mad hatter

a ways back my sister and i were at a concert with some friends of mine. a friend of mine mentioned that i had knit her a necklace. my sister turned to me and was all, "you knit??" and that is how i was outed to my family. as a knitter.

i fully expected shock. maybe some awe. intead she carefully examined the crowd and pointed to a twentysomething girl. "that. can you make me that hat?" yes, yes i can. yes, yes i did.



the pattern is for the london beanie. it seemed easy enough and not too heavy. beginning the first inch or so with ribbing and switching to stockinette seemed really weird, but makes for a nice simple hat that won't roll at the bottom or slide off your head.



this was knit with worsted weight wool in violet and black on size 7 double points in the round. and completed in about three days worth of subway rides. the stripes were done by switching colors every other row, and carrying the yarn. (i'm really anti-working in ends.)



i'm not sure whether to leave the ends dangling, make a braid, a pom pom, a tassel, or work them in. thoughts are welcome.

DIFFICULTY:
AWESOMENESS:

a tisket a tasket

a few months back i was on my way home from morningside heights on a sunday afternoon. i decided to take the bus down broadway. at the time i was working on the wedding blanket. there was a woman of a certain age knitting a lovely grey wool scarf. after about 20 blocks i built up the courage to say hello. so the ninja perches precariously on the ground next to her and asks about the scarf. apparently she was making it for charity. sailors. no, really. apparently they get cold necks out there on the open seas. or maybe proper accessorizing can scare off pirates. but this is neither here nor there.

so there i was on the bus chatting up the woman. she was more than happy to share the pattern for her scarf. she even tried to get me to join a knitting group that met on sunday afternoons at a church in harlem. what? i thanked her for the offer and declined. i did, however, keep the pattern for the scarf.



see, the name of this post is witty because it is a basket weave scarf.



i love this one. just knitting and purling, nothing complicated.
basic pattern:
row 1: k7, p5, k5, p5, k5, p5, k7
row 2: k2, p5, k5, p5, k5, p5, k5, p5, k2
continue for 7 rows
on row 8, go back to row 1, knitting your purls and purling your knits. this creates the next row of "checkers". then keep on going until you get bored or run out of yarn! the end two stitches on either end are in garter stitch and form a nice border for the scarf.



this was knit on size 7 double points (because i like them, not because they were necessary) with sugar 'n creme cotton yarn. (i had a bit left over from my pound of love)



and now, the ninjas:

DIFFICULTY:
AWESOMENESS: