I just (well, almost) finished crocheting a bunch of stuff for worky type reasons, so now I am in a “woohoo, I can make whatever I want!!” phase. And also a “I already crocheted with that yarn so what can I do with the leftovers that’s different?” (ie, knitting) phase.

The first thing I made was this red waffle-weave scarf for my dad. He requested a warm, red wool scarf–he lives in North Dakota, so you know he needs it. I’ve had the wool (Lana Grossa Bingo, if you’re interested) in my stash since my Adorn days. I actually made it into a baby blanket made up of circles for not-yet-born Tegue, but I didn’t like how it was coming together. So I went an unwound all. of. the. circles. This pattern eats yarn, and each circle’s worth of yarn only got me through a few rows of crocheting. So there was a lot of joining new strands and of weaving in to do– but I’m okay with that. I’m actually quite at peace with weaving in ends, it doesn’t frustrate me at all.  I just see it as another night, or car trip, of entertainment. And I’m not saying that to be smug either, I’m just saying, if you like colorwork projects….accept it. It’s part of the process. And it’s worth it. Plus, if you make a scarf like this, you’ll probably only have about 6 ends to weave in, not seventeen million. The pattern is just a basic stitch repeat, a free pattern from Lion Brand called the Thermal Scarf . I like it, it uses a lot of post stitches and it’s one of those projects you can do by feel when sitting in front of the TV. I’ve become increasingly fond of post stitches lately.

The other thing I recently made from my stash yarns is this beret-ish Foliage hat (it’s a free pattern on Knitty). I attempted this hat last year but got quite confused, and in looking at it again this year I realized that I was only confused because the written directions for the leaf lace were in front of the top of the hat instructions, and I didn’t see how they corresponded to the chart and… geez. I’m not sure how I left that stop me. If you can knit in the round, knit stitches together, pass stitches over knit stitches, and make yarn overs- you can make this hat! It takes some concentration (and there might have been some cussing and tears involved) but it is doable. This is the first draft, which I made for myself in Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Cotton (left over from Tricia’s Mod Cross Pillow in Crochet Adorned).

Did I mention that I’m totally allergic (as in can’t breathe when I wear it?) to wool these days? I think it has to do with all of the other allergens in the Texas air clogging me up– in Montana Icould just b-r-e-a-t-h-e, so a tiny bother type allergy was not even noticeable. It’s quite sad and has made me really reconsider my yarn purchasing habits. I’ll miss you, wool!  But this cotton, and Misti Cotton, are about the only two cottons I’ve found that any where near as lofty and squishy as wool. I loved this color, and I followed the pattern for bulky yarn to make the hat. It came out too big (I switched to size 1 needles–ONES!–to knit the ribbing, as a fix), but I like it. I hate when hats pull on the bows of my glasses (this one doesn’t), and plus, “they” say berets are in fashion. I made a second draft of this hat in worsted weight, but it’s a gift so I’ll tell you about it later. If you’re new to lace knitting and want to give this a shot, I suggest you make the bulky version first. I really loved making it, and can totally see a 3rd version in my future.

But enought about me, what’s on your hooks and needles?