Kansas Alpaca Farm

I'm looking forward to Saturday. My cousin Marie and I are going north of Ottawa to the holiday Open House at Kansas Alpaca Farm. Bonnie Samuel, one of the farm's owners, is a member of KansasKnits.

She surprised me when Pat and I visited last winter. The first thing you see when you enter the barn/show room is an 8x10 framed print of the KansasKnits logo! Bonnie doesn't chat much on this list, but you can tell she enjoys reading it!

Another reason I'm looking forward to the outing is reconnecting with Marie. She's the oldest of the cousins and I'm the baby. We haven't had much chance to get to know each other until recently. Ten years and lots of physical distance has separated us at other times in our lives. Now we're finding out how much we have in common. Isn't it great to reconnect with family?

Flat Lala

Granddaughter Lala's class read the book Flat Stanley, about a boy who has a bulletin board drop on him and it makes him "flat as a pancake." Other than that, Stanley is quite healthy. He finds his new condition fun -- he can fold himself into an envelope and mail himself on vacations.
The class made Flat Students and has mailed them to family and friends all over the country. They are going to learn math (how far did your Flat Student travel?), geography (where did s/he travel?), reading and language skills as well as social studies from the project.
Flat Lala arrived at our house yesterday. She went to work with me today and helped type library cards, make calls to schedule library visits and she rode in the Camaro with the convertible top down. (Of course she wore her safety belt so she wouldn't fly away.)
Tonight Flat Lala received a hand knit skirt (that can be worn as a poncho) and a crocheted lavender beret. She may be one of the best dressed Flat Students going.
The above picture shows Flat Lala reading her bedtime story.
I'm having fun with this project. I hope real Lala enjoys it as much as Grandma does!
By the way, Flat Lala has her own blog. It's http://FlatLala.blogspot.com

Why I Didn't Finish My Knitting

It was sock #2 of my first pair of socks and I only had the toe left to finish. When I went to get my knitting, I found the basket was full.
Meet Morris, Joe's #1 cat.

Great Sock Challenge 2007

Here's the logo Johanna designed for the Great Sock Challenge. Hm... when I get brave, I may make a pair that looks like this.

I love KansasKnits!

Just short of a year ago, I started a chat group for Kansans and Kansans-at-heart who knit and crochet. I called it KansasKnits. I was afraid no one would join us, but we have about 30 members now.
I've only met a handful of the KansasKnitters in person, but I feel like they are all my good friends. Carmen lives in Kansas City. She loves cats and knitting and enjoys spoiling her niece, but is happy to see the little charmer go back to Mama when the visits over. Oh, do I relate to that one! I do love my grandkids, but I enjoy the quiet when they go home, too.
Johanna recently graduated from K-State and has taken a job in KC. She and Carmen and Cheryl and some of the other KansasKnitters in the area get together at one of the local yarn stores and have knit-nights. What fun! Johanna is the source of our 2007 Sock Challenge. She's Challenged us all to make a pair of socks a month for the year. I may not make my quota, but I'm taking on socks, something I've never been brave enough to try before. Good for you, Johanna!
Bonnie raises alpacas outside Ottawa. Pat and I had a great time visiting her before Christmas. I couldn't make up my mind which yarn I wanted. Pat had fun watching the alpacas and llamas romping outside the barn. I found a kindred spirit in the Great Pyrennes sheepdog dozing in a sunbeam.
Sherry and Cathy V. have knitting groups in their libraries. I want to visit them on knitting days.
Some of the KansasKnitters have been recruited from gals I work with. Cheryl, Lisa, Kathy R., and Katy have all shared patterns and ideas on breaks. Jennie and Becky are family. They get an intense dose of knitting when they are near me.
Some of our knitters are far away -- Elisabeth lives in New Jersey. I've had fun reading one of the mysteries she wrote. Kathy S. lives in Wisconsin and Kathy R. is in Texas. We had a member from the West Coast for a while, but I haven't heard from her lately. I hope she's just lurking. Cheryl started chatting with us when she lived in California. She found our group just before she moved to KC.
Others range across the state. Kathy G. just joined us from the Wichita area. AJ is in Manhattan. Many of us cluster on the eastern side of the state.
The thing we all have in common is a love of knitting and the joy of talking about it. We share problems; ask advice; share the joy of finishing a project and tell each other about good books and great patterns.
It's a wonderful group. Boy, I'm glad I was frustrated when I couldn't find a Kansas group and took the step to start one myself. This is a great bunch of knitters. My life is so much richer for knowing all of them.

