Friday, March 6, 2026

A Musselburgh hat for my brother


I finally got to have lunch with my brother a week ago, so I gave him this Mussellburgh hat (https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/musselburgh). It is green, black, rust, and gold. He wears a hat every day because the warehouse works in is cold in the winter. He love the four-layer ear cover for that reason. Actually, he should retire but he likes working. How crazy is that? I have need retired since 2016.

Brian and I are only 11 months apart and have been close forever. When I was 19, I went to a psychic. She told me that he and I were tied throughout time and have been reincarnated together many times. The time before this was during the Bore Wars of 1899 and 1900. We were related there as well, but not necessary brother and sister. It might have been parent and child, husband and wife, or even grandparent and grandchild. Apparently, we were tortured and killed in that war, and we were sent to this life together to 'heal.' Now I don't know how true all this is, but I always loved the story. And I have to admit that Brian and I have had relatively easy lives. We grew up on a farm in South Dakota with good parents. We had two older brothers but it was us who were close. My mom said that we even had a language of our own when we were young. We never fought and always had each other's back. In some ways, we even married people who are similar to each other. Brian went into the service and I moved to Colorado as young adults. Mom was disappointed because she wanted Brian to move back to South Dakota, but instead, he moved to Colorado to be close to me. He even lived with for a year before finding his own place.


We are both now in our 70's and we are all that is left of our immediate family, with both our parents and our two old brothers gone. We still have our spouses, and we both had two sons who are about the same ages, and are good friends. Maybe that physic knew something after all.




Wednesday, March 4, 2026

More MIT Hats!

I had to bring my kitty Omi into this tread, but she doesn't seem to be that happy with it. But she was a good sport anyway. This was actually a baby hat for a friend.


I made one for a friend of mine who lives in Washington State. Since she is not here in Colorado, and my son is visiting for the weekend, I made him model it.


Saturday, February 28, 2026

This Might Be My New Favorite Hat!

 


I love how this hat turned out. I purchased this yarn from a sale table in my local yarn store just because I loved the marbled purples (my favorite color) and white colors. It is a wool DK made on size 6 needles. I started at the top and increased until I had 128 stitches. I worked in stockinette for 9 inches. Then I worked 1x1 ribbing until I ran out of yarn. It turned out perfect!

I am back in a hat-making kick and am making MTI hats for friends as well as just lots and lots of hats. Back to the needles.

Monday, February 23, 2026

My Bad Hair Hat

 This double thick hat turned out so well. It is a modification of the Musselburgh hat (link below) using a couple of yarns from my stash. It is a little bigger than it should have been, but it worked out perfectly because it covers my hair when I just don't want to wash or fix it. Plus it is very warm. 

The Musselburgh hat is a a double hat so the brim is actually four layers. Great for very cold days we sometimes have here in Colorado. Not this year. We have had the warmest winter ever. I miss the snow!




Here is the link for the Musselburgh hat. It is a paid pattern but it has several sizes and is worth every penny. 

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/musselburgh

Saturday, February 21, 2026

Of course I did! the Melt-the-ICE hat

I usually keep my politics off my knitting blog, and for the most part, I will continue to do so. But I had to make this hat for a friend of mine. I had a couple of more orders for them so I am getting my needles going. Yes, I am a rabid liberal who knits, so just extrapolate from there.


There are several patterns on Ravelry, both paid and free. I made this one up on my own as I went along.


Friday, January 30, 2026

And now hats!

Ken's favorite new hat


And now I am back to knitting hats. I have been enjoying knitting the Musselburgh Hat by Ysolda Teague.  If you are on Ravelry at all, you already know about this pattern. It is a paid pattern but worth every dollar. The link is https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/musselburgh.

I have finished four so far, and I have three (yes, three!) more on needles. Once the cast on and increased are done, it is just knit, knit, knit. With the cold weather, we are staying in, which is one of the benefits of retirement. So I am just watching TV with my kitty in my lap and knitting my hats. Life is good.


Looking good!
My new favorite!





Tuesday, January 27, 2026

Relaxing knitting. Free pattern!

 I have been doing what I call "relaxing knitting." I'm not trying to produce, catch up, get things done, all the things that the holidays make you do. I am just knitting. 

I first did a bunch of face towels. I could just combine colors or make a face cloth in one color. What I love about doing these is that it is a set amount of stitches and I don't have to think, count, or measure. 

I am using size 4 needles and Bernat Cotton Terry. Gauge doesn't matter. 

Cast on 65 stitches. 

Foundation row: K 32, place marker, k1, place maker, k 32.

Row 1: Knit to the marker, slip marker (sm), P1, sm, K to end.

Row 2: Knit to two stiches before marker, k2tog, sm, k1, sm, ssk, K to end. (2 sts deceased). 

Repeat these two rows until there are three sts left.

Remove markers. k3tog. Fasten off and weave in end.



You can make them bigger or smaller by casting on more or less stitches as long as you have an odd number of stitches. You can easily add stripes by just adding another color on Row 2. 





Just have fun!




Thursday, December 25, 2025

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Merry Christmas to all!! May all your wishes come true

This is a free pattern from Lisa Hannan Fox so put it on your list!

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/christmas-tree-potholder-8



 

Tuesday, December 23, 2025

Kitty in front of Christmas Tree


How much do I like Christmas Cat?  Lisa Hannon Fox is the author of this potholder as well as my kitty scarf that I worked on for almost a full year (See September 5). Her most recent pattern is this sweet kitty is sleeping in front of a Christmas tree. I purchased it right away and had it knitted up within a day!
https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/christmas-cat-potholder


 

Sunday, December 21, 2025

Hark, How the Bells! Sweet red and white bells!

Getting all my Christmas potholders out there. A Christmas bell in red and white is always a welcomed sight. Again, this was picked up somewhere on Pinterest.