):

You should only be decreasing every other row.

Row 1: [k2 p2tog] (48 stitches remaining)

Row 2: [k2 p]

Row 3: [k2tog p] (32 stitches remaining)

Row 4: [k p]

Row 5: [k2tog] (16 stitches remaining)

Row 6: Knit all stitches.

Row 7: [k2tog] (8 stitches remaining)

Snip yarn. Pull the tail end through the remaining stitches. Weave in ends and wear!

1 Comment tutorial - - -

Addiction

There’s a slight possibility that I am addicted to this pattern.

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In my defense, only the yellow one is mine. The others are going to be Christmas gifts so shhh!

In other news, I keep thinking that once I finish the Big Stressful Thing that is dominating my life, I’ll have more time to do all the other stuff (like blogging more than once a week..). But then the Next Big Stressful Thing comes along and takes a huge dump on that idea.

I’m finally done with all my papers (except for one, but that’s a long story)! And now I have to pack because I’m flying home for two weeks tomorrow. Packing for short trips never seems like a big deal until you’re actually packing and you realize the sheer amount of stuff that you could potentially forget and then have to live without for two weeks and then it’s just a staggering task.

On the bright side, I’m only about three projects away from being done with the Christmas knitting!

Unfortunately, I epic failed on the planning and two of the three projects I have yet to finish are for my mom and sister, who I’m going to be living with for the next two weeks.

Andd back to packing I go.

Things I want to write about

– The million xmas knits I’ve finished this week. No srsly, there are so many.

– The million xmas knits I still have to finish before xmas.

– The awesome buttons I bought today that were used in Shutter Island. (Not the exact ones, but the exact design.)

– The awesome sweater I just finished that the buttons are going to be sewn onto.

– The lovely movie I saw last night (Hugo) and how it led to me remembering a name I’ve been trying to remember for the past two years (Busby Berkeley).

– The millions of papers I’ve written in the past two weeks. Only one left and then freedom!!

So apologies for the lengthy silence, but brb.

Just some randoms.

– I absolutely fail at blogging lately. It’s not even a lack of substance. I have about six posts lurking around the back of my mind.

– Thanksgiving was absolutely scrumptious. I’m still an avid believer in the fact that stuffing should be a part of regular meals and not limited to annual holidays. Noms.

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– The Christmas knits pile is getting bigger! I was feeling increasingly guiltier yesterday when I realized how little time is left before Christmas and how many projects I have to finish by then so I took a trip to the yarn store (and only bought one thing for myself!). More on that later.

– I’ve purchased 6 Jane Richmond patterns in the past 48 hours. I am a happy clam.

– I also bought a winter coat and snow boots over the break. I *think* there’s a possibility I will survive this winter.

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– Especially when one considers this pile of happiness.

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– My Canadian roommate was making fun of me for coming up with excuses to wear my snow gear out. Can it just snow already please?

– Holy crap The Walking Dead. Is anyone else super mad about having to wait two months? I’m pining. I also may have obtained the entirety of the graphic novels that have been released. Except I don’t want spoilers so I’m afraid to read them. Gah.

1 Comment life - - - -

A lesson in gauge

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Sometimes I get cocky and forget that I’ve only really been knitting for less than a year. And with that, I forget that each new knitting project I pick up teaches me something new.

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Cables aren’t new, I learned cables with my Hermione sweater. But the blackberry stitch was new. And the idea of alternating skeins when working with hand-dyed yarns. And (I feel sort of stupid about this one) the importance of gauge. That was new too.

I’m not exactly sure how I’ve been getting away with it, but up until now I’ve never knitted a swatch, nor have I ever consistently checked my gauge on a project. I would pretty much just buy the correct weight of yarn and use the recommended needle size and run with it.

When you spend $19.20 per skein though, it’s a little hard to just “run with” anything. When I had gotten to about the eighth row, I checked my gauge and realized I was knitting waaay too loosely and was going to end up with a behemoth sweater. So I ripped it and now I’m checking like a maniac every few rows and for once my gauge is perfect.

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My only question is, how the hell is anyone getting gauge on this sweater with size 7 needles?? I’m knitting super tightly on size 5’s and it’s perfect. I could probably even go down to a size 4 and knit normally.

In other news, I really love this pattern. And this yarn. And the color.

*drool*

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