More New Toys: A Niddy Noddy & Cool Pattern Books

I had come across several articles about how one can keep remnant yarns neat by using a niddy noddy (it basically twists up your yarn like how you can find it in a store) and how one can make their very own niddy noddy.  This had piqued my interest so I surfed the web and found various forms of niddy noddies (for purchase as well as how you can make it yourself).  Curious, I had asked my work friend, A about it.  She said that spinners use niddy noddies for their completed (spun) yarn; then she asked me why I was interested.  I had told her that I had read an article about how to store remnant yarns by twisting it up and was wondering about the niddy noddy.  Now, I must note, A is not the neatest person nor is she really anal about how her remnant yarn is kept; I'm not even sure if she even keeps any small bits of remnant yarn.  Anyways ... After A heard why I was interested in a niddy noddy, she dismissed me and told me that I didn't need a niddy noddy; keeping my yarn rolled up in a ball should be sufficient.  Now, from what I've read, storing your yarn rolled up in a ball isn't always a good thing because the yarn might get stretched out (basically become deformed) because if you rolled it up too tight or had variable tension as you rolled it into a ball, it'll get funny (which is why yarn tends to be wound up in a skein).  This is why being able to re-wrap it back into a skein is a good idea; hence, the need for a niddy noddy.

So, upon speaking to Hubby about this and showing him the various options of niddy noddies (both ones that I could purchase or that could be hand made), he said that if I really wanted one, he'd be happy to make one for me.  This was before our Puget Sound Yarn Crawl.  I had told him that I wanted to check out the Seattle stores first before deciding what I really wanted to do (either buy one or make one).  Then I saw a niddy noddy at one of stores.  It was on sale for $20.00 but ... it was ... ok, nothing too special.  So, I didn't pick it up and came back home without a niddy noddy.  Then, I found this article and suddenly, I had found my niddy noddy. :)  I showed it to Hubby and the next thing I knew, I had a niddy noddy!

This is the small version because I knew that I'd be using it for my remnant yarns.  I love it! ♡♡

I was also drooling over a pair of pattern books and had seen one of them in a local Seattle bookstore but at that juncture, I felt that it would've added too much weight to our carry-on so, I didn't pick it up. :(  When we got home, Hubby had found the same books at a steal on Amazon and picked it up for me.  He's really the bestest Hubby ever. ;) ♡♡♡ 

What makes these pattern books so cool is that it tells you how to do the pattern flat from top to bottom or from bottom up and in the round!  :) ♡ And, since I love to knit in the round, this makes using patterns so much easier for me to figure out how to integrate it into my projects.  *Yay!* ♡♡

I can't wait to use it on one of my sweater projects! :D

Canadian Hat Kits

When Hubby and I took a trip to Vancouver, Canada back in 2014, we fell in love with a little island off of Vancouver called: Granville Island.  It was such a cute and quaint place to visit!  There, on the island, I found a company called Sanjo Silk.  I was just learning how to knit back then and I tried to resist since I knew I wasn't ready for such luxurious yarns yet; but, I finally caved in and bought something there.  Well, not just a (one) something but two (2!) hat kits (pattern and yarn).  I ended up picking two (2) hat kits because I fell in love with both hats and I simply couldn't decide! :P  And since it was our second to the last day in Vancouver and it was the last time we'd be visiting Granville Island, I just splurged! :P

Since I bought the patterns for both hats (and it's copyrighted), I can't show you how the pattern is written. :(  However, if you're interested in either (or both) hat patterns, you should contact Sanjo Silk. 

What I can tell you is my adventure with:
Hat #1 (New Cabled Hat):
I started a swatch using the recommended needle size (Chiaogoo Twist US 6) and noticed that my swatch seemed a bit small.  To top it off, I couldn't quite understand where the ribbing was on the pattern as well as how to do a TW4 stitch.  After a bit of swatching the actual pattern, I finally figured out the ribbing portion and could "see" how the pattern was supposed to work out but, I still couldn't figure out TW4.  So, I looked up it up on the web; it told me to do something different from what the instructions said.  Then I emailed Sanjo to see if they could shed more light on this.  They recommended that I check the web (did that already).  Finally, I asked my work knitting friend, A if she could take a look at it.  She confirmed my suspicions:  the instructions written for TW4 was wrong.  It said to do this: slip 1 stitch to a cable needle, hold it to the front of the work, knit 1 knit stitch from the cable needle, slip 1 stitch to a cable needle, hold it to the front of the work, knit 1, knit stitch from the cable needle.  What I really needed to do was this: ktbl on the 2nd stitch, knit the 1st stitch, ktbl on the 4th stitch, knit the 3rd stitch.  It'll look like a 1x1 cable but it really isn't because the 2nd & 4th stitches are twisted and it's really a twisted stitch.