Double Knit Hats for the Boys of all Ages

This is a wonderful, warm hat pattern. I found it at the following site : http://alison.knitsmiths.us/pattern_double_knit_cap.html

It's so much fun to do double knit and watch both layers grow as you go! It is a standard watch-cap style ski hat. My husband, Pat, wanted a cuff that the original pattern didn't have, so I added two inches before doing the stripes. That means his hat is 7 inches to the first stripe instead of 5 inches.My son wants even more length because he wants to roll the cuff twice. I anticipate 9-12 inches before the first stripe on the next hat I make him. (Pretty soon I'll just make him a hooded sweater and be done with it. :) )

Many of the hats I have mader are made with two colors of Lion Brand Wool-Ease. I used needles that let me knit to gauge, but it still came out too large. The pattern says to cast on 164 stitches. I cast on 154 stitches. (That means the decreases begin at 5 not 7 later on.) It is still loose on Pat, so I plan to make the grandsons' hats 144 stitches in circumference. The hat in the photo was made of Red Heart acrylic using size 6 needles. I cast on 72/144 stitches for this hat. This number of stitches means you have six decreases evenly spaced 12 stitches apart (for the first decrease.) Easy math!
I've made the pattern twice now. My son, Joe, who is going to college at Emporia State University requested one last winter because his ears got so cold when the wind came whistling down between the buildings on winter days. He's a well-fed young man with a luxurious shock of hair. I made it to gauge, but still had to take out those ten stitches from the circumference the pattern. I made his hat from Red Heart acrylic yarn I had in my stash. I wanted something he could mistreat and keep on going. It's stood up well, but he is hinting he wants one like Pat's that has a longer body. It still doesn't cover his ears as far as he'd like. Personally, I think he really wants a double knit ski mask. Hm... wonder if anyone has a pattern for one of those?

Lion Brand Chenlle Hood

I'm going to make hats and hoods for the grandkids this year, but I'm starting early! Here's the first hood. It's from the Lion Brand Chenille hood pattern, but I used a different yarn. It worked up a bit tighter, so this will be for one of the younger granddaughters. The boys will get double knit ski caps.
(I was outvoted. When I visited the Indiana/Illinois grandkids in March they all prefered socks, not hats. Poor Emmy. The shrug I made her was outgrown within weeks of Christmas. I gave her this hood. She won't grow out of it.)
Pattern Number: 867 http://cache.lionbrand.com/patterns/kctq-hood.html?noImages=0

Velvety HoodLion Brand® Chenille Thick & Quick® Wear as a cowl, a neckwarmer or as a hood! SKILL LEVEL: Beginner SIZE: Small, Medium, Large Circumference 24 (26) inches Note: Pattern is written for smallest size with changes for larger sizes in parentheses. When only one number is given, it applies to all sizes. To follow pattern more easily, circle all numbers pertaining to your size before beginning. CORRECTIONS: None GAUGE: 8 sts = 4 inches (10 cm) in pat. BE SURE TO CHECK YOUR GAUGE.

NOTEHood may be worked on circular needles or straight needles. VERSION A: HOOD (worked in-the-round on circular needles) Stitch Pattern Rnds 1-4 Purl. Rnds 5-8 Knit. Rep Rnds 1-8 for in-the-round version. Hood (in-the-rnd version) With circular needles, cast on 48 (52) sts. Join, taking care not to twist sts. Place marker for beg of rnds. Work in pat for in-the-rnd version until 23" from beg, ending with pat Rnd 4. Last rnd Bind off in purl. Weave in ends. VERSION B: HOOD (worked flat, back and forth on straight needles) Stitch Pattern Rows 1 & 3 (RS) Purl. Rows 2 & 4 Knit. Rows 5 & 7 Knit. Rows 6 & 8 Purl. Rep Rows 1-8 for flat version. Hood (flat version) With straight needles, cast on 50 (54) sts. Work in pat for flat version until 23" from beg, ending with pat Row 4. Last row Bind off in purl. Sew back seam. Weave in ends.

ABBREVIATIONS / REFERENCES Click for explanation and illustration beg = begin(s)(ning) pat = pattern rnd(s) = round(s) RS = right side st(s) = stitch(es)

Learn to Knit instructions: http://learnToKnit.LionBrand.com