Homegrown Texan

Born and raised in Texas, I've found the home of my heart and soul in the Pacific Northwest. I love trees, cool weather, and rain. I'm a back to basics kind of gal just trying to raise my family and find a bit of time to slow down in this hectic life.

So I've been doing some knitting for the kids as of late.  I'm learning that small children are great for learning projects...they don't notice your mistakes, they love new things, and since they're small, their items take less time to knit.


First off are the hat and mittens I did.  The blue hat was my very first one, and it turned out *huge*!  I was using a smaller gauge yarn that the pattern called for, so my calculations were off. On top of that, I added in some decorative yarn for the brim and earflaps.  The thing is large even on *me*.  But, my son loves it and it keeps his ears warm in the morning, so I'm happy.
Yarn: Plymouth Encore
Patterns:
I can't find the hat pattern at the moment; I have the printout, but can't find the link :(
mittens - Knitty's Mittens 101

You'll note that there is only one mitten in the picture.  That's because my son left one at school.  Thankfully, he found it there this morning.



Now on to my other son's hat and mittens.  Same yarn and patterns, different color.  His fancy thread ended up in his mitten cuffs.  I think it's a bit girly, but it's what he wanted, so hey, what do I care?  His hat is kind of stretched out because when he's not wearing it, he tends to use it to collect treasures, like rocks.  I need to wash it so it will draw back up again.  His mittens were the first ones I did, as you can tell by the misshapen graft stitches on the bottom one.  The color in this pic is really off; it shows up better in the "modeling" pic further down.




The next 2 are of the kids modeling the goods:
 



Now are the bottle covers I knitted up and felted.   The kids carry stainless steel water bottles to school and in the car, and they complained that they are cold to hold onto when they have ice water in them.  I also did this to make theirs unique from some of the other kids in the class.  This was my first felting project!  I got the pattern idea from one someone posted a while back, but I can't find the link.  At the time I read the pattern and then wrote out my own modifications.  I believe the original pattern was for a coffee carrier (i.e., it had an open bottom). 
Yarn: Cascade 220 and Cascade 220 quatro
Pattern: Basically I swatched, then felted, and figured out my *felted* gauge.  Then I figured out how big I needed the cover to be for the bottles I was making it for.  I started the handle with a provisional cast-on and worked it in stockinette stitch.  When the handle was as long as I needed, I cast on half the stitches I needed for the body, picked up the provisional cast on stitches, and then cast on the other half (I hope this makes sense).  Then I just worked in the round; I didn't do any decreases at the end, just drew it up at the bottom.  Then I felted the whole thing.  It's a pretty easy process; I could describe it in more detail if someone is interested.

The multi-colored one has made one more felting trip through the washer than the blue one, so it's closer to the size I wanted.  Next time I wash dark towels, I'll felt  the blue one once more.  It fits a bit loosely as it is, and you can see that it comes up higher on the bottle.  Oh, and both are the same size; the perspective of the picture makes them look different.



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