With the gray rainy days, it was perfect weather to stay in and do some knitting. And so I was thinking of making a diagonal stitch hat. But when it turn out to be a bit too big, I turned it into a baby vest instead.

It still has to be blocked, which is to wash and stretch into shape. Could possibly fit a 12-18 months old.

This is the first baby vest I knitted without any pattern. It was fairly easy but I just don’t know of any baby that could model for me. So I guess it will have to sit for a while. Maybe until my cousin’s baby is old enough to wear it. And that will be in no time!

Once I got to the arm I stopped and knitted the front and back side separately.  I then connected the shoulders via Kitchener Stitch Grafting.

Knitting note: Casting on 90 sts, knit from bottom up. 45 sts in front and back. Size 7 circular 24″ needle. The bottom section is knitted with diagonal stitch and top section is with Gartner stitch.

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There’s comfort food and there’s comfort knitting. Both will be sure to keep you warm and happy.

I had this book for a while and finally decided to knit something from it. It’s from the yarn maker at Berroco. The designs and patterns are inspirational and photos are nice too.

I was thinking of making the “Floret” afghan. It requires 9 squares. So far I have one that I’ve used to cover this pillow.

With the 1 square done it’s 8 more to go! Plus I might decide to use different yarn as this was knitted with Lion Brand Yarn 100% acrylic, machine washable, super soft 4 ply worsted weight yarn. The bobbles are suppose to be in the center but it’s barely visible with this yarn. Maybe natural cotton yarn would work well. Someday I’ll have to try Berroco yarns.

It will take a while to knit afghans because they are large. The Floret has a combination of cables, ribs, and bobbles. And with complicated patterns it could take a while to finish. Or at least keep you interested too. Nothing gets more boring then knitting the same stitch after stitch.

Materials:

Yarn required is Berrocco Comfort* (50% super fine nylon, 50% super fine acrylic) 100 grams, 9 skeins.
Needles: 1 set of dpn size US 8 (5mm) and 16″ cn needle US 8. Cable needles, stitch markers, stitch holders.

Berrocco comfort is split- and pill-resistant, worsted weight yarn is perfect for afghans, kids things, and other easy-care items. 16-ply allergy-free yarn is ideal for babies and adults. Machine washable.

Now that it’s November and the weather is getting cooler it’s time to start knitting again. And begin knitting up some holiday gifts too.

When I first learned to knit it was with 2 needles. Now that I started using circular needles, it’s made knitting so much better. I’ll probably never want to use DPN (double pointed needles) again! These are my favorite by Takumi Clover.

The last time I knitted fingerless gloves was using DPNs. It turned out nice, but not that fun to knit. There’s also another way of knitting them using 2 circular needles. I gave that a try and decided the magic loop method is the best way to go. The “magic loop” method uses 1 circular needle and it’s so much easier and quicker this way.

I will also be knitting socks using the magic loop method. But who really knits socks anymore? Maybe sweet and kind grandmas. Yet if you Google “sock knitting“, you’ll likely get people from all ages. And it seem to be really popular these days.

All I know is that it’s relaxing to knit. But some things can be complicated so that’s good mental exercise. For sock making, there are lots of stitches to remember such as ssk (slip, slip, knit), then turning the heal and picking up stitches. With practice I’m sure it all will get easier. I’m thinking of making knitting videos to help me remember some of these steps.

This was suppose to be an arm warmer, then I decided on making fingerless gloves instead. It’s almost complete, except for the thumb and the second pair. The yarn is Paton’s chunky tweed which is wool and acrylic blend.

Note: I may be posting less (knitting more) this month, but not totally away from my blog. So feel free to comment and say “hello”.

Once you get the hang of knitting with circular needles, it’s really easy and fun. The only tricky part is at the initial round where you have to join the ends. Just make sure it’s not twisted and you’re all set.

For this beanie (hat) I am using “Fishermen’s Wool” (natural tone) and a wool and acrylic blend (blue color), both from Lion Brand Yarn. I used Fishermen’s wool in “natural” and used it to make dots and accents on this hat.

Fishermen’s wool is another great yarn that makes knitting really relaxing. Synthetic yarn, such as acrylic is also good since it’s easy to care (machine washable), and comfortable to wear.

More info from LBY:

‘Our classic Fishermen’s Wool is made of undyed pure virgin wool with natural lanolin oil. Soft, warm, and naturally water resistant, it’s ideal for ski-wear and fisherman sweaters, hats, scarves, and more. Fishermen’s Wool also felts beautifully for dense slippers, strong bags, and textural home decor projects. Plus its generous size and natural shades make it perfect for dyeing!”

I also plan to use this wool to knit stripped fingerless mittens!

Another soap just off the rack is this Gardener’s Honey soap. In addition to the honey, it also has organic oatmeal and organic yogurt. To keep it really natural, it’s not scented but still smells very pleasant.

Ingredients: olive oil, grapeseed oil, palm oil, soybean oil, coconut oil, illipe butter, wheat germ oil, distilled water, sodium hydroxide, organic oatmeal, honey, organic yogurt, calendula petals and geranium petals.

