Knitting on Demand

First things first: yes, that was a picture of my wife in my last post, and yes, she is smoking hot. Now, on to business.
I've been knitting quite a lot recently. Of course, I've had to squeeze it into the commutes when I don't take Adelaide to Grandma's house in the car, and into lunch breaks, but I've found myself on a bit of a roll anyway. There's been a bit more time at home too, because my little treasure of a daughter is sleeping a little more consistently now.
The funny thing is, I've been knitting for other people. That isn't unusual in itself - if you look back over this blog, you'll see that I mostly knit for other people. What I'm finding to be different is that now I'm knitting for other people at their request.
The first real request I got (more than just a 'will you knit me something?' came from a place I never would have suspected. When my brother-in-law came to visit from England, he came with strict instructions from his boss. Brett is a policeman in my home town, and he works in the Divisional Support Unit. You don't really need to know much more than that. Bethany and I struck up a friendship with his boss, Tom, when we went to a Wednesday match him and his daughter a while back, and he had obviously heard about my new passion for knitting. When Brett asked what he should bring back from Canada for the station, Tom asked for a DSU scarf for the wall. So I set to work, knitting my first requested piece - a police scarf. Strange, eh?

Then the requests started coming in more frequently. I was asked by my colleague to make her a hat. I went for a stitch pattern I found in Mary Webb's Knitting Stitches called Candleflame Lace. I chose a rather nice springy yellow to suit the season, and set to work on it. (It didn't really turn out to be her colour, though, and I had spent too much time and effort on it not to give it to Bethany instead - she's modeling it here.) My friend Mel asked for a pair of fingerless gloves to match a hat someone had knit her. They turned out pretty good too.
Then my sister-in-law wanted a beret. Strange choice for her, but it turned out to really suit her. So much so that Beth had me knit one for her too. Beth's wearing hers in this picture. I knit Becca's in a really nice chunky chocolate brown.
The other request I've had recently was for a pattern. A friend from back in the UK had seen the Milky Way hat on this blog, and asked for instructions on how to make one herself. I hadn't written one properly when I made it, so I had to write them up from scratch, carefully investigating the hat to check what I'd done. I guess that'll teach me to not keep a scrapbook as I knit. I'll get the pattern online when I get half a chance.
I'm still finishing the scarf (I kept getting bored with it and having to knit something else for a while), but other than that, I have nothing on the order list. Time to indulge and knit a little something for myself, I think. I'm thinking a grey moss stitch hat. Maybe I'll throw some cables in too. I figure I'd better get the sketchbook out, then.

Want me to knit you something? Got any ideas for what I could do with my grey hat? Comment on this post, or drop me a line at salvatordarling@gmail.com

Hats, Hats, Hats.

I don't know why I like knitting hats so much. I think it's a combination of things. Hats are fairly quick to make, so there's instant gratification. They also make excellent gifts, because everybody needs a hat in this cold snowy weather.
So, I've been knitting lots of them recently. I followed a few patterns, and then got bored with that, so I started designing my own. At first I just changed little details like colours, size, and width of ribbing. Then I got more adventurous, and worked out my own decreases too.
I made Bethany a hat in a fantastic star stitch. I called it the Milky Way hat, because it spirals round her head. It turned out a little longer than I first imagined, but Beth likes it.
Then I cast on to make a hat for my brother in law. Brett is a big Sheffield Wednesday fan, and makes it out to games as often as he can. Sitting in the Kop can get very chilly on a northern English afternoon or evening, so I figured I'd make him something to keep his head warm.
I started off with some ribbing, then switched to intarsia to put in the blue and white stripes. I designed my decrease to look less visible, and then stitched it down the back. I finished it off with a pompom for that traditional look. I'm rather pleased with it.

I haven't yet knitted a hat in the round. I've been trying to get hold of the double pointed needles in the size I need for that, and for some reason I can't find them anywhere. But once I have them, I'll give that a go.
My next hat project is one that has some personal meaning to me. 13 years ago, I visited Whitby, on the North Yorkshire coast. There, I went into the old town, the location of a good portion of Bram Stoker's Dracula. In one of the shops, I found the most fantastic hat. It was clearly hand-knit, and I loved it. It was cream, light blue, dark blue and brown, with a dishevelled looking pompom on the top.
Somehow I managed to keep it for the longest time, and it was always my favourite hat. But then, about a year ago, I lost it in the move to Canada. It was a very sad moment for me. So I'm going to make a new one. It won't have the charm of the old one, but it's a start.
I scanned in a photograph of me wearing the old one, and then zoomed in to get a better idea of what it looked like. Then I set about writing up the pattern. I'll post the pattern and pictures here when I've made it.

But I have some other things to do first. Though the winter has a firm hold on us now, it's not going to last much longer, and I want to knit my first pair of fingerless gloves before it gets too warm. Maybe the Long Lost Whitby Hat will have to stay lost for a little while longer.