3 things: Camurac Cardi/Drop Dead Easy Knits

When we first dreamt up Drop Dead Easy Knits, our rather fab book of stylish but not too difficult projects, we had to provide a sample or two in order to nail down our contract with the publisher. The cushy, squooooshy Camurac Cardigan by Kirsten Kapur was the first garment designed for the book. It truly deserves the spotlight.

 It's knit on size 10US needles, so it knits up quickly.  Cast  on now and without too much fuss you'll have a  dreamy pick-me-up of a wardrobe addition while it is still March.  I don't know about you but I could use a wardrobe pick-me-up about now.


In the above photos, you're seeing it knit in Quince Osprey which is delicious (plus, whoa, check out the colors in that link).  You can sub any aran/heavy worsted.  Kirsten made one in Jill Draper Makes Stuff Empire  and Mary Lou knit one in Neighborhood Fiber Company . Somehow this little pic of the three of us is the only image I can find of Kirsten in hers....you can peek the lapel texture. Below is a sweater-size bump of Empire. A Camurac waiting to emerge.

I guess that's already Three Things about the Camurac Cardi . This Three Things on Thursday format* really  helps me squeeze out a blogpost. This week I'm going for a bonus round ! Three MORE things:

1) Initially, this wonderful throw-it-on anytime cardi and the Westerloe dog sweater were to appear in the same chapter,  so they were designed with coordinating stitch detailing. Sweet!

whooooshhh! Is that the sound of you rushing out to get yarn for a Camurac PLUS a Westerloe so you can match your furry friends? I hope so.

2) Camurac is a skiing resort area in the French Pyrenees.  This pattern appears in our chapter "Cold Hands, Warm hearts"-- warm pieces,  lovely to have in your lap as you knit in cool weather.  Mary Lou did some heavy lifting for pattern naming, finding chilly locations around the globe. They had to be pronounceable and not already overly represented as pattern names.  Seriously, go search Aspen or Chamonix or whatever popped into your mind first as a cold weather locale, on Ravelry, and see the number of designs that got there before you.

3) This pattern is knit flat and pieced together. That's right, on good old straight needles. No overdeveloped biceps needed to work that stockinette in one weighty piece. The seams provide structure. No Saggy Sweater Syndrome, a problem striking so many of us who adore big slouchy cardis.

If you've knit a Camurac cardi--or any pattern from Drop Dead Easy Knits-- could you do us a solid and post it on Ravelry? We adore seeing what knitters do with the book!

* Carole Knits and AsKatKnits  are the brains behind the Three Things on Thursday, the beauty of it is, you can choose any topic you wish for your three things. Controlled anarchy!  If you feel like joining in any Thursday inspiration strikes, post the link from Carole's blog, near the bottom.

Lucy & Ethel Cowl: Drop Dead Easy Knits

It's time to shine a spotlight on the Lucy and Ethel Cowls from Drop Dead Easy Knits. Design by Kirsten Kapur

When we brainstormed a pattern name that referenced two friends that were fun and colorful (as the cowls are) and had slightly different styles (as the cowls do), we leapt on Lucy and Ethel. But we didn't know they knit!!!  And I don't think they are faking it, you can find Lucy knitting on several episodes and sometimes just for the hell of it.  Links to I Love Lucy episodes for your wintertainment* right here

Two simple stitch patterns make up the design.  Like everything in the book, they are simpler than you'd think , and more stylish than you'd expect from a pattern that isn't hard to knit.  Worsted weight**, so they go fast .

The longer style can be loopy, I always think of that one as Lucy.  Or for a quick knit and less volume, the shorter cowl Ethel is a great choice.

The cowls appear in a chapter of patterns we presented as great for knitting in multiples to give as gifts to your friends. We wanted the photos to give off a buddies vibe. You wouldn't know it from this photo, but these two had just met. We had to use the top photo, with the hat hiding the smile, in the book, so that the focus stayed on the knits and not the beautiful happy faces.  I don't think photoshoots need to be dour affairs-- we like to goof around a little while we work.

Just like Ethel and Lucy!
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* I know you may be reading this in Australia or somewhere else southern hemisphere, and it may not be winter where you are....but frankly, it is SO WINTERY here that I can't imagine anything else today. Sorry! I have midwinter January brain.

