New England's Narrow Road

Baby Hat Knitting With Color-work Trial and Error

I got the urge to try out a little baby hat with some color work animals around the brim. Also, I’ve been researching to find the best washable baby yarn for softness and ease of care.

First, About the Yarn

This was a quick little knit and I used a short, circular 9 inch needle length in size 6. I really needed to use smaller size needles, but I wanted to try the 9 inch length and size 6 was what I have. I cast on 64 and figured out the pattern stitches so they would fit evenly around. It was easy to knit the hat without using DPN’s until the top decreases. (Another way to avoid the DPN’s is to use Flexi Flips which I tried on the Flip Flop socks I knit for my daughter.)

Finished little babyhat — Finished hat before washing

I choose some yarn that had been sitting around for a while, but it was sock yarn and labeled as “washable”. Generally, I hand wash anything I knit because I know the time and effort I put into creating the item. But if I knit baby items they will be to give away, and I need some type of yarn that will hold up. The photo above was taken BEFORE I washed the hat.

“Barbara Deserved Better” Yarn By Madeline Tosh

The name of the pink yarn I had in my stash was “Barbara Deserved Better” named for a character in a TV show, I believe. Anyway, when I search for yarn by this name it looks much better online! My ball of pink yarn has very little variation in color and is all dull pink without any splotches of bits of color throughout. See my ball of yarn in the photo below, and compare it to online pictures at Jimmy Beans Wool. I did not buy it at Jimmy Beans, and I can’t remember where it came from, but I certainly got a dull and colorless skein!

Faded yarn color — Faded hat after washing

Above is a photo of the hat AFTER washing and drying. When it came out of the washer it was very fuzzy, so I took a chance and put it in the dryer for 10 minutes. My little hat also seemed to have faded to a dull and lifeless pink! I haven’t been a big fan of Madeline Tosh yarns, and this makes me even less so.

Practicing Color-work

Another reason I wanted to knit a small project in-the-round was to try my hand at knitting some motifs in contrasting yarn. Inspired by the designs in a new book (150 Scandinavian Motifs) I chose a little puppy and chick for the brim design. Yup, that is supposed to be a chick! My color-work knitting needs help, but this was good beginner practice.

The green color yarn I used for the animals was leftover Yummy 2-Ply yarn from Miss Babs. It was one of the colors I used in my Bay’s Edge Shawl. It held up well.

Faded baby hat in Mad Tosh merino light, after washing — Machine washed and dried baby hat

In the end, the hat looks pretty bad. I will keep it as a practice piece because I wouldn’t give it to anyone to put on their poor baby! I love making hats, so I will make more (with better yarn), and I will improve my skills along the way. I’m still looking for the best washable baby yarn (that is not acrylic) too.

As far as yarn goes, I’ve been much happier overall with Malabrigo, Manos del Uruguay, and Miss Babs brands. I just need to look for “superwash” labels.

My Pinterest Knitting Board – please follow!

My Experience With Major Exterior Home Renovations, Part One

Why I Bought a Fixer Upper

Years ago I began this blog when I had moved back to New England. I wasn’t much of a blogger and even I can’t find what I am looking for! While I’ve been trying to fix up my old posts, and link the stories together, I decided it was easier to simply re-do the whole experience and organize my home renovations photos and information in one easy place.

It’s easiest to begin at the beginning. At an age when I should have been close to retirement and starting to really enjoy life I was thrown another curveball.

The Quick Backstory

I was alone with my 13 year old son (he was born very unexpectedly when I was 41) when I had saved enough money for a downpayment to buy a home of my own. I had divorced my husband of nearly 30 years after he lost everything we had (having only lived in NH for a year and a half) and put me in the poorhouse. With bad credit (thanks to him) and a bankruptcy on my credit history, I knew getting a home loan would not be easy. So I saved up to show that I was serious about buying a house.

Ice sliding off the metal roof — Thick layer of ice sliding off the metal roof of the duplex

Renting Vs. Buying a House

Before the downfall, I had lived in a home of my own since 1981. Going back to renting was horrible for me. I hated the fact that I had no control over how I lived. The Duplex was quite nice, and my landlady was wonderful, but it was a rental. We got along very well (she lived in the other side of the house), but her house was they way she wanted it. It belonged to her, not me.

She had put on a metal roof which created huge overhangs of ice in winter. It got so bad that I wouldn’t use my side door for fear of being killed if it decided to let go at just the wrong time.

I also hated giving large chunks of money to someone else every month so they could live in their house. I was getting nowhere while renting. And even though the small duplex was nice enough, there was no garage, so I had to clean off my Tahoe for every storm and move it for the snowplow.

The House I Chose to Buy

I couldn’t afford much of a house, so my expectations were low, but I wanted a place of my own. Because renting was so expensive, a mortgage payment would be about the same amount, but I would be building equity and not throwing money away.

The yellow house was the third one I saw with my Realtor and although it was in desperate need of repairs, I liked it far better. It was in a nice neighborhood in a quaint town and it was in my son’s same school district. From the outside it didn’t look too good.

Then I went inside.

Yellow house in need of repair — The house as it looked before I moved in

My yellow house had obvious problems, some of which can be seen in the photo here. The clapboard siding was buckling where it had obviously stayed very wet for a while. The garage doors were falling apart and there was an ugly ramp at the mud room door. The green window boxes were rotting.

