winter

Cable Me: Quick Knit Winter Hat and Fingerless Glove Patterns

I cut off all my hair a few weeks ago. Four days later, Jennifer Lawrence did the same, saving me from some measure of social scrutiny (well, almost). However, I had not accounted for the fact that it was winter and my ears felt like they were about to freeze right off my head whenever I left the house.

Being me, rather than just going to the store and purchasing some ear muffs, I found some awesome yarn and a pattern and began knitting with a vengeance. When I was done with a hat large enough to fit my admittedly plus-sized brain pan, I clearly had enough yardage left over for my favorite style gloves. So I found a second pattern and just kept going…and going…and going until I realized I actually only almost had enough yardage for gloves. In reality, I was short a thumb. Five measly ten-stitch rows.

If you, too, are looking for a nifty hat-and-fingerless-glove winter warmer set, I love how these came out. I used a very bulky Berroco Borealis in Vik (108 yards to the hank), which resulted in a cap that might be a little loose on my more delicately headed sisters, but worked out quite well for me.

If you’ve never done any cabling before, fear not: this was my first time and possibly the easiest new stitch I’ve learned. It made the project look more sophisticated than many of my previous DIY efforts but I didn’t have to sweat the process. The gloves are done on the same size double points as the hat, so if you’re buying supplies, that will keep the project budget at least moderately in check. The gloves have a cable pattern up the back that’s a close match to the hat and makes it all feel like family.

If I had known in advance that I’d have such a small yardage issue, I could have easily dropped a row or two from the hat pattern to make up for it, but alas. My awesome local yarn shop sympathetically offered me a surprise discount on my 3rd hank and now I have enough for a couple of extra gift glove pairs. This is the first knitting project I’ve ever finished and been anxious to cast on another right away. So if you need me I’ll be spending the rest of the holiday weekend with warm ears and a fully belly of leftovers, counting stitches and watching bad TV.

Patterns:

Star Crossed Slouchy Beret by Natalie Larson
Chunky Cabled Fingerless Gloves by Simone Van Iderstine

Baby, It’s Cold Outside

So, the next time I’m standing outside in a snowfall at 8 a.m. staring at the Waverly market mushroom stall and wondering why I want a couple of those reasonably priced boxes of sliced portobellos and shiitakes so much, I must remember this. Basically, if you have dried mushrooms (you know, the ones you bought in Queens in 2006 and always wonder if you should throw out when you re-discover them in the pantry, but then see that chemical pack in the plastic container and know that science prevails!) and, and, oh, right, the point…get a mixed pound of fresh at the market, you can make a half order of this, which will melt all hearts within radius. I always use milk–since cream would require going outside (again!) in the cold–and it’s still super lush. It’s also supper, in under an hour.