Dogwood Knitting Needles!

I received handmade knitting needles for Christmas; they are made from dogwood. I was wanting to start a scarf for a cancer patient and am glad I waited to use the new needles. The yarn is slippery and a bit splitty, but these needles seem to be just what I need. They are soooo lightweight, and are just "sticky" enough to keep the yarn where it belongs without dragging.

The needles were made by Amelia Chambers, who resides somewhere in northern Georgia (USA). I'm so glad my niece ran across them and remembered me.

I tried to find these needles on Google searches, but no luck.

I anyone knows how to get in touch with Amelia Chambers, I love to hear from you here at this blog.

Dean Street Hat

This little hat is a cable design, but you don't need a cable needle and there are no fiddly maneuvers to perform.

The pattern is a free download on Ravelry, so check there for that.

The pattern does not give baby or preemie info, so I decided to try reducing yarn and needle size to produce a preemie sized hat. I cast on 72 and used Plymouth DreamBaby DK yarn with US # 4 for ribbing and US #5 for the hat. I did the ribbing with 12" Addi Turbos, but needed to go to double point needles to do the body of the hat.

It's a fast and easy knit with great results. I only went with 4 pattern repeats before starting the reducing rows. Next time I'll try 5 repeats to give a little more height.

Easter Egg Baby Hat

I knit lots of hats for hospital nurseries, and I wanted to knit something special for the "Easter" babies. Click here for the pattern

The original pattern is for a 6-12 month old baby. I modified the pattern in the following ways:
Used DK/sport weight yarn
Smaller needles: Full term- US #4 & #6 Large Preemie- US #3 & #5 (Addi Turbo 12" circulars and use double point needles to finish the top)
Cast on: Full Term- 78 (reduce to 77 for body of hat) Large Preemie- 66
Eliminated K2 at the beginning of the rounds and K1 at the end of the rounds, thus eliminating the "+3" that was built into the original pattern

Enjoy playing with the colors. This is a wonderful way to use up yarn left-overs.

Irish Hiking Scarves and Hat

Gray Irish Hiking Hat and Scarf are knit in Bernat Berella "4" yarn.

I used US #10.5 needles for the scarf.
I used US # 9 circular for the hat.

Scarf Pattern Link: Click here
Hat Pattern Link: Click here

Stitch definition with this yarn is not quite as sharp as I would like, but that quality does lend the scarf and hat to a more masculine look.














The green Irish Hiking Scarf in knit in Mission Falls 1824 merino superwash wool.
I used US #8 needles for the scarf.