Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Last Minute Slouchy Hat

 Holiday Knitting

Four days to go 'till Christmas and I am knitting as fast as I can.  How about you?

One of my favorite last minute gift ideas this year is Bernat's Slouchy Hat.  I love knitting this hat for girls in college but I think this hat is great for ladies of all ages.  I even want to knit this
hat for me!

 Quick Knit
 
The Slouchy Hat can be knit in a night or two.  It's knit flat and then seamed up.  You only need basic skills and should know how to do cables.  If you don't know how to do cables this is a pretty good pattern to learn how to do front and back cables.  It's just may take you a little longer to knit.

I've knit several of these hats in Debbie Bliss SoHo bulky yarn.  It's discontinued now but you can check your favorite yarn shop for a similar bulky yarn or use the Alpaca yarn that Bernat recommends.

Slouchy Hat

I love this Slouchy Hat. 

 Hand knits are so much nicer than all the acrylic machine knits out in the stores for Christmas.  This hat really looks cute on and looks like it came from a fashionable boutique.  Love that!

Merry Christmas
and
Happy Last Minute Knitting!

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Sparkle!

 Snowflake Sparkle

It's not just the Christmas tree that needs a little "sparkle" during the holidays...scarves need some "sparkle", too!

I love my Fair Isle scarf that I bought at Nordstrom a few months ago.  It reminds me of the fabulous Fair Isle scarf currently on the cover of Rowan magazine #48.  It's just about cold enough in California now that I can start wearing it.  I thought a snowflake pin would be the perfect "sparkle" for it!

Monet Snowflake Pin

My secret source for my snowflake pin is Macy's.  I found it this week while Christmas shopping.   It's a very nice piece of costume jewelry by Monet.  It retails for $25.00 but if you're a savvy shopper like me...you won't pay near that! 

Will you be dashing off to Macy's or Monet to get one?

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Holiday Bling

Holiday Bling!

I think all scarves deserve a little holiday "bling"!

I had so much fun visiting little vintage boutique shops yesterday "on the hunt" for some holiday "bling" for my hand-knit scarves.  Look what I found!

You can read all about some of my favorite boutiques on my other blog Tete-a-Tete.  These pins were found yesterday in Old Fair Oaks Village.  The top pin is a vintage Albert Weiss rhinestone pin that I snagged at Wink and the wire flower pins are from Bungalow

I love the unique wire and beaded floral pins.  Kim the owner of Bungalow doesn't think the artist is making them anymore.  I can see why...the wire crochet work is so delicate it must be quite hard on one's hand to create them.  Sorry ladies...I snagged Bungalow's last two pins so there are no more of these to be found. 

Now I'm off to peak at my Mom's and Grandma's jewelry boxes for more holiday "bling" for my knits.  I bet if you look inside your family's jewelry boxes you can find some holiday "bling", too!