New York Minknit

This is a very belated Christmas present for my sister. It’s kind of a knitted helmet-meshed with a scarf.

Pattern: The hat part is from this pattern here. It is the Amelia Earhart Aviator Cap, and apparently designed for chemo patients. Cute, even if you are not undergoing chemo. Some other knitter made it into a Princess Leila hat/wig here. You can see it in its hat-only form above. (I also think it looks like a helmet, hence the shot from the arms and armor room at the Metropolitan Museum.)
The scarf is a diagonal rib (k2, p2, scooting over one stitch every right-side row) for two feet, and then I increased on one side only for about half a foot and then decreased on the same side for another half a foot so it would form that triangle shape to fit into the bottom of the hat. Then I knit for another two feet.

Yarn: Joseph Galler Prime Alpaca (1 skein) and Frog Tree Fingerling Weight Alpaca (2 skeins) from The Yarn Tree, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Needles: No. 7 Addi bamboo circulars. I rarely hear people mention Addi bamboo needles, but I like them a lot. This is the only pair I have but they have a better cord than the Clovers, I think.

Cost: Well, I bought 3 skeins of the fingerling weight but only needed 2. So, if you bought 1 of the Joseph Galler ($26.50) and 2 of the Frog Tree ($13), your total would be $39.50. I will evaluate the yarn and yarn store in another post.

Photograph by baba lu.

This scarf used Knitpicks Ambrosia (which my co-worker pointed out was described in the catalog as “yarn for the gods.”) Knitpicks.com is a great source for well-priced yarn (prices start at $1.79 for pure wool per skein) — this is from their luxury yarn line (a mix of baby alpaca and cashmere), which is nice for a scarf because it’s right next to the skin. It will fuzz up when put next to a man’s chin, because of their stubble, but I think the fuzziness is a nice element of the finished scarf.

It’s 60 inches, and took six weeks, and used five and a half skeins.

Photograph by baba lu.

A. making a Dr. Evil face, while wearing the Lattice Scarf.

Photograph by baba lu.

Here’s Adam showing off 60 hours and 60 inches of scarf (and love!). Doesn’t he look thrilled?

Here’s how far I’ve gotten on the scarf, in almost two weeks. Of course, it wasn’t until after I had finished a skein and a half that I realized that I had been twisting all of the slip stitches, so every few rows, the stitches are twisted. I briefly thought about ripping it all out, but then I realized I would go nuts. Adam, the receipient, says he can’t even tell, so I’ll just ignore that mistake. (See if you can spot the twisted stitches in the close-up.)

Also, I have realized that the Addi Turbo’s points are good, because they are sharp enough to flip the stitches around, once I realized the error.

Photograph by baba lu.

Pattern: From Naive Knitting blog

Yarn: Knitpicks ambrosia in fog

Needles: Addi turbo circular in 5

I am not such a big fan of these addis turbo that all the knitting bloggers love. This is because they are metal and do not bend, and thus, are a little bit uncomfortable. I can see why everyone says they are fast, and why they are called turbo, because they are pretty slippery, and for the plain knit stitches, do make the rows go by fast. The problem is that this pattern makes me have to think a lot, so I can’t go that fast anyway. If I knit this again, I would probably do it on plastic needles. Also, don’t be a fool like me and buy 24″ circular neeldes, which are apparently only used for children’s clothes. Because I know no children. They might be useful for dogs though, and as mentioned earlier, will come in handy for any plain knitting done on size 5 needles because they really do make knitting fast, if kind of hard on the arm/wrist.

Photograph by baba lu.

Pattern: “My So-Called Scarf” from Sheep in the City

Yarn: Manos del Uruguay in 63 (2.5 skeins)

Needles: Plastic Bryspun in 10

I cast on 10 extra stitches than what the pattern used, and went down to size 10 needles (size 11 seemed so big, that it didn’t seem right) and thus, ended up needing another half a skein. Perhaps less if I had blocked. On hindsight, I might have attempted to use the size 11, because the stitch is kind of tight and might have looked nicer a little looser, but otherwise I think it’s fine.