I chose all these ingredients because of their soothing and conditioning abilities. It’s the same ingredients found in a facial mask, but put into this great bar of soap. Not only is a great facial and body soap, but also ideal for gardeners or anyone with super dirty hands! As the bits of oatmeal is very exfoliating.

This is also the first time I’ve soaped with fresh yogurt and illipe butter. The yogurt did leave a soft bar while it was being cut. But after several weeks of curing, it’s perfectly hard and nice as my other soaps.

The soap is also topped with calendula petals and geranium petals harvested from last summer’s flower garden.

Benefits of Illipe butter from Mountain Rose Herbs:

• Moisturizing chronically dry skin
• Mature skin
• Sunburn
• Healing sores
• Damaged skin
• Rough skin (such as on feet)
• Mouth ulcers
• Dry or over processed hair

Knitting has been very zenful and meditative for me lately.

So here is another hat I’ve made with my size 10 (US) 12″ circular bamboo knitting needles.  This knit hat is made with multicolor acrylic yarn for easy care.

I thought the color was cheerful and good for spring.  Note: for a warmer version, use a wool blend yarn and knit it longer.  This way it will cover the ear and can also be folded up.

Next on my knitting adventure:  a nice comfy shawl.  I found these free patterns from Vintage Knitting that I ‘d love to try.

The “Country Club” shawl.

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I’ve managed to accumulated several knitting needles and crochet needles recently. So I decided to make my own roll up needle case to organize them.

This project is really simple and fun to make. Just gather some good size scrap fabrics and make sure it will fit your needles. It’s really simple to make even without instructions. But I’ll write them out here just in case anyone is interested.

Instructions:

Cut out two rectangle fabric.  Make sure one of them is quilted to give your needles padding. I used quilted brocade in teal color.

Cut out 3 strips of fabric. With the bottom and top section being larger then the others.  You can also use pretty ribbons for this section.  As you can see here I’ve used a pink satin ribbon.

Before sewing the strips into the fabric, be sure to pin them so it will be straight.  After all the strips are sewn in, just decide how you want to divide them up.  You can always divide them equally, but I like mine to have various width for a snug fit.

Facing the wrong side fabrics together, sew the 2 larger rectangle fabrics.  Then turn it inside/out with the correct side out. Finish sewing the top section.

Last step is to sew on the ribbons for easy closure.  You do this by sewing it in the middle edge of the right side of the fabric.

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Thanks to B for offering me tips on knitting my first hat. B also suggested changing colors and adding a pom-pom to the top too. I didn’t get to that and just wanted to see how this hat would turn out first.

According to B, all you do is start off with a rectangular knit piece until you get the desired length and height. So no circular needles necessary! And when you get to the last row, just take the yarn and pull (cinch) it together. Then connect (sew or crochet) the back ends together to form a hat.

There’s really no pattern to my first hat. Just an attempt at experimenting with different knit stitches. I started the brim with a garter stitch, followed by lace knit, then double knitted. These are just knitting terms and still really new to me.

It’s more of a late winter/spring beanie knit hat that also looks like it had been crocheted. The lattice were formed by making large lace knit stitches to the hat. To cheer up the gray hat, I also added pink crocheted flower too. Overall I think it came out really cute.

It does stretch out and would fit small to medium head. Or maybe it would be a perfect fit for kids.

I love bamboo and I love all things made of bamboo.  The knitting needles I use are by Takumi and made in Japan, size 9.  Takumi means “craftsmanship” in Japanese.

I like that bamboo knitting needles are lightweight and have nice warm natural touch.  It’s not as slippery as working with aluminum needles.

I was also happy to find part bamboo yarns at Michael’s.  Yarn made in Turkey.  It’s made of 55% viscose from bamboo, 45% wool.

Cleaning instructions for future note:  hand wash gently in cold water; lay flat to dry.

I hope to use this yarn to knit a hat.  Maybe if I get really good I can knit more warm winter hats for my little nieces too.

I found an old scarf I had knitted about five years ago. It was surprisingly very warm and so I thought it would be great to knit another one again this winter.

Years ago, I was lucky to have B teach me the basic steps. But now I really can’t remember much of it. Thank goodness for Youtube I was able to refresh my memory. Even learned a great deal and am on my way to knitting more scarfs.

This stitch took me forever to figure out.  This pattern is called the stockenette and it’s a combination of knit and purl stitch.

These are the basic knitting methods:

- Cast on

- Bind off

- Knit Stitch

- Purl Stitch

I made my first ear warmers/headband using just the knit stitch.  It’s also called the garter stitch. I like that it’s chunky and feels very warm.  The yarn used is 100% acrylic for easy care and softness.

Growing up I didn’t have anyone in the family to teach me how to knit. Since my family is from tropical Asia, the idea of knitting warm clothing was really not necessary. But I still think it’s a craft that’s worth learning.

Knitting has become a way to relax for me.  It’s also neat to see that a ball of yarn has become something nice and practical.

The next thing I would love to learn how to knit is a cute cozy hat.