** The samples shown are in The Fibre Company Knightsbridge yarn, which is lovely llama and silk , but I'd also knit them in Berroco UltraAlpaca--it has some of the same heathery colors and wool/alpaca loft and an insane range of  color options. I just fell down the rabbit hole of choosing...Barley and Cerulean? Zinc and PeaSoup? or GrapefruitMix??? aaaaghhhhhh. What would you choose? 

giveaway BT Loft for mitts (and more)

GIVEAWAY Brooklyn Tweed LOFT to make TUROA Mitts from Drop Dead Easy Knits

My co-author and brilliant knitter Mary Lou Egan blogged about the Turoa Mitts pattern by our other co-author, Kirsten Kapur, and threw in a giveaway of a skein of Brooklyn Tweed Loft. It's one of many substitute yarns you could use to make these little beauties. As a gift. Or a a little holiday self-care for your hands. 

In classic Mary Lou style, in the same blogpost as the giveaway, she drops a killer knitting tip: how to judge the comparative weight of two yarns.  Let's say you've got, ohhh I dunno...a zillion leftover skeins of yarn you might use for these mitts but you are just not sure what weight they are. Or how they'd go if you want to knit them together to make a Sidekick Hat?  Or you think the yarn company must have been drunk when they called a yarn worsted as  it's skinnier than most fingering weight ?  You will want her trick.  

More giving --seeing as it is the first night of Chanukah tonight (no, I am not prepared, whydoyouask??), I'm going to gift you with more excellent tips and advice: go give a listen to Abby Glassenberg's annual community tips podcast from her While She Naps podcast.  Now, I know you are thinking "but she sews stuffed dolls, and I do not, I am a knitter/maker/DIY person" but here's the thing..the tips span many crafts and well beyond. Many good recommendations for books, podcasts, tools....and some quilting stuff that I don't understand, but you might!

Lastly: Our book Drop Dead Easy Knits is  full of excellent patterns, stylish but sot-too-taxing to knit AND I just noticed  it's super reasonably priced on Amazon this week. Geeez. For the cost of two single patterns elsewhere,  you get all these. (Ravelry link to see all 29 patterns).  Buy it , throw in a gift certificate to your LYS (or, use it as an excuse to visit your LYS to pick out some yarn in person) and BOOM excellent gift for a knitter in your life. 
Or...you know. Self-care.;-)

 

post 1*: Grand Central Scarf fr DDEK

There's a train station in New York City,
That's elegant, old and so pretty.
Waiting or onboard,
Simple knitting's adored.
Empty handed? You have my pity!**

We're talking the Grand Central Scarf by Kirsten Kapur from Drop Dead Easy Knits.

At a glance, its a  striped textured scarf with fringe. Take a closer look! I am crazy about this clever pattern. Here's why:

Instead of the expected knit back and forth on looooonnnnngggg rows, it is actually knit in the round. Yup, that's right, in the round. Mind blown?

You cast on a lot of stitches and knit around till you have the desired width of your scarf, (or run out of yarn).  Cleverly designed to have no finishing , it has a section where you let stitches drop and cut once, to create the fringe.

OK. As one persnickety and mean-spirited review pointed out, there is the very minimal finishing of needing to knot the fringes at their base.  And optionally, block it.  Shhh don't tell anyone, you could skip the blocking if it is draping nicely.

thanks to the beautiful Sarah Hunt of Fibertrek podcast for modelling.

The texture is a simple slip stitch with a good rhythm-- you'll not need any glancing at a pattern. Which is why it is great travel/waiting knitting. If you've ever knit a Honey Cowl (and holy cow there are close to 24,000 of them on Ravelry, though I think half of those were knit by Mason Dixon Kay), I refer you to that kind of vibe.  Though not the same texture. It is, however, really pretty on both sides.

Kirsten designed it using two shades of DK weight yarns but Mary Lou cleverly used a skein of Jill Draper Makes Stuff Rifton, which has long color changes-- making the project even Drop Dead Easier, by not needing to switch skeins. ***   If you fell for beautiful gradients at a festival or yarn shop recently, this might be a good use for them.

***************************

* Every November I attempt NaBloPoMo but despite good intentions, fall short.  Me+Rules = UNlikely To Follow. So I number my posts for the month and do what I do. .

