The double knitting scarf and hat - almost done!

I am almost done with the double knitting scarf and hat I mentioned in an earlier post.  I just have 1/4 of the scarf fringe left, and then I am going to get the fringe wet and hang it dry so the strands will straighten out, and then trim the strands so the ends are even.  Then I will be done!  I spent most of the summer on it, and it is nice to have it almost done.  It's a man's scarf and hat; it drowns me!

A hat for Zhiqiang

I made this hat for a visitor from Beijing, Zhiqiang.  I made my own pattern for it, and it turned out bigger around than I expected.  I didn't quite finish the instructions, so I can't post the pattern yet.  I used KnitPicks Palette yarn.

A beret for Laura

I made this cute beret using a pattern in the ColorKnits Emag from Interweave Knits.  I used KnitPicks Palette yarn, which I've decided smells funny when it's wet.  I might stop using this yarn because of the smell.  The colors are different than the colors in the pattern.  When I blocked the hat (washed it and dried it over a ball and a plate), the band of the beret dried a little wider than I expected.  But it still turned out cute!  I gave the hat to Laura.

A blanket for Jen

Jen's having a baby, and I knit a cute blanket for her.  I used this pattern from Garn studio.  It turned out smaller than I would have liked, but it was too late to do anything about it when I realized that.  I used Drops Merino Extra Fine yarn.  The border on this blanket is really wide, but it is stylish and actually necessary because the feather lace pattern on the blanket wouldn't have turned out without a wide band to stabilize it.

A hat for me!

Finally, I've made something for myself!  It's a hat using this cabled hat pattern from Garn Studio.  I shortened the hat a little, because I was running out of yarn.  I used the Queensland Leche yarn, which is interesting because it's partly made of milk protein.  The yarn is kind of shiny and very soft.

A blanket for Cossette

Here's another full-sized blanket I did for Cossette's baby boy using the pattern from Ann Budd's Knitted Gifts.  I used the Cascade heritage yarn again.

A hoodie for me! - unfinished

I have been drooling over the Nasak hoodie pattern for a while now.  The pattern calls for Rowan Alpaca Cotton yarn, and it's so expensive!  It's $12.50 a ball, and 11 balls are required for my size.  Luckily I found it for half price on Amazon.  I eyed that for a while, then started to worry that someone else would by the yarn and deplete the stock.  So I bought the lot - 15 balls.  That way, I could make the sweater longer if I wanted to.  I always find that sweaters shrink up after a few washings, and I don't want that to happen to this hoodie.

There are two reasons I bought the recommended yarn for the pattern: 1- the pattern size could have turned out wrong if I used a different yarn.  2- the yarn is Alpaca spun around cotton, giving it the soft feel of Alpaca with the cool properties of the cotton, and I wanted that.

I bought 2 new knitting needles from Signature Needle Arts for the project, too, so the cost went up there.  I still haven't gotten wooden toggles.

While working with the yarn, I have found that it is hard to unpick if I make a mistake, because the yarn is fuzzy.  While untwisting it, the yarn wants to stay wrapped around the other strands.  So I'm trying to unpick as little as possible.

The finished pattern photo on a model:

My work so far (I'm still working on the back):