Catching up (again)

Hey Robin!
With the passing of the holidays, I finally find myself able to get some pictures taken and organized. Whee! A lot got completed in the mad scramble to clear off some needles before the New Year, what a relief that is. The ability to start new projects that don't really have a deadline is somewhat foreign lately...

Here we go. First up, I finished pair #2 of Through the Garden Gate. I like them in variegated!

Pattern: My own: Through the Garden Gate

Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts, Socks that Rock Heavyweight in Loch Ness colorway.

Next is a hat request from the Darling Hubster. I used the Point-Down Toque pattern which really just turns out to be a rough guideline. It worked fine for my purposes and Hub is really happy with it. He especially likes the tassle I think. The yarn was a gift from him (bless him), and I don't think he meant to give me yarn so I would make him a hat... but it's a great color and I definitely think it belongs as this hat.

Project: Scat (yes, I know what that means but it's a hat/scarf!)

Yarn: Patton's Classic Wool in... blue.

Next is one of the items I gifted which I didn't want to show before just in case. This was a gift for my Dad's best friend. She's really a special person and I wanted to make her something to keep her neck and hands warm when she rides her bike to work on a chilly morning. Here's a pic of her wearing the cowl, it looks so great on her!

Pattern: Melony Cowl

Yarn: Malabrigo Merino Worsted, Rich Chocolate colorway

Lastly, here's a design I've been working on and I would like to 'sneak peek' it to you all today in hopes of gauging some interest in a written pattern. I saw a commercially produced hood like this somewhere and started working on designing one in my head. Finally got some pretty chunky-weight yarn and gave it a go. Alterations will be necessary, but mostly the finished product will look like this:

I love the gentle cabling and the way it covers my head. I also like that there's no seaming! I know, seaming is NOT hard, but any chance to avoid it is a good thing in my book. I am looking for a good name for it as well, any ideas?

That's all I got today, Later!

Beowulf I am not....

Hey Robin!
I have neglected to update you on my FO's recently! Allow me to rectify that aberration!

First up we have my "Sonnet" cardigan. I would be happy to bow to the desires of the designer regarding the name, but this puppy took me almost a year to complete (my bad, not hers) and so I redub thee EPIC POEM! Or "Saga" for short:

 Isn't she purdy? The yarn is a 50/50 merino/silk blend that is just luscious. (Malabrigo Silky Merino in Cloudy Sky colorway) It is one of my favorite yarns to play with as you will see in the next FO. The buttons are temporary placeholders... I haven't decided what to change them to. Currently they are a mis-matched set of shell-like white buttons. Some people have told me they like that about them, but I am not sure it's my preferred final look. Time will tell. The construction on this one is unique in that it is knitted side to side instead of bottom to top (or vice versa). I liked the idea of it... and I think I might make another someday, perhaps trading out the stitch-detail with something else.

Our next FO is a sort of a test-change to a friend's cowl design (cowl, gaiter.... potato, potah-to) It's a beaded pattern, a great one for the beginner with just lovely results. She designed it for worsted, but I found a skein of the Silky Merino that was screaming to be a lighter-weight version of the original (the silky is a DK weight, which is smaller-diameter than a worsted... for those of you unfamiliar with yarn weights) I got some fantastic beads to go with it and Viola!

Yarn: Malabrigo Silky Merino in the Tatami colorway with size 6/O beads.

Sorry for the unmodelled photo, I have been under the weather lately and not looking my best...

Another test-knit that was recently finished is another awesome hat by my friend Nina Machlin Dayton. She's a brilliant designer of things for one-skein usage. I love helping her with her projects. This one is a beret with some unique engineering. Instead of the usual hat construction, which is knit in the round, this one is knit back and forth on straight needles and grafted at the end. I have gotten very good at the grafting lately!

I give you: The Medici

Yarn: Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Sunset colorway (love it!)

I believe that's all the knitting news that's fit to print! October is "Stockpile Month" in my Malabrigo Junkie world. All of us are knitting like crazy women in preparation for the Holidays. I won't be entering any contests but I am using the fervor to knock some projects out so that I'm not bleary-eyed and crazed on Xmas eve ;) Wish me luck!!

