Striped hat in soy silk--done!

I finished the "Alison's Playful Karaoke Hat" that I was writing about yesterday, the one made with soy silk (50% soy fiber and 50% wool). It's knitted in the round (as you can probably tell) and though I still struggle with the DPN rows at the end, and the switching from K2P2 ribbing to stockinette, I think I did OK! :^) I have a few young relatives who are into the skateboarding scene, which is what this hat puts me in mind of. (Do I smell a giftie??) I will knit some sort of I-cord thingamajig when I get better at I-cord. For now, I find it's true what several knitters have said recently, I am addicted to casting off! It's so gratifying.

The yarn is wonderful. I can't say enough about the softness and nonitchiness of it. It did split a bit easily, like bulky wool can, but I used my aluminum circulars for the majority of it, and they have a nice rounded tip. I did attempt the kabob "skewer" DPN (waxing them with some waxed paper first) but it was not that successful. Aside from the terribly sharp points, one end was blunt, and that didn't work well. Now that I have a set of gorgeous rosewood straights and the Boye set of circulars, I guess it's time to bust out the credit card and fill in the DPN supplies. Maybe I will even get better at using them if I own some!

Particulars about this hat and yarn:

http://www.theyarngrove.com/karaokepatterns.html 

Another gray cat--Pippi!

I loved Goldendomer's baby blanket on her blog, and it was "adorned" with her charming gray kitty. I esp. love it because I have two of those at my house (gray cats, not baby blankets--though somewhere in the dark recesses of my girls' closets are several lovely baby blankets knit or crocheted way back when by their grammy). Goldendomer's cat looks so much like my Pippi.

Check out Goldendomer's blog--it's great! http://amanda-knits.blogspot.com/

Finished the baby poncho and hat

I have made a baby poncho and hat this week from two patterns mentioned on Knitting Novices. I am pretty proud of them but have a ways to go on sewing things well. Good practice for the next projects. Here are links to the hat-- http://www.margarethubertoriginals.com/newpage1.htm
and poncho--http://radio.weblogs.com/0129449/categories/Knitting/2004/09/16.html

I used two strands, Caron's Simply Soft in Plum Wine, and Lion Brand Wool-Ease in
Dark Rose Heather.

These baby things are for my niece, Leone, who was born 11/30 last year and will receive them on her first birthday (shhhhh! if you know her!). I think I will attempt a knitted rosette later (also something that was mentioned on Knitting Novices this week), and I AM going to learn enough crochet to put a soft, fuzzy edging on the bottom of the poncho, but I already have another project underway. :^)

Next up: Karaoke variegated soy silk cap, already a challenge just on the first five rows (note to self: don't watch movies while casting on large numbers of stitches and establishing a pattern).

Happy Knitting!