** The three authors of Drop Dead Easy Knits--Kirsten Kapur of Through the Loops, Mary Lou Egan, and I- committed to blogging about each of the patterns in our book. If you visit our blogs, you'll find the posts. I said I'd do it in limerick...so...I haven't slipped up yet.

*** I cast on for  Grand Central in Rifton, too, but idiotically decided to work it from both ends, for the stripes, rather than just knit through it. About halfway in I realized my folly: I had a frustrating tangle from the two end knitting (so. not. easy.). Plus, Jill had spun this yarn so the color changes repeated, her colors were so thoughfully and gracefully appearing yet  I was ending up with matching sections instead of stripes....It was not working. If you use a color changing yarn, just go straight through it and let the dyer do the heavy lifting.

keynote pullover: drop dead easy knits

When choosing a sweater to test, 

I decided the Keynote was best.

The yoke's fun to knit,

It has a great fit.

(I never give mine a rest.)*

Back with another limerick lede spotlight on a pattern from  Drop Dead Easy Knits by Kirsten Kapur, Mary Lou Egan, and me.  This time, we are talking the Keynote Pullover by Mary Lou Egan.

Here's our model Josephine wearing it, in the book. This sweater is knit from the bottom up, with the decorative sections of Moire stitch taking place at the cuffs and at the yoke.  (Moire is a series of eyelets, very easy, with a fawncy sounding name...no cables or tricksy moves) . 

Mary Lou, who attends a lot of conferences for her day job, designed Keynote as  the kind of sweater you might knit on quietly while listening to presenters, making the body and sleeves, doing all the stockinette. Not too attention getting in the audience, no need to check charts or juggle multiple strands of yarn or anything like that. Then, join it  and do the yoke in your hotel room later, when you want to pay a bit more attention to the row counts. 

I loved it from the earliest swatches, and offered to test knit it in the same yarn Berroco gave us for the book: Fiora, in a silvery grey. Wow, do I love it. It's a cotton/viscose/alpaca blend that knits up well, has a nice drape and best of all--you can throw it in the washer and dryer and it comes out looking seriously good as new.

Don't let the lighting fool you, Mary Lou and I were wearing our matching silver grey  Keynotes last October at NY Sheep and Wool Festival. We were well aware how dorky that is--but it did show off how this sweater suits a good range of body type. She is tall and slim with broad shoulders, while I am short and rounder and have average/narrower shoulders. 

You can easily substitute any DK weight yarn, like Tosh DK if you wanted a woolly version,  or a very snuggly one of Malabrigo Dos Tierras (wool/alpaca) or Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light  or if you want something wool-free, awesome feeling and machine washable, there's Berroco Remix Light. And, though I personally have not jumped on this bandwagon, this sweater would be a good candidate to turn into a fade, using skeins of handdyed, speckled yarns, if you've been toying with the concept but not sure which project to adapt.

Meanwhile, you'll find me here there and everywhere in mine. Seriously--someone tell me to change my top!

 with Kristy Glass when I was on her podcast. Is she not adorable? You can really get a good view of my yoke if you follow the link to her YoutTube channel, while I bobble my head and blab. Also you can see, above, that mine fits a bit more tunic-style than the model's version. Since it is knit bottom up, you can determine the length to armpit pretty easily as you go.

And here's a silly group selfie at the end of a photo shoot, and I am once again in my Keynote, bottom right.I wear it working, a lot.

If you've got one knit or underway, share it on Ravelry with us!We love love love seeing what you make from the book and where you wear it.

*if you check on Mary Lou's blog Yarnerinas or Kirsten Kapur's blog, Through the Loops, you will see that we're working our way through the book, sharing thoughts and ideas about the patterns. We jokingly said we'd do them in limerick, and I am , characteristically, the one who is taking that joke too far.

giveaway WINNER : and more rhyming

We've got a winner of the Euroflax yarn and Kollage needles to make a Pompano Tank.

Thank you all for visiting & leaving your comments! Come back again!

Meanwhile some rather fabulous rhyming went on in the comments, in case you missed it:
Doreen from further north said:
I'd be glad to knit this lovely tank,
What if I can't in just one hank?
I'll use two even if it means ripping,
I'm from Canada, but I'd be glad to pay shipping.

gratuitous Nash Island lamb photo

some Jill Draper Makes Stuff : always delish

while Unknown (who really deserves better credit than that)said:

Though I love knitting things at the beach
The Louet yarn is out of my reach
If perchance I should win
I shall have to begin
And thank Gale and Kirsten once, each.


  I wish I had more than one package to send out. Thanks again to Louet NorthAmerica. 

pompano tank: louet euroflax yarn giveaway!

Read down to enter our  giveaway of  Euroflax Sport Linen yarn plus Kollage Needles to knit a Pompano Tank for yourself !

When knitting a Pompano Tank
Designer Kapur is to thank
It's quick and it's easy
The eyelet border's breezy
And it barely takes more than a hank.
Yup back at you with a limerick* introducing a spotlight on the Pompano Tank from Drop Dead Easy Knits. With bonus give away, thanks to Louet North America.

As I've mentioned here and here,  and many times before that, I'm all for knitting on the beach and wearing knits at the beach. Linen is pretty much the perfect fiber for both actions. When Kirsten Kapur designed the Pompano Tank for our book, I was all heck, yeah!  It's the kind of piece you can throw on over a bathing suit, over a camisole  or as a layer over a shirt. The simple A line shape and scoop neck is exactly my style. 

Is it yours, too? Enter our Pompano Tank GIVEAWAY by leaving a comment below, by midnight Sunday August 13th to win 5 skeins of Euroflax Sport in Eggplant (same colorway as our model Katrina is wearing here) and a 24 " size5 US Kollage Needle. Shipping included in US,  if winner is from outside US, you have to pay your own shipping (sorry)**

Last September, at the book launch party, I impulsively cast on a Pompano Tank for myself in wool.  Although I made a gauge swatch,  I (red flag!) didn't check the measurements of the size I chose to knit, against the measurements of my, ummm, body.  I know, idiotic...but I was basking in the glow of celebrating the book.  Long story short, I adored the knit, it practically flew off the needles in 3 busy weeks, but it doesn't fit me. Totally owning the error--I am considerably shorter than a size L waist to shoulder measurement. Not to mention wider in the hips. It is in my do-overs pile.

photo courtesy of Jani Estell...love her garden!

In more inspiring news, my wiser and immensely talented friend Jani Estell, over at Starcroft Wool and Yarns, knit herself this fabulous version of a Pompano Tank in her Fog yarn.  She lengthened the eyelet section and the stockinette above it, before the small amount of shaping toward the waist, creating a tunic out of the tank. Since it is a bottom up knit, you can slip it on, and decide exactly when to start the shape as you go.  I plan to copy her as soon as I can, because this tank/tunic could be a real staple for autumn outfits. or...dare I say it...a Rhinebeck debut?  We've got like 10 weeks, which is more than enough for this truly Drop Dead Easy knit...maybe you and I both should be casting on a Pompano for success?

*More Drop Dead Easy Knits spotlights can be found at these links, we're presenting them every 2 weeks. We joked about introducing them in limerick, I'm the one taking the joke too far....
Short Beach Shawl
Kiawah Pullover
Galworthy Gift Bag Parley Cardigan  
Abide Shawl Searsport Market Bag Glama Wrap Polliwog Baby Sweater 

**Kollage Needles are square and have super flexible soft cables, and nicely pointy tips. I personally love knitting with them. I hope you'll like them too. 

the short beach shawl: drop dead easy knits

 

There is a designer in the City
Whose daughter is smart, tall and pretty.
Sofie modeled our shawl,
hopped on rocks, did not fall.
(Wish I had a last line that was witty).*

Back at you with a Drop Dead Easy Knits pattern highlight.This time, it's the Short Beach Shawl, by Kirsten Kapur.

It's another gem in the No Sheep at the Shore chapter.  All  are projects to knit while at the beach--or to wear in pleasant weather, wherever you're feeling some easy breezy style.

How much do I love this design?Let me count the ways: 
First, it's a bottom up triangle with increases happening only on the outer edges.  If you've ever fallen off-course on a triangular shawl with mirrored sides and center spine increases, you will know why this simpler construction automatically makes it go to the head of the not-so-hard class.