Later.

Happy Post Election Day!

Hey Robin!
I meant to post this yesterday and just can't be bothered to change the title...lol. Needless to say I am pleased with MOST results but lemme tell you something...

Today I am blocking the second of four wedding-blankets that I am seaming on behalf of my fabulous group of knitter-friends in Ravelry for some of our beloved just-married women. The first one was well-received by our "Chair person" a.k.a. Swap Momma. Todays is... well... today's is for one of the sweetest most gracious and generous people in the group. We all love her and she recently wed the love of her life, who just happens to also be a woman. They have been together for more than a decade and were so thrilled to be able to be official in the eyes of the law. We were all so happy for her and then the last ballot happened. How can people be so cruel? Why does government HAVE to do this? Why is it anyone's business?? I just can't believe it.

Right now the blanket is soaking in a bath and I am hoping it will dry quickly (for it has been rahter wet locally) so that I may send her the warm-wool-hug that we have all labored to create for her.

On the lighter-side of things. I have gotten my swap package from the latest Malabrigo Swap! I swear these packages just keep getting better and the longer one has to wait the better things seem to get. My swapper had to wait a little while because she was in the midst of a move from Alaska to Texas! Wow!! The best thing about that is she picked up little items for me on her travels from North to South! PLUS she made some items for me and I love them. I wanted to share with the blog-world what she sent, so here goes:

This is what greeted me upon opening the package. Oh the possibilities that lie therein!
Don't be fooled. That case apparently can hold a LOT of loot!!

Viola! Description first and close-up pictures to follow.... So when I open the shipping box I see first a fuzzy foot. I knew instantly that I had received another stuffed otter. Can you see how cute he is?? Right now he's sitting on my desk cheering me up. Otter was cuddling up with a skein of Dream In Color Smooshy (a very descriptive name for a sock yarn, australian merino wool, washable, in the Dusky Aurora colorway) that Jen (my swapper) said she needed to de-stash from her collection. WOW! Can you say 'generous'!? It's a beautiful colorway and I can't decide whether it will be something lacy or some smooshy-socks. The dilemma!

Next I notice the wonderful case with the map-decoration (OK I noticed it way-sooner but work with me here, I am trying to tell a story here) and pull it out of the box to discover it is so full of STUFF that it can't be closed!! Inside this box-o-wonder (or treasure chest as it were) were SIX, count 'em SIX skeins of our beloved malabrigo. Oh. My. Gawd. Three skeins of worsted in the Verdes colorway (swoon!) and three skeins of sillky in Celeste (the light blue). Amazing. I already think I am going to make a Shetland Triangle (seen in this post) in the silky, but with three whole skeins of worsted I have SO MANY choices that it's driving me nutso! :D

Among the wool-loveliness were many well-assembled items that prove how well I was stalked during the required-stalking-period. They are: a tape measure (mine just broke, I have been using it sans-case and I really should have more than one anyway), a delicate pair of scissors with a hand cross-stitched scissor-keeper (which is just something big that makes it harder to lose your scissors in a massive pile of material... unless you are me) hopefully you can see the lovely picture in the stitching, some lovely stitch markers (tee-tiny ones that won't get in my way), some lovely mulling spices (love!), some SOAK for washing my creations, a pair of gorgeous ceramic buttons that I can't wait to use, THREE patterns from my Ravelry queue that I cannot wait to cast-on, a hat which might be an Odessa (without beads) that she made for ME which I have worn almost constantly since receipt. Last but not least, there were two keychain critters from Alaska. A moose and a bear... that poop.

That's right folks, I have pooper-keychains. *lol*. They are delightfully gross and I love them. Can't explain why... I just do.

The whole package is enough to make me cry! It's so nice to have someone think about you so much that they end up sending you something that's just perfect for YOU. I have thanked Jen many times but I must do it again: THANK YOU JEN!! You are a sweetheart!

In other news, I finished a test-knit for another Mal-Junkie and am geared up to start another for her. This one is her Kettering Hat (Ravelry link), it's not a style I would have picked for myself initially, but that just shows you how fashion-dumb I am. This knit up quickly and was LOTS of fun AND... I love it. It looks great and feels wonderful on my head. (Mine is knit up in Tuareg colorway). Don't I look happy?

Next up are some mittens using her Faberge-stitch pattern (remember the neckwarmer?)

Anyway, I hope you are faring well and that Emme continues to keep you on your toes!
Later!

Rockin' the Swap-bah

Hey Robin!
(Yes, I know the title sux, cut me some 80's slack ;)

Doood! I sewed! Lookey!

The pattern for the kneedle roll was simple enough for my brain to comprehend (even so, I made a couple of mistakes but SHHH!! You are sworn to secrecy... oh hello world wide web? Were you listening??) And ended up with a TON of fabric left so I whipped up a project bag from the seat-of-the-pants region and it's cute if I may say so.

If it isn't already obvious, these items are going to be in the posession of a deserving malabrigo swappee sometime next week I believe. Along with some other fall-themed goodies! I had an awesome time with this swap because it's seriously the first time I got a Chatty-Kathy and she made it SO EASY to stalk her and figure out what her loves are!

In other news, I made a hat with the most difficult cast-on that I have attempted to-date. I kid you not I re-started this thing 7 times.

The first time the cast-on didn't work, i frogged and looked on the hallowed www to find another way of doing the same thing. This is a tubular cast-on ladies and gents. The one from the book was VERY different from all the ones I found in my frantic Ravelry-search that were recommended. I finally settled on an Italian version, with a video! (I heart you Fluffbuff!). After many aborted attempts to get it right, I finally got SMART and used a different yarn, bigger kneedles and cast on fewer stitches (listen, when you are trying to make a hat with 132 sts, ANYTHING is better than having to try to do that 5 times in a row!) and magically it just started to WORK! I held my breathe, cast on the 132 sts needed for the hat and gave it a go. It worked!!

He loves the hat btw. Has worn it every day since (well it HAS been chilly in the a.m.). I think the only thing I will change when I do this again is do that cast-on row in smaller kneedles. I saw that recommended somewhere and I have to agree. It makes for a super-stretchy edge, and so his hat is a little 'flared' at the edge, but it still looks great. I plan to use this cast on lost and lots even though it's a p.i.t.a. ;)

On to the holiday knitting!! :D

Later!

Pheelin' like Phelps

Hey Robin!
Things have been massively busy 'round here as we burn-through the last of the dog days of summer. We've had to run the a/c THREE WHOLE DAYS!! What's becoming of the world's weather patterns?! Seriously...

We've had a few coming-up-to-Kindergarden playdate type things in local parks and it's been nice to see how Little Guy socializes with the other new kids (that would be "not much at all") and the other Moms seem like pretty nice people so this should be an interesting year... adding to that the fact that I had to put my size-8.5 foot in my mouth and volunteer with the PTSA to organize the event photos for the year! Wow... what on EARTH was I thinking?? I must have been martini'd when I wrote that email.... never volunteer alone...

I've got some FO's to show off! I have completed two of my three events for the Ravelympics and I'm feelin' GOOD (or I was until I saw that there are people doing knitting Decathlons... people... don't you SLEEP? Do you get up to PEE??) I just have the Laceweight Long Jump project left and I am feeling the pressure. This is a project that can only be done after L.G. is in bed and I just can't keep my eyes open late at night lately! It's a gorgeous lace though, I am seriously looking forward to the finish-line on this one...

Here's the finished Hat Dash items:
#1: Star Crossed Slouchy Beret by Natalie Larson I love this beret. I chose to make it from a colorway of Malabrigo Worsted called: "Paris Nights". Perfect eh? Paris? Beret?

It really makes for a lovely/smooshy beret. My BFF already wants one :) Sorry there's no pick of it on me, my pictures suck lately as you will see...