So, I ripped out my swatch and casted on again with my Knitter's Pride US 7 needles to try again.  This time, I was actually able to match the gauge and the fabric actually felt better.  I was (finally) on the road to making this hat! :)  I ended up making 10 pattern repeats for the band before using this handy idea I found at Makers' Mercantile to sew my band together.  Then I used the same method to pick up the needed stitches for the top of my hat.  Here's what it looks like:

With my crochet hook to start the top of my hat

Brim of the hat seamed up using the crochet hook

As you can see, it seamed up brilliantly!  I didn't need to cut the yarn or sew in any ends! *yay*  

As I was working the top portion, I veered off the pattern instructions (as usual).  It said to knit two (2) rows after the first and second decrease and I looked at the hat and the top of my head and I thought that these two (2) extra rows was going to make it too puffy (and I wanted the top to be more like a skull cap, close to my head); so, I took it out. :P  And, when I finally got to the end, it said to bind off on the last six (6) stitches.  When I looked at the picture, where it binded off looked like there was a ... hole! :(  And as most of you know, holes bother me ... :P  So ... I deviated from the pattern again. :P  I did one more double decrease with centre stitch on top (DDC) to reduce my "final" stitches from six (6) to two (2) then bound off. :)  Perfect - no hole! ;)

And, here's how the top of the hat turned out:  

 Here's what the complete hat looks like:

And, Hat #2 (Beret):
I had to e-mail Sanjo about this pattern too because it wasn't clear if I needed to join the hat in the round after I casted on; it seemed like I would be working this hat in the flat and eventually?? joining it in the round somehow??  What they told me was:  Yes, it's knit flat then seamed so it's easier to see where you are in the pattern.

While I was waiting for Sanjo's response, I asked my work friend, A (again) to see if she could understand what that pattern meant.  She too said that it seemed like you would work the pattern flat then perhaps? join it in the round?  I said: "Try to it read through to the last line; what does it mean to "k3tog across all sts" - didn't this mean to seam up a hole?  In which case, when was I supposed to be knitting in the round??"  

A was stumped and recommended that I chart the pattern to see what it looks like.  So I did and since I didn't know what I was really doing (charting wise - I get the concept, I know basically how to read it but, actually doing it so that it makes sense to someone else was another story :P), I brought my chart to work to have A review my "work".  And here's how our conversation went:
She said: What is this?  
I said: My chart.  
She said:  What are those colored boxes?
I said: They represent knit stitches.  I know they're supposed to be empty boxes but it was too empty looking so, I made little squiggles that turned into colored boxes. :D
She sighed. :P

Then, she started to chart it out (basically redoing my work - correctly). but soon gave up since she's more of a written pattern type of girl (I on the other hand can go either way, I don't really have a preference since I may end up not even following the pattern anyways :P). 

She ended up (re-)writing out the entire pattern.  Once she did that, she concluded that it seems like you knit the whole thing flat and then you seam it up, which doesn't make sense because who wants to seam a hat?!  I totally agreed; I mean, really ... why create an item that is circular in nature, flat (seriously, it's going to go around your head) then seam it up round when you can just make it round to start with? (Perhaps, I'm just an in-the-round knitter and knitting anything flat to seam together just confuses/scares me?? ... :P)

So, we proceeded to determine where the "seamed" areas were (so I know which stitches to eliminate) and figured out how to knit it in the round.  Thanks to A, I now have a re-written pattern in the round! :D  Thanks, A!! :)

Before A left our mini session, she warned me to try on the hat brim to make sure I can fit it on my head before I get too far along in the hat (the first beret she made ended up barely fitting a doll-sized head).  Heeding her warning, I tried on what little I did and realized that I couldn't squeeze onto my head! *yikes* :(  So, I ripped it out, re-casted on with the larger recommended needles (US 5), and added an extra stitch to make the total cast on an even number of stitches (for some reason, the pattern calls for an odd number of cast on stitches for the 1x1 brim ribbing).  At least the brim fits my head now. :P  With the brim done, I proceeded to get to the main body of the beret.  A had also recommended that I make a test swatch to see if I would like all the yfwd in the pattern.  Heeding her advice (again), I made a mini version of my hat with some scrap yarn; I could see why this particular stitch was used and decided that I would follow the pattern as is (well, almost as is as A and I already altered it to do it in the round :P).

And here's how it turned out:

Overall, the beret was a bit more complex to do than the New Cabled hat.  I think it was partly due to the fact that it was supposed to be knitted flat (and I did it in the round instead) and a tad bit because of the mohair (although with the silk base, I think that it helped with reducing the amount of clinginess).

In general, I don't think I would buy another pattern or kit from Sanjo Silk again.  However, I would seriously consider buy their luxurious yarns for some other project! ;)

Now, onto the next project! *whoo hoo!* ;D