The design is bands of garter stitch, and bands of an easy repeating lace daisy. (That's what I call it, anyway. It is a flower like motif.)

And...fringe

I know it is silly to love a shawl pattern because it is fringed but I do.....I do. 
I  finished knitting this deep blue one a couple of months ago. I just fringed it and wow it makes the piece come alive. The fringe adds heft, and size, and flow. (and, almost a skein of yarn...I am a generous fringer).**
Lastly. We named the patterns in this chapter after beaches. Short Beach is my real-life neighborhood and favorite place to hang out---so--what's not to love?

This blue one is my second Short Beach Shawl,I have yarn poised for a third. The sample in the book, and in most of these photos, is the fantastic Dragonfly Fibers Dance Rustic Silk, a perfect match. (Seriously, look at their colors..... aaaaah!).

My blue one is a discontinued Mirasol yarn- a wool, silk and bamboo blend. Any fingering weight will do, but I like a little silk for the luster and drape.  I saw some swatches Kirsten made with the shawl in which  she striped it by alternating colors for the garter stitch and lace sections. It would be very cool in a gradient set, too.

More Drop Dead Easy Knits spotlights can be found here, we're presenting them every 2 weeks.
Parley Cardigan 
Abide Shawl
Searsport Market Bag
Glama Wrap
Polliwog Baby Sweater

* I'm trying to introposts in this series in limerick when it is my turn. Let's see how it goes....

** Perfect illustration re: cobblers' children. Although I had the shawl along with me for three very busy days of a non-knitwear/non-fashion-y photoshoot, I didn't have an chance to shoot it .  Or event think about it, for that matter. 
So, you see the quickie FO shot in a hotel room in Concord MA. I definitely need to upgrade that FO photo !

i'm interviewed! on Kristy Glass Knits

Are you a
Kristy Glass fan?  I am thrilled that she invited me for an interview--she's such a joy to watch and a gifted interviewer. Check it out!




Warning: it's almost an hour long.  But we move right along from topic to topic - and she models some Drop Dead Easy Knits pieces in the most gorgeous way. 

Afterwards, settle in and watch some of her other interviews. I am telling you, she needs a regular show on HGTV. Someone get on that!

Meanwhile-
I have been here and there--but mostly there- for the past 6 weeks.
Back soon with links and tales and some fun behind-the-scenes.

searsport market bag: it's beachknitting time!

There once was a girl on a beach
She liked her knitting within reach
On the sand or a boat
She desired a tote
Mary Lou designed it, as sweet as a peach...*

Here in the US it is the official start of beach knitting season, the best season of all. That is not just my opinion. 
It is the truth. :-)
 Some knitters think of knitting as a winter/cold weather sport. Not me. I am happiest taking a good long swim, then plopping into my beach chair and knitting by the water. 

 I've always thought of  the  Searsport Market Bag in our book as a Kick Off the Summer knit:  first you make the stretchy bag, then you spend the rest of the summer carrying your Important Things (towel, knitting, swim goggles, beverage) to the beach in it. It's a pretty relaxing knit, which is good for this time of year.

It is quite roomy when the simple stitch pattern stretches, which is a desirable trait, although not everyone wants to rock the super slouchy look. If you prefer a more stable shape , here's a simple tutorial of ways to line a knit bag.  I particularly like the suggestion of attaching a lining with buttons.
This instructional has photos of every step to sew in a lining.

While brainstorming for our book's No Sheep at the Shore chapter, we wanted only patterns you'd knit out of non-wool, non-fuzzy yarn.  Our other requirement was the designs  should be pieces you'd use or wear while at the beach. That's how Mary Lou Egan came up with the pattern. She named it after the Maine coast town where us three authors were staying while we were developing the ideas for the book. And same place, a year later, gave it a final edit. We always called it The Beach Bag until it was dubbed the Searsport.

During the  photo shoot for the book, I shot our model Josephine carrying  it while wearing a sundress.  When I look at it, I want a Seasrport Market Bag to use as a summer everyday purse, for my non- beach life. Maybe in the lightest off white shade of Berroco Indigo, and line it with flowery summer fabric.