#2: Bucket Hat by Bonnie Marie Burns. I actually PAID for a hat pattern in order to make this. I KNOW!! That's a rarity for me... Anyway, I wanted a good cotton-type hat to use my Malabrigo Organic Cotton with (Lima colorway, which I am loving). And this one won the coin toss. It's a FAST knit so I almost felt like I was cheating my Ravelympic co-athletes but what the hey. Live and learn!

When I get the energy I am going to wet-block this one. The brim is puckering and I don't like that. I cast on as loose as I could manage... perhaps it wasn't loose enough? Or perhaps I just need to get to work on blocking it. Over all, the cotton makes a nice fabric and I am happy with the pattern! I think it could seriously be dressed up with different yarns and embellisments etc. Could make some fun gifts!

The laceweight is farther along than this picture shows, but I like the fabric so I wanna show it off a little:

OK so it doesn't look as great in the photo as it does in person so you will have to take my word for it. It's pretty. This is Malabrigo Lace in the Mariposa colorway. I am using the Serpentine scarf pattern by Keiran Foley. It's just a 50-row repeat and each 50 rows is about 5 inches of length. Give or take. I am almost done with 2 repeats. It's slow going folks, let me tell ya...

This is definitely a project that will improve with the blocking.

Oh, and how jealous are you of me? I just got a new gardening-crew. They are totally organic and work for FREE!! What are the chances of finding these guys to help me out with the grass??

Anyhoo! That's what I have going on, give or take the chores and the fussing-at-the-5-year-old! I hope all is well in The Swampy MidWest!!

Later...

The Eagle has Landed!!

Hey Robin!
I whined and complained and moaned about waiting for my MYB (Magic Yarn Ball) and I feel like a toad because it CAME!! It's wonderful and I feel so spoiled (again... the Malabrigo Junkies are the bestest). Here is my Photo Journal on the unveiling of the package:

The box-o-goodies, just opened; The MYB still wrapped! Oh the anticipation!


All the "stuff" in the box! And this is BEFORE I unwrap the ball (which is btw Spunky Eclectic 100% Alpaca sportweight in colors that are PERFECT for me!)

In front is an adorable needle-felted otter (my favorite animal!) and a copy of the pattern for Green Gables, can't WAIT to start that one! There's two, count 'em TWO hanks of Malabrigo worsted in the Loro Baranquero colorway. Very hot. Very.... enticing. Mmmmm....

In the edibles department, there's a bag of Ghirardelli's dark chocolate collection, Little Guy LOVED the raspberry stuffed one and I noshed a caramel stuffed one while unpacking (how could I not? The bag was right on top of the box!) and BRACH'S NOUGATS!!!! I swear, my swapper, "Kimothy Jones", is ON TOP OF THINGS! She rocks!

The MYB itself was choc-full-o-things that she knew I would lurve:
<--The Haul, the large items: a BROWNCOAT t-shirt! OMG!!! You have no idea (or maybe you do!) of how much I have wanted one of these but decided not to spend the money! The back says "I aim to misbehave" one of the best lines in the whole show (That would be Firefly, if anyone out there hasn't seen it, you are missing out). A Serenity button-magnet too. I heart it, it's already on the fridge at my eye-line. A PIRATE MUG!! It matches exactly the t-shirt I bought Hub a couple of years ago that he wears rather often, but I get to put my coffee in it. How lucky am I?? Oh and ANOTHER ball of 100% Alpaca from Drops. In a gorgeous blue color that I neglected to get the name of. Nice.
Two packets of Soak, I look forward to trying. Some stitch markers in rainbow colors that I had favorited on Etsy (so cool, they're like chain maille). LOVE THEM!! OMG She was too generous!!
A mini-sock (squee!), awesome buttons, a set of tapestry needles (I really must find out what the three sizes mean) and T-pins!! How did she know I totally needed to get more?!
And this little moment of zen. I've been cradling this little guy around the house ever since he was unwrapped. He's adorable and I love him. He has been introduced to my Otter backpack-purse that I bought at the local aquarium. They are buds now. Totally tight.

Kimmer, you rock. You stalked me well and did a great job. Thank you from the bottom of my Malabrigo-linted-heart. You are awesome.

Later!

Feeling a Little Behind?

Hey Robin!
I am so-not-caught-up here. I seem to keep forgetting that updating my projects on Ravelry does NOT automatically post a pithy-update here. AND WHY NOT we might ask?! Casey get on that! ;)

I seem to have forgotten several "dones" so I will list here. Hopefully I will not repeat myself...
DONE!

Starting at loafer: One pair of loafers for my Aunt using the CocoKnits Malabrigo Loafer Pattern which i LURVE and which is so handy. This time I used that 100percent Wool (I may have the name wrong). I gotta say the material is nice, but I probably won't purchase from them again *alas*. Then a Chinese Waves dishcloth and an Everlasting Bagstopper for a swap-pal! The purpose of this swap was to make a market bag (either knit or crochet) and include a fair-trade product of some kind and an organic yarn. I sent her a skein of Malabrigo Organic Cotton because I AM a Malabrigo Junkie and must spread-the-word! It was a fun swap and I look forward to getting my goodies :) I will share as soon as I get them, I promise! Other things i recently finished have already been posted so I won't go there again. However there is one notable that I have not recently spoken about and you may notice has disappeared from the sidebar WIP list. The Jaywalker.

*sigh*

I was just not meant to have this sock. I have had several false-starts with it and even when i get-gauge I am not haveing a success with the fit! I know it's supposed to be tight, but I am always getting "loose" and i just don't have the strength to do it again. Never say never though, I may try again another time! It is a super-easy pattern and really looks neat! Except on my foot:

Icky wrinkles and the fabric just felt too stiff. Ah well. I LOVE the yarn though! Hazelknits Artisan Sock in the Greenlake colorway LOVE! Even though I just frogged this sock, I immediately cast-on something simple so that I could have a portable-project. Namely Wendy's Generic Toe Up sock pattern. I am already at the ball of the foot and can tell things are going well. I hope to put a picot hem on it to jazz it up a little, but really I am just looking foward to a sock that FITS! (Did I mention that my Greenman socks have gone all wonky on me??). Yaaay for fitting socks. :)

Speaking of swaps, I gotta get this puppy out of the house! It's my "Magic Yarn Ball" and it's gotta get outta here before I get in trouble! (Gotta find a box "square" enough though! Yipe!)

I wrote out a great letter to go with it, but I want to wait to post its contents until after the swappee has gotten it. Sorry!

Other than that I am still attempting to Liberate my Laceweight (No darling! I haven't forgotten you!) and have also started another felted tote bag, though I am going to try to make it with a pair of wood handles I purchased ages ago... we'll see! Once I have something to show there I will show it ;)

Meanwhile nature has a little WIP going in my front yard!

Squeeee!

Later!

Potential and finished projects

Hey Kate!

I got my Victorian Sampler and kneedles yesterday.


And I finished my hat! The seam is too visible and the top has too much fabric, but I love it just the same. It's mine, MINE, MINE!

Except when Emme is wearing it of course.

I still have half a skein of Malabrigo left over, so I'm just going to have to make a camera cozy and a DS cozy with it. I know. Life's hard.

That's all I got.

Later!

Robin

A moment of silence...

...For the guy who never shut up ;) I gotta say I truly will miss George Carlin! It seems too soon. I hope his last thought was about how great his life was and that he lived it as well as he could.

Hey Robin!
I finished my very-first-ever test knit! Of course I flubbed it up, but when I am enjoying knitting something I can't be bothered to notice that it is TWO WHOLE INCHES wider than it's supposed to be can I?

I love this pattern! I loved putting on the beads, I loved carrying the yarn across the stitches, I loved watching it get longer and longer almost faster than I could keep track! I also love the buttons I picked... aren't they cute? I may have to go back and re-stitch them down because they seem a little loose, but I think this might be the first time I have added buttons to a knitted garment. Or it's the first time I have done a single-hole button... something like that. This might take practice!

The pattern is by Nina Dayton and its called The Faberge Neckwarmer (Ravelry link). Pattern will be available soon, with a cowl and a hat option as well, though I am not sure if they are one-pattern-buys-all or if they are separate. That's up to Nina! I hope she lets me test knit things in the future even though I botched up the width-thing. I think it's rather fetching! Don't you agree?'

Yarn: Malabrigo worsted, Velvet Grapes colorway
buttons: a bargain from Jo Ann craft store
beads: 2/0 seed bead type things... I don't know from beads but
they are gorgeous... and they match the malabrigo perfectly.

I gotta go, the Ropa is calling!

Later!

Old Clothes, New Hat

Hey Kate!

Instead of keeping up a separate geeky blog which I'm just not doing, I'm just going to mix it all together, much like I did with this recipe I posted on WoW Insider. It is my version of Ropa Vieja, which means Old Clothes in Spanish and is a Cuban dish usually made with skirt steak. I have redone it as a kind of pot roast turned meat and rice bowl.

As far as substituting white rice for the brown, I do agree that white rice tastes better in general. But you can't really taste the rice in this dish -- or the individual ingredients at all, particularly after the first reheating. This dish is designed to be a tasty coverup for cheap meats which makes it perfect for raising the healthiness of the meal. Brown rice is much better for you nutritionally and has a better glycemic index which means that it takes harder work to convert it to sugar/energy. To illustrate, let's go to the guys in charge of working the carbohydrates in my tummy. Meet Bob and Joe. Bob is the supervisor of the carbs, so we'll actually call him Mr. Bob. Joe is the FNG.

Here's my understanding of what happens when I just drink a commercially available ginger ale:

Joe: Here comes more carbs, Mr. Bob.
Mr. Bob: Ah, high fructose corn syrup. We can convert that straight into energy! Ok, what's she doing?
Joe: Sitting, sir.
Mr. Bob: Again? Then why did she give us all this energy? Ok, we'll put it where she obviously needs it most. Send it to the T's.
Joe: The T's, sir?
Mr. Bob: Tush and Thighs, Joe. Tush and Thighs. If she isn't going to use the energy, she obviously needs the cushion.

Now, white rice is definitely better than high fructose corn syrup, but there's a magic thing that happens when you mix simple carbs with much more complex ones, like brown rice. To illustrate, here's the Tummy Carb Gang again after I eat some of my Ropa Vieja with brown rice along with the same ginger ale:

Joe: Lotsa carbs, sir.
Mr. Bob: Brown rice? Ok, break out the heavy machinery! We're going to need a lot of energy for this. What else do we have?
Joe: Wine, tomatoes, bell peppers and that ginger ale again, sir.
Mr. Bob: Ok, we'll use the ginger ale, to work on the wine and then use that energy to work on the tomatoes. Then we'll work on the bell peppers. The energy we have after breaking all that down we'll use to work on the brown rice.
Joe: Will we have enough, sir?
Mr. Bob: Yes, we'll have plenty, but we won't have as much leftover for her use. Is she moving yet?
Joe: Nope, still sitting.
Mr. Bob: Pity. Well, you know where to put the extra energy then.
Joe: The T's, sir?
Mr. Bob: That's right. Eating brown rice is a good start, but she still is going to have to move if she doesn't want the extra cushion on her Tush and Thighs.

Of course, I may not truly understand what's going on in there. Dr. Weil talks about glycemic load and highly recommends brown rice for his Wellness Diet. So maybe you should listen to him instead.

I suppose you want a peek at what I'm knitting. Ok, here is the Amanda Hat which I'm knitting up with the Lime Blue Malabrigo.


I love the yarn and the pattern and the Harmony kneedles and the great stitch marker that someone gave me and my little model.


Later!

Robin

Hot Vegas Sands

Hey Robin!
I think I had already mentioned that I made a cowl out of the Silky Merino Malabrigo that my Malabrigo-Swap partner sent me. It's such a gorgeous color and I luuuurve the silky (evidenced by the fact that I have since ordered 5 skeins of silky and make a Clapotis out of it... but that's another blog post on another day). Anyhoo, I wanted to share the deets about the cowl because I am pretty durn proud of it.

