Black Knit Stocking Cap

   I finished my black knit stocking cap.  I used size 7 knitting needles and Vanna's Choice acrylic yarn to make this.  I made this the same way I made my Christmas Stocking Cap.   The first post about it is here.  The only difference is the black hat is not as long as the red one.   I even put a pom pom on the end of this one.

Happy New Year Everyone!

  I was just sitting here trying to decide on my favorite make in 2018.  And my favorite make for 2018 has to be the long Christmas stocking cap I knit earlier this year.  I really enjoyed wearing it during December.  I wore it as often as I could on the weekends when it wasn't too warm out.  I had one comment from one young lady who thought it was cool.

    I already have projects started for 2019.  I've got pajama pants cut out to sew up, the black hat I'm knitting is almost done and I have an idea for a couple of Christmas table runners that are waiting for additional fabric and then will be ready to be cut out.  All of this should keep me busy in January.  And I still have to finish my Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt.

   I'll be spending New Year's Day cleaning my oven and refrigerator, and taking down Christmas decorations.  I think that's a good way to spend the first day of the year.

   HAPPY NEW YEAR!

WELCOME 2019!

Stocking Cap - Better Picture

I realized that the picture I posted a few days ago of the stocking cap on the floor in all it's 54 inch glory was not a really representative picture.  Here's a better picture of how it can be worn.

The Christmas Stocking Cap Is Finished.

  I love this hat.  It fits well.  It's 54" long and I can use it as a hat with a scarf attached.  So much fun.

 

Sewing, Knitting, Sewing, Knitting, Sewing, And On And On

   I don't have a lot to show for my last couple of weeks.  I've been sewing up drawstring bags for DD for her use in her travels.  She has a big trip planned next month.

    I finally broke out the fabric for my hexagon Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt to cut up some hexies to make some more flowers.  I haven't finished the third row yet, but I think if I get some more hexies made it will spur me to get that third row sewn on.

   I have also been knitting on my Christmas stocking cap.  I'm on the decrease rows right now and I have about 45 rows left to knit.  It should be done next week and I'll be sure to share pictures here.  The red section is now at about 40 inches.  I don't know if it will finish at 48" but I'm really happy with this project. The ribbing was the perfect solution to my too big hat problem.  I think I would love to have a stocking cap in every color.

   

Christmas Stocking Cap Half Done

I have knit 27 inches of the red yarn this beauty so far.  It's going a little quicker than I thought it would.  I knit on this hat every time I get a chance to sit down.  This is so much fun.  I can't wait to wear it this Christmas.   This will be getting a pom pom and jingle bells added when I finally finish.

A Little Sewing And A Lot Of Knitting

     
       I made some zipper pouches for dear daughter for her to use as travel organization.  She has a couple of trips planned in the next few months and I wanted to thank her for helping me out with something recently.  So I made three pretty quilted zipper pouches for her.   She has quite of few of these in her collection, she loves them.  This is a quick and easy project. 

        I use the Crafty Gemini zipper pouch video tutorial on Youtube for the directions. Here is the link.  The only thing I need the tutorial for is how to put the zipper in and where to add the wrist strap if I'm putting one on my bag. 

       I did not put a wrist strap on these bags.  I make my pouches whatever size I can made from the fabric I have, I just have to make sure I have the zipper that is long enough for what I want to make.  I used 12" zippers for these.  When I add a wrist strap, I make mine wider. 

      You can't really see it in the pictures but these are a very soft aqua color with tiny white polka dots.  This is one of my favorite fabrics.  I was proud of myself for giving it up to make something for someone else.  Zipper pouches are a great way to use up small pieces of fabric.

    I'd like to try to make some boxy pouches.  I found a few video tutorials for those.  They are pretty simple, you just have to box the corners which I have done on other projects before.

        I also did a lot of knitting on my ribbed stocking cap.  The red section is now 15" long.  I'm not sure I have enough yarn to get to the 48" of red that I want, but I'm going to give it a shot.  It doesn't look like much, but the white cuff fits perfectly and that's exactly what I needed.

    No progress on my hexie quilt top.  I pulled out the box with the pieces in it and I'm planning on getting started on it again this weekend.

Fixing My Knitted Christmas Hat Problem

    I'm knitting another Christmas stocking cap.  The last two that I knitted did not fit right and were too big.  On the other two hats I used a 3 x 2 rib on the white cuff then I switched to stockinette in the red section.  When I switched to stockinette it stretched out the ribbing and made it way too loose.  I even reduced the number of stitches I used on the second hat I knit, but it also stretched.  I'm blaming the stockinette stitch.  I was constantly pulling the hat back onto my head.  Annoying. 

     It is time to replace the poorly fitting hat.  I looked on Ravelry for a pattern and and I found the perfect pattern which should make a great stocking cap for me.  The hat is made with the ribbing for the entire hat until you start to decrease.  Why didn't I think of that.  I love to knit ribbing.  The pattern is in a book called "Holiday Boutique Knitting" by Mary Jean Daigneault.  I found the book used on Amazon.  The stocking cap is actually a child's pattern so I just used the ribbing pattern from my favorite knitted hat pattern which is a 3 x 2 rib.  I'm going to make this about 4.0 feet long all in the lovely rib until I start to decrease after the 3 foot mark. 

     I started this project a couple of weeks ago.  I couldn't resist because I was ready for a knitting project.  I haven't done any knitting for quite a while.  I should have waited until I finished my poncho but the knitting needles were calling.   I even bought new needles to make this hat.  I bought a pair of Knit Picks size 7, 16" Sunstruck fixed circulars.  They are lovely.  I also bought two pair of interchangeable needles (same size in the Sunstruck material) and 32" cords to use when I start the decreases.  I use two circular needles to do decreases on my hats.  I never got the hang of double pointed needles, I was always worried about dropping stitches, so two circulars is the easiest way I have found for me to work decreases on my hats.  I learned this technique from a youtube video. 

     I knitted the white cuff with Knit Picks Brava Worsted in white and the red yarn is Lion Brand Pound of Love in the Cherry colorway (that is over a thousand yards of red yarn.  Yes, that ball of yarn is huge).   All acrylic.  I made the cuff 6" wide which is enough to be able to turn it up.  I'll be knitting the red yarn for a while.  I figure if I do a couple of inches every couple of days, I will have it done in a few months. 

  I do use a lot of stitch markers on this rib pattern.  The stitch markers make it easy to keep track of which stitches are where on my project.  There are ten stitches between each stitch marker, 3 knit, 2 purl, 3 knit and 2 purl.  I always know what I'm doing as long as I can count to 3.
   

This Christmas Stocking Was So Much Fun To Make

   Like I said yesterday, I found this tutorial (link here) for a cute Christmas stocking and I made mine from my stash fabrics.  I cut 36 - 3" squares to make the front of this stocking.   This was super simple to sew and I love it.  Now I wish I weren't giving it away.

Fun Project: Scrappy Christmas Stocking

      I found a tutorial on how to make a Christmas stocking and I decided I want to make one as a gift for a Secret Santa partner.  The tutorial is here and the page includes a link to a printable pattern for the stocking. The pattern is a nice shape and the perfect size.  I made up a scrappy fabric for the front of my stocking with 36 - 3" squares of fabric from my stash.  There is some flannel included and a couple of pieces of Christmas fabric.  I thought a scrappy stocking would be more fun that the usual Christmas fabric.