Multnomah in Malabrigo

Sorry people, it is just too cold to be taking outside shots currently! Although there is a hint of green showing through the back door, it's in the 'minus' category, temp-wise.

Pattern: Multnomah
Yarn: Malabrigo Silky Merino in Teal
Revisions: I chose not to incorporate the F&F pattern into the 4th and 10th repeats of pattern


Not usually a 'fan' of the feather and fan lace pattern, I surprised even myself by being drawn to this shawlette. The F&F pattern is sooooo reminiscent of something someone's grandma made them in an afghan -- except in this case. It's clean, pretty, fun, classy and a little sassy, too!

This shawlette is so versatile. On Sunday, I wore it to church wrapped around my neck front ways, as a scarf, seen below. After taking off my coat, was feeling chilly, so I just reached over for my little shawl, slung it around my shoulders and was snug as a bug -- not to mention the obvious, that it looked fabulous and the knitter sitting behind me, audibly gasped!

Off to soak!

The yarn bled a LOT during soaking!

I've got some of the yarn left over and am thinking a Meret for me is calling my name! It will have to take a number, though, as I've got a few other things on the go at the moment :)

BTW, I'll be doing some baby knitting in the blue, brown and green colours for the end of April...!

Hat Crazy ...

This is my sister modeling her "Meret" -- a pattern I've had in my queue for awhile, only to discover that since I made it, everyone and their dog is also currently knitting it ... so much for originality! BTW, she loves it! I used almost 3/4's of 1 - 100g ball of Sirdar's Denim Aran from my stash, which is a combo wool/cotton/acrylic blend and is apparently machine washable. I made the large size and after researching further reviews, decided NOT to block it as it tends to grow. I did one extra repeat of the pattern to get the desired "slouchiness"

Honestly, this woman never takes a bad picture! And, to her credit, immediately stuffed it on her head upon opening -- hairdo be darned!

Next up, the "Armando" pattern. Both of our daughters have men who work outside: one as a roofer and the other in his family's granite business. Needless to say, when it's cold and wet, they really appreciate having 100% wool hats that cover their ears and foreheads. The roofer found that while using the torch, his current hats were melting. I did some research online and discovered that 100% wool is less flammable -- in fact, if you're doing any helmut liner knitting for our troops, they specify that it must be 100 % wool, to avoid any fire hazard/melting. Also, as you likely know from EZ's books, wool is practially waterproof and keeps them much drier, longer, in the rainy Pacific Northwest. I used Malabrigo Worsted in a burnt orange colour, for the Harley Davidson lover in the family :)

There was enough to make two hats from one ball, so our 13 year old grandson got one as well, with a slight variation that included a scrap of "Vaa" Malabrigo to make it his own (and also so he and dad could tell theirs apart).

S-I-L modeling his hat in the "Fading Cables" pattern, using Jaeger Matchmaker yarn in a glossy brown, from stash. I find this pattern a little 'short', so I added an extra good 1/2" to the rib at the beginning.

The rear view -- I had to stand on my tippy-toes to get this shot -- he's 6'4"!

Mike modeling his hat ...

And one more that used up my scraps of Vaa and Lettuce Malabrigo and turned out quite well, I think!

It was comical ... I always have my camera at the ready for family get-togethers. The instant the recipients discovered a hand knitted item in their gift, it was on their head in a flash and a pose was struck, without me even asking! I overheard our daughter telling a girlfriend, "she'll make you anything you want ... you just have to let her take a picture for her blog!!!"