There is no lack of cowl patterns to be found on Ravelry. Seriously. Tons. And yet none of them was exactly-right for what I wanted... so I looked in other places (scarf designs) and found the perfect pattern. I have been wanting to make the scarf for so long, this was a way to temper that desire and still get something I wanted. I give you: Vegas Sands! (Thought it was pretty perfect as the pattern I "stole" from is called Shifting Sands and the color reminds me a LOT of the neon entry at the Flamingo Hotel in Vegas.)

I used the basic dimensions found in many cowl patterns, extrapolated a stitch count from what Grumperina said about her stitch and went to town. It was a seriously fast knit and very satisfying! I highly recommend Grumperina's tutorial on how to cable without a cable kneedle. And now, for the first time I will share my own pattern! Enjoy and please feel free to make your own version and share a picture with me!

Vegas Sands (the cowl)

Materials:
1 skein Malabrigo Silky Merino in Amoroso colorway (or Intenso)
Size 7 circs, 16” length
Tapestry kneedle

Gauge: approx 5 sts/inch in stockinette, approx 22 sts/4 inches in pattern

Finished size: about 8” long by 18” around

Pattern stitch (adapted from Grumperina’s Shifting Sands Scarf):
Worked over 4 rows:
Row 1 (RS): *1/2LC, K2, repeat to end
Row 2 and 4: knit
Row 3: *k2, 1/2RC, rep to end

Pattern:

CO 105 sts using whatever method you like to give you a nice-edge, but remembering not to start too tightly as this does have to fit over your head! The edges will curl a little, but I consider that part of the charm. If you would like it to not-curl, perhaps go with a picot-hem at both edges? I haven’t tried that yet, but it would probably work well.

Knit first row, joining the ends and being sure to place a marker at the beginning of the row.

Next row: begin the pattern stitch and continue knitting in the round until the piece measures approx 8”. End with a row 4 if you can, but I really don't think it matters all that much. Bind off loosely in your favorite manner, I used a bobble-style picot bind off because I like to know which edge is the top:

Work picot bind off as follows:
*Knit 1 st. Slip knit st back to left-hand needle. Use cable cast on method to cast on 2 sts. Bind off 7 sts. Repeat from * until all sts are bound off. Cut yarn. Using yarn tail, connect the first picot point of the round to the last bound-off stitch.

Finishing: Weave in ends, block if you want (but I didn’t) wear around the house and look MAGNIFICENT!

Abbreviations:
1/2LC: slip 1 st to cable kneedle and hold in front, k2, then knit1 from cn
1/2RC: slip 2 sts to cn and hold in back, k1, then k2 from cn

cn: cable kneedle
co: cast on

Note: there were no test-knits so if you find any errors please let me know!

Later!

And another thing!

Hello again Robin!
OK so here was another thing I wanted to bring up. I was in the Malabrigo swap group for the "spring swap". Yay! It was so fun stalking my swapee. I sent her some good goodies, but the REAL interesting part was the good goodies I got! My swapper: Hachacha on Ravelry was so good. She spoiled me rotten man! I mean look at this box-o-goodness:

There were stitch markers from my Etsy favorites! A whole assortment of CHOCOLATE and some great coffee and SOX STIX!!! Rosewood! My favorite!! And some neato breath mints (totally need those) and a printout of a pattern in my queue (how thoughtful!) and a cell-phone-dangly-thing and a fairy note card!! AND she saw that I want to get a dog for my son (and myself) and got him a little stuffed one that he has barely let out of his sight since it arrived. It is now named Fuzzy Wuzzy.

ALSO: She sent me two GORGEOUS skeins of malabrigo (which is what it's all about!) and I have to point out that those are two different colorways. Don't they look identical? Anyway, one is silky merino and the other is laceweight. The laceweight will take some thought, but the silky has already been put to good use. Unfortunately that good use isn't translating to camera time. Observe:

*Sigh*. Why art I so bad at picture taking?!

More later... maybe