When I first walked in the front door with my Realtor, big ants were all over the living room floor. Despite all these things, as I walked through the house I fell in love. The kitchen had been done over it seemed, and it was huge! The living room was small, but cozy and had a fireplace where I could install a woodstove.

glass slider with caution tape — No access to the backyard because the steps are missing

The two rooms upstairs were very large with a good size bathroom upstairs as well. With two more rooms downstairs, I chose one for my bedroom and the other for my home office. It was perfect! In fact this house checked off all my boxes – two bathrooms (with windows!), a garage (two car!), a mud room, big basement, home office, and beautiful kitchen. I saw great possibilities here. I bought it.

Read Part Two

Beginning My House Renovations, Part Two

Shortly after I moved into the yellow house (June 2011) I began searching for someone to fix it for me. I was new to the area, and new to the state (see my first post on this subject if you haven’t already read it). I knew almost no one. I took a chance on a young man named Brandon who had a fairly new siding company. He said he would also put in new windows. He was easy to work with and ended up doing a nice job.

Replacing the Siding

Brandon began by removing the old clapboard siding on the front of the house which had been absorbing water for a while. Beneath it the wood was rotting and had to be replaced.

My house with the old clapboard siding removed to show rotted wood. — My house with the old clapboard siding removed

Rotting wood on the front of the house beneath one of the old windows. — Old rotted wood on the outside of the house

In the photo below you can see how the siding was bad and I had to cover the cement steps with plastic because there was a leak that went down into the basement when it rained. When Brandon replaced the siding, he addressed and fixed this problem.

Damaged front door — Unusable front door – covered with tarp when it rains

Working on The Garage

While this scaffolding was up, we had a freak, early season snowstorm! It was Halloween and in New Hampshire where I lived we got tons of snow. Further south where Brandon lived they got lots of ice. Because his power was out and my yard was buried, the renovations were put on hold.

Below is a photo of that freak snowstorm at Halloween. Many trees had still not lost their leaves at the end of October like this oak in my front yard.

The only good thing about getting snow early in the season is that it melts away quickly.

At some point while Brandon was working on siding the front of the house I hired some guys to replace my garage doors. Elite Doors was recommended to me by a contractor who was working on my little deck at the time. They came right out and when I had a problem with something later on (can’t remember what), and fixed it at no charge. They really were very nice and capable guys.

As you can see in the photo below there were obvious signs that the previous owners had tried to keep water out of the garage by building a little ramp out of some black stuff. I also had water problems in winter, but that is another story.

Old garage doors — The old garage doors and old siding

Brandon added a vent to the top of the garage for heat to escape. Once the siding was done and the new doors on the place was looking good!

New garage doors and siding — New garage doors and new siding done!

Front of House, Before and After

Once the work was done, I had new siding on the front and sides of the house. Four widows on the front were replaced with double-hung, easy-to-clean windows and new screens. White shutters took the place of the green. (That yellow and green combo was carried over into the upstairs bathroom.)

My house as it looked before the replacement siding, windows and shutters. — Front of house before renovations

New siding, windows and shutters complete

Free Knitting Patterns, Are They Worth It?

As a beginner knitter, I have searched for “free knitting patterns” to get a feel for stitches, directions and charts. Why would I want to spend money on a pattern that I can’t comprehend and knit once it is downloaded? For beginners, free is probably best to start with.

So is knitting something that is free worth it? Well, yes and no. Be careful where you find those free patterns.

A warning here is to try to find well known knitwear designers who sell patterns but also offer free ones. They care about their patterns because it’s a business for them. Offering free things could very well lead to purchases done the road.

Or, choose a free pattern that has already been knit a lot and has great reviews.

I do understand that starting out we beginner knitters have NO idea who the knitwear designers are. And where do we find reviews and comments on patterns?

This is where Ravelry – an online knitting (and crocheting site) can be a huge help. If you can ignore their politics, it’s an enjoyable place where I’ve learned so much.

My First Hand-knit Shawl Was a Free Pattern

My very first shawl was a free pattern from a designer who offered it with the stipulation that I sign up for her e-mails. The shawl was good practice for me, with wonderful directions, it and brought her a follower. Below is the Spindrift Shawl (a free pattern and my first shawl knit) by Helen Stewart. I still get her e-mails.

Spindrift shawl — My first shawl knitting project

That is not to say that many free patterns work out just fine. Usually they are fairly simple and closely match other free patterns of the same type. Sometimes knitters just like to share something helpful with other knitters.

The Scrappy Bias Shawl (below) is one that gets a lot of knitter’s attention. It is easy knitting and fun. The Honey Cowl is pictured at the beginning of this page, and it is a free, one or two wrap, cowl.

colorful scrappy bias shawl — Scrappy Bias shawl – completed!

For beginner knitters, using a free pattern can be very helpful. Usually they are simple patterns that give us good practice and cost nothing but the yarn. A great place to begin is with Tin Can Knits. I sure wish I had found them sooner in my knitting adventures. They have an excellent bunch of tutorials and a page full of free patterns such as hats, sweaters, mittens and more, for all ages and sizes. Below is my Playdate Cardigan.

Playdate cardigan in size 6-12 months — My experience knitting the Playdate cardigan

Purl Soho

One very good place to start, if you want clear knitting directions, often with video tutorials, is Purl Soho. They sell beautiful yarn, and offer many types of patterns for free! It is one of the first places I found for free things when I began searching. From simple hats and housewares, to sweaters and ponchos, this is an awesome site for free designs and helpful insights.

Beware that some of their pattern stitches are quite advanced, and those wraps and blankets can take a long time to knit.

One place to also find more advanced free patterns (as well as the more