Baby Hooded Jacket is Complete!

I actually finished it over a month ago, but didn't want to post finished pictures until after I gave it to the recipient. I really want to see it on her and really hope they get some good use out of it before she out grows the sweater!
You can see my progress here: http://rainydayart.blogspot.com/2009/08/on-neeldles-baby-hooded-jacket.html and http://rainydayart.blogspot.com/2009/08/progress-and-kitchener-stitch.html
This is a closeup of the seam on the hood. I did that differently than the pattern too. The pattern said to bind off the outer edges and continue knitting the middle to make a T shape and then sew the edges together on the back of the hood. I knit the stitches together as I went so I didn't have to sew the seams. It didn't save me anytime because I tried out a couple different methods. It was like a heal on a sock only hood sized.

After all that I bought the buttons and sewed them on. There's really no avoiding that kind of sewing if you want buttons on the front. :p

Finished Hat

Ta Da! What do you think? It's my newest hat! I've talked about it a lot already and shown pictures of it in progress and now, its complete!

Featured Etsy Blogger For December

Each month the Etsy Bloggers choose a member to feature. This month's featured blogger is ... calkat!

She has some great jewelry in her shop; I especially like her zodiac necklaces, and she's currently offering free shipping until New Years.

Her blog is a fun read too. I just finished her post on St. Lucia's Day

You can find her blog here: http://calkatthejewelryjunkie.blogspot.com
and her Etsy shops here: http://www.calkat.etsy.com


This shows a few of the things that are in her shop!

S2KP A Double Decrease

I came across this decrease in the hat pattern that I'm knitting. I'd never heard of it before. I found it a little awkward at first, but now I really like it. So I decided to show it to you.

In the first picture we're ready to start the decrease. Knit until one stitch before the stitch you want it centered on. This decrease takes up three stitches on the working row.
Put your needle into the next two stitches like you're going to knit two together and slip them to the other needle. They're going to hang out until we need them.Knit the next stitch. In this picture both the new knitted stitch and the slipped stitches are on the right needle.
Now pass the two slipped stitches over the one knit stitch. The S2KP is complete.
This picture gives a better view of the finished stitches. They are slightly raised and centered! This decrease doesn't lean left or right.

Hand Spun Knit Hat

I've had this yarn (the light green one on the left in the first picture) that I spun from this hand dyed falkland wool top for a while now. It's been waiting for just the right knitting project. I knew I wanted to pair it with another yarn, but it took me a while to decide on some of my hand spun Bluefaced Leicester. The idea is that the solid color yarn will help to better highlight the subtle color changes in the hand dyed yarn.
Here is the hat I'm working on. I'm liking the pattern, which is here. I've been wanting to make one of those tams for a while too, plus its time to knit a hat for myself, because I want a new hat.
The really crazy part is that I knit most of that in one day. I had cast on the day before and knit a few rows. It was a day spent at various airports waiting for our flights and on the flights, but still, that much in one day is a lot of knitting! I wonder how long it will take me to do the rest...