Late knitting:
About 2 weeks ago, Rob requested a custom designed earflap hat for officiating at the bobsleigh and skeleton track - colours to match their navy blue jackets, extreme softness and warmth(worsted superwash merino), and patterning with a cool, not-at-all-girly Nordic flavour, incorporating the sliding logo if possible. It turns out that kettle dyeing a really dark and impeccably colourfast (don't want it bleeding into the grey when washed) navy took a fair bit longer than anticipated and he is stuck with a black ball cap this week. The yarn is finally ready, so there's still hope for next week's World Cup races - I guess I'll be swatching and charting today!
Get On With It Knitting:
Leafy hat 2.0, waiting for me to chart the revised design.
Pleasant Knitting:
Puttering along on the first sleeve - still an enjoyable process, but I'm mentally ready to be wearing it and knitting something else.
Disappointing Knitting:
A classic example of that concept driven knitting I was talking about a few days ago. "Wouldn't it be a cool idea to use a giant gradient-dyed skein of mohair boucle as the colourwork for a yoked pullover?" Except that in real life, the shoulders look huge and 80's and not at all Me. It fits well, and I did finally work out a top-down round formula I like, but unless I think up a way to balance the visual weight of the yoke, I will never wear it.
Crazy Knitting:
I have recently rediscovered the sensual joys of handmixed organic tea poured gracefully from a warm and curvaceous pot. So much more satisfying than the prosaic teabag in a mug. But the pot cools off rather inconveniently before I am finished with its delights, which leads me to believe some sort of insulating cover might be in order.... Until now, I put tea cozies in the same category as the pink poodle toilet roll cover I crocheted in my pre-teens. (It clashed magnificently with our 70's bathroom fixtures, but was nevertheless granted a place of honour by my doting mother.) The last thing I need at the moment is another project, but I might have to give it a go. Anyone got some fabulous pattern suggestions?
I too thought a cozy was a silly thing to knit until I made one. It's about as useful as knitting can get and it works well, too! The Autumn Tea Cozy (look on Ravelry) was easy, quick and very pretty.
Posted by: Margene | 29/01/2009 at 12:41 PM
I remember the pink poodle toilet roll covers. I made my mom and aunt the hoop skirt dolls to cover toilet rolls. They actually put in requests with colours to match their decor. Memories.....
Posted by: Dawn from the frozen north | 29/01/2009 at 01:03 PM
Haven't tackled a cozy yet...still wrapping a large folded tea towel around my Brown Betty to keep her hot. Maybe I will join the quest for a cozy, too.
Posted by: Mary | 29/01/2009 at 03:54 PM
There are groups on Ravelry who are dedicated to the art of the tea cozy, you'll find lots of inspiration there. I have the Autumn Tea Cozy in my queue too, perfect for a bulky color-graded yarn (like Noro), as well as the "I'm a Little Teapot" which uses Fair Isle techniques and fine yarn.
Posted by: KarenK | 29/01/2009 at 05:52 PM
In one of the Spin Off issues back a couple of years ago, there was a tea cozy that is a mini-sweater. The arms are short, and cover the spout and handle - the shortness allows for these parts of the teapot to remain useful. A friend of mine made one - and I keep thinking I will make one.
Posted by: Dianna | 29/01/2009 at 06:09 PM
The suggestions for the pattern search are all what I'd say too. I just wanted to add that when I thought about making a tea cozy, I also considered it pretty silly...until I thought about how wool worked to keep *me* warm and started to wonder: Why wouldn't that work for my teapot? It does :)
Posted by: Robbyn | 29/01/2009 at 08:19 PM
If you can match either the purple or the blue, how about a band of color just above the cuffs of the sweater? Not at the hem, that would make mega-hips.
Posted by: =Tamar | 29/01/2009 at 10:18 PM
Elsabeth Kleven made a "tea mitten" for her Brown Betty teapot; the free pdf for it is on her blog at KnitsVehemently.blogspot.com
Posted by: =Tamar | 29/01/2009 at 10:55 PM
For the sweater - try adding a long turtleneck in the black, as long as you can get without it folding over (and adding more bulk). On me, anyway, it seems to pull the eye up and down, not side to side across the shoulders. And I agree, add some color at the cuffs too if you can. It'a a beautiful sweater and it needs to be worn!
Posted by: Tracey | 30/01/2009 at 05:08 AM
I think tea cozies are in the air, because we are running a retreat at my LYS that focusses on all the crazy cool things you can do with the simple canvas of the tea cozy. My friend "LeTissier" on Ravelry is the mastermind behind the tea cozies, so you could check out her projects for inspiration or and pm her about the fate of the retreat handout which gives a blueprint for creating your own cozy.
Posted by: Janet | 30/01/2009 at 01:14 PM
Check out the one on knitty.com- I recall it being somewhat fabu?
Posted by: Deb | 30/01/2009 at 02:50 PM
The felted one, on knitty, to clarify- by Kristin Nichols?
Posted by: Deb | 30/01/2009 at 02:55 PM
I used to use a ski hat that was a color I hated. Good for the short term solution.
Posted by: Mary Lou | 31/01/2009 at 06:41 AM
Here's a Ravelry tea cozy pattern search for you. I have a purchased quilted cozy that works well. I might need to knit one!
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/search?category=home&page=1&query=tea&sort=best&view=thumblist
Oh, and we want a photo of the toilet paper cover!
Posted by: Lorette | 31/01/2009 at 11:35 AM
Re the disappointing knitting - I agree with adding black at the neck but I thought of a light weight skinny scarf around the neck to bring the solid color back up front, so to speak. Adding the color around the cuffs sounds good, too.
I love the leafy hat yarn. and the yarn for the hat for Rob is awesome! Is there more of that for sale?
Posted by: Linda | 03/02/2009 at 06:28 AM