Which Button?

Drew has been wearing the hat with a brim at the park and it's worked out well!  Which button do you like (if any)?

Button 1

Button 2

Button 3

Hat with a Brim

Jim and I were talking about what kind of hat I should knit for Drew next.  His stocking hat is looking a little too wintry for this spring-like weather we've been having.  Honestly most days he doesn't even need a hat but there have been some cool, windy days where he does wear one.  We thought a hat with a brim would be cute and nice for spring.  It took me awhile to find a pattern, but I finally decided on the Capitan Hat.  I knew I wanted to knit it in gray, but didn't have any bulky gray yarn.  I held worsted weight yarn doubled and it worked out well!

This was a fun knit.  The directions were very clear.  The only modification I made is I knit an extra repeat of rows 3-10 to increase the length.  After I had finished what the pattern initially called for, the hat was only 4 inches long and I needed it to be closer to 5.5 inches long. We cut the brim out of one of Jim's old hats and I sewed it into the brim.

What do you think of the fit on Drew?  Although his head is almost the same size in circumference as mine, I'm wondering if maybe the brim looks a little too long on him.  Here it is on me:

If I keep it for myself, I will need to open the top and add a few more rows in between the decrease rows to make it longer so it covers my ears.  I haven't added the strap and chosen buttons yet because I need to decide which one of us will be wearing the hat!  What do you think?  

Other Projects

I weaved in all the ends on my Levenwick sweater...it was kind of a chore.  I read that the best method for preventing unraveling was to do duplicate stitching as a way of weaving in ends.  I tried it on both the wrong side and the right side and I could still see where I weaved the ends in a little bit.  So, I'm not thrilled with it but I think I might be the only one who can notice.  I'm going to see how it looks after another round of blocking.

I;ve been working on a couple other things.  I knit up the hat below for a friend's new baby boy, Nicholas!  It's sort of a modified umbilical cord hat...I improvised most of it, but used the decreases/knot from Susan B. Anderson's Cotton Stria Stripe hat.

I also FINALLY finished Drew's puppy!  Poor pup had no appendages for almost two years, as I made the body before Drew was even born.  He is enjoying playing with his puppy already.  Have to make blanket still.

Levenwick--Button Quest

On Saturday I went to G Street Fabrics to look for buttons for my sweater.  I had heard that it was a good place to look for buttons, and it exceeded my expectations!  The best part of the photo below was not the buttons, but the fabulous ladies working behind the counter!  I showed one of them my sweater and told her I wanted to find a button that blended in and didn't take away from the lacework I had done. She led me to the pink/red button section and the first button she picked off the wall was the one I ended up buying!  She had such a great eye!!  This was great for me because I have a hard time making decisions and it was awesome to have someone help me!

It was hard to get a true-to-color pic with my iphone, but see buttons below.  They are a little bit iridescent/two-tone which goes perfectly with the variations in the yarn.  

Next up: stitching them on!  

Levenwick--Home Stretch!

I need to start taking photos before 11pm...

I finished the cuffs on the sleeves tonight.  The pattern instructions threw me for a loop...they said to knit back and forth in rows.  I couldn't visualize how to do this on DPNs, so I posted a question in the "Techniques" forum of Ravelry and got a few helpful replies!  I was able to figure it out tonight with that help and the sleeves are done!!  I made them "bracelet length" (I think--from what I've seen on other people's finished projects): not too long because I think they will stretch out a bit with wash/wear.  I'm glad I made the full length sleeves.  I think it looks more complete with full sleeves.  Plus, I still have quite a bit of yarn left over...maybe enough to make a baby/child sized hat.

Surprisingly, the sweater bounced right back up after it was totally dry and is not as drapey as it was when I tried it on the other day.  The label for this yarn does say it can be machine washed and dried on gentle so I did throw it in the dryer on gentle for about 2 minutes just to see how it would hold up.  I'm glad it can go in the dryer because it was taking forever to dry on towels.

Anyways, I also knit the pocket tonight and have it blocked and drying.  I'm going to go to a big fabric store this weekend and look for buttons--hope I find some I like!!  I want to pick something that doesn't distract too much from the lacework on the sweater, so probably something small and red/pink.

Levenwick Sweater Blocked

I blocked my sweater last night.  I bought a sample of "Soak" at my LYS to use instead of my usual Woolite.  Apparently some people think Woolite is too abrasive/damaging, but I've always found it to be fine when I've used it.  Anyways, since this is my biggest knitting accomplishment thus far, I thought I'd get the "good stuff."  :)  It's no rinse which is nice when you're soaking a big item.  I didn't read up much on blocking ahead of time, and I just squeezed the water out afterwards while holding it up.  Later I read that you should try not to lift the sweater unsupported because it can stretch out too much.  It's better to just squeeze out the water in a towel.  Anyways, when I laid the sweater out to dry I got a little nervous because it looked a lot bigger!!  Nervous enough to lay down next to the sweater to see if it looked like it would still fit my torso--ha!  :)  (I knew it would get a little bigger since I had done a wash/dry gauge swatch and I was expecting it to grow about 1/4 inch for every 2 inches.)

I tried it on this morning, though, and it is fitting nicely!  The body was a little short to begin with, so I like the new length.  The sleeve that I made full length looks just about right.  I just need to add the hem.  I thought I might have to frog a few rows from the sleeve before doing that but I think it is ok (see my arm on the door in the second photo).  The blocking did take care of some of the jog that was on the second sleeve.  I don't think I'll re-knit it.

So, overall I think it is a success!  I like the way the scalloped front band lays now after it's been blocked.  The yarn definitely became a lot drapier when washed but it is soft and pretty.

Levenwick Sleeves Round 2

I finished the second sleeve and there is still a slight jog where I alternated skeins.  It's not as visible as the first, but really there's not a huge difference and it's barely visible when the sweater is on.  I don't really know what I could have done differently since I was taking care to not pull tightly each time I changed skeins on the second sleeve.  Maybe it is just something that I will get more skilled at with practice?

Sleeve 1 on left, Sleeve 2 on right

It doesn't seem worth it to frog and re-knit the first sleeve when there is not a huge difference between the two.  As someone said on Ravelry, maybe I can consider it a faux design feature.  We'll see...

Now to decide whether or not to make the sleeves full length.  I have enough yarn to do so I think.