*When Mary Lou Egan, Kirsten Kapur and I decided to try to take turns blogging about the patterns, this year, in our collaborative book Drop Dead Easy Knits, we jokingly (or so they thought) considered doing so in limerick. I'm going to give it a try.

top 10 reasons to attend Big Apple Knitters Guild 12/10/16

10. Kirsten Kapur and I have a brand new slide talk we're debuting, and narrating. Come see how many times we both start to talk at the same time and then say"oh no, YOU  o ahead""No, YOU!", then laugh, in unison

9. The trunk show will be there! Don't you want to wrap up in the Glama , as Josephine does here, and see how delicious it feels ? (super easy chunky drop stitches make it drapey and delish).

8. Also check out the Keynote Pullover, which (so far) looks excellent on everyone.

7. If you aren't already a member, this is your chance to check out the Big Apple Knitters Guild for free ( if it is your first time dropping in), or  for a modest $5. guest fee. Either way, worth it. They have great programming.

6.  We are bringing a mountain of our book and would love to sign them for you (or to give as gifts).  Seriosly, don't you love receiving a knitting book with 30 patterns plus a knitting accessory like stitch markers, or a LYS gift certificate, as a present?  (please forward to my family members, or yours,  as needed).

5.  The coasters! As far as we can tell, we are the only knitting book that has a natural cork drink coaster that is your attendance lagniappe. Because our patterns go well with sipping.

4. Tips and tricks. We're givers like that! Kirsten is sharing her favorite tools and how she wields them. Knitting muscle explained !

3. More tips and tricks! Kirsten is also sharing her top lace tricks. I've known her well for years now and just learned one of them last night. For reals.

2. Oh, even more tips and tricks! I'll be sharing my best secrets for photographing knits without too much fuss, to make killer images of all things yarny.

And the # 1 reason: Knitters gonna knit. Whether you need a break and just treat yourself to a couple of hours basting in the juicy knit talk --or you are heelbent on holiday knitting, and teh collective knit energy will move you faster, it'll be an afternoon worth joining in.

Hope to see you there! Leaving you with a taste of our drop Dead Easy Knitting wisdom...

november post 15: bulky knits, portillo please!

 **Hey there Boston area folks--I am teaching an iphoneography class at Craftworks Somerville on this Saturday 12/3 -and I just learned there are 3 seats left!  11 am- 1pm. Join us! Why make Just Average images?
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 I'm not done with the bulky knit love yet. Not even close.

 Portillo Cowl from Drop Dead Easy Knits. Of all the patterns in the book, this one is the drop dead easiest.  It is also my lone design contribution. Given the talents of my two co-authors, I kept it simple and left the amazingly stylish and beautiful yet easy-to-knit designs to Kirsten and Mary Lou. If you have the book, you know what I mean.
 Big squishy yarn + warm snuggliness +  contrast yarns that are fun to knit = excellent gift knitting. 
That's my formula.
The sample for the book is made with two skein of Malabrigo Rasta. I kept it graphic and crisp with two mostly solids but you can go WILD, check out their color card.   This is a pattern to use handpainted yarn, and variegated yarns. The stitch pattern breaks it up.

Personally, I wear it doubled over, like this.  
About choosing the yarn: one of the things we did with Drop Dead Easy Knits is keep it yarn shop friendly--meaning, that you can pretty easily find the yarn we used, in your local yarn shop.  Since every shop can't stock every yarn, we also added a page in the back where we list substitution yarns-- all also easy to find in yarn shops. And, we want to offer  economic alternatives.
What's that you say?  Yup, we kept thinking about your knitting budget.  My Portillo costs about $44.in beautiful hand dyed yarn, and its worth it--but not always in the yarn budget. Or maybe, like me,  it's in the budget for a special treat, but it's a stretch to spend that for multiple friend gift knitting.

Substitutes*! Any nice super bulky with 90 yards/skein or more  will be equally fab.  Or possibly even fabbier. Here's Rowan Brushed Fleece,** which has a bit more yardage ,  two balls will total about $27. US.  It's also amazingly cloud like and delicious to knit.

Or the higher contrast red and grey. Love.

Kirsten grabbed these four balls of ValleyYarns  SuperWash Super Bulky .  You only need two for a Portillo Cowl but we loved these colors together- so you could mix and match. And guess what? $ 9.49 /skein, which means your project clocks in at just under $20.  Winner-winner chicken dinner.  Also, check at the link,  a lot of color options. 

 A real life Portillo Cowl testimonial: I was visiting my BFFL Arline on a Friday a couple of weeks ago.  She hauled out these two balls of yarn in her favorite colors, purchased long ago for some unrequited project. (They are a discontinued Tahki Yarn, but that company has other excellent super bulky options). Arline rarely knits. I had to refresh her cast-on skills. Above is what her Portillo looked like by Friday evening.

Monday morning! (photo courtesy of the knitter ) And I know she didn't just stay home and knit all weekend. I rest my case.

As for me, I came home with some of that Rowan Brushed Fleece *** in the pinkest of fluffy fuschia hues. It is going to be an Azel Pullover for Zoe,  it qualifies as both a bulky and super fast knit= good gift knitting. I'm trying to keep it a  secret and surprise her for Hanukah. Shhhh, ok?  
PS are you following the MasonDixon Knitting GiftAlong on their Lounge site? 
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  * You might notice from this link to the Rowan page that suggested needle size is US 10 but this pattern is knit on US 15.  This is why the word suggested is so important. For the Portillo Cowl you want a nice drapey gauge and let it fluff up.  Fear not and go with the larger needles (and of course, the smart money is on doing a quick gauge swatch). 

** Many thanks to Kirsten Kapur and Beverly Army Williams for the yarn choosing and hand modeling The three of us were in Webs, where the options are mind-boggling. I don't know how they put up with shopping with me when there are so many oooh look squirrel choices  but I love them both for it. 

***this last link is to the discontinued Rowan Brushed Fleece colors at Webs.  You can knit a super duper economical Portillo Cowl. Just sayin'.

november post 13: more hats- Sidekick and Headford

Back at you with a hat post. Pretty sure this won't be the last, hats are a real THING with me this week.

Sidekick Hat by Mary Lou Egan, from Drop Dead Easy Knits is top of my list. I'm loving color work at the moment, this is the 4 color version. It's a month before the gift giving kicks in, so plenty of time to knit these, right?  Mary Lou designed it for our Drinking Buddies chapter-the idea is you buy yarn together with a few friends and knit along, sharing the contrast colors. Buy the good stuff, you only need about 20 yards per hat of contrast color.And you can swap hats for added entertainment.

Here's Sidekick Hat  in 2 colors. This pattern is the one in Drop Dead Easy Knits most likely to find us on the receiving end of the query "Easy? You call this.... easy?". The answer is, yes, truly. You are only ever working in two colors per round, and the repeat is short and easy to memorize.  Short floats are less likely to get pucker-y. It's only a hat's worth of knitting.... you can do it!
The secret is use contrasty colors--I am thinking this may be an opportunity to finally nab a couple of the Unicorn Tails I've been eyeing at my LYS for ages. I am thinking Edison Bulb could maybe get a repeat in there, just for fun. 
Fun fact: we originally named this hat a Sidecar (a cocktail I am very fond of in the winter...in case you have me over, now you know). All the patterns in this chapter were drinks (get it? Drinking Buddies? we are so subtle, yes?) but an editor pointed out that maaaaaybe we were a little too boozy--and so the Sidecar Hat became a Sidekick Hat.

I had the annual hat gift convo with bro-in-law Lamar (of Lamar Scarf fame). He said this year, he wants a beanie, close fitting, any weight and go wild with the color/design. He confessed his fave hat ever from me was this one-of-a-kind from a decade ago. He still wears it. So, I have a plan!

I'm starting with  Headford Hat from Drop Dead Easy Knits, by Theresa Gaffey. It is a great basic beanie. She designed it to be knit in multiples, as you travel, give away as you go. Of course you can color block it, or add stripes --but  I'm going to make it into something one-of-a-kind with  use of this book I acquired at Rhinebeck, from Mary Jane Mucklestone, I can't wait to start it.

Best of all part of this plan: in size S adult, the Headford Hat is 96 stitches around--that means I can make use of motifs that are 2,3,4,6,8,12 or 16 stitches across and have them fit in neatly. Restraint, gone. FYI the motifs are pretty mixed, from traditional to modern to geometric--so I can have a lot of fun with it. Maybe the Edison Bulb will show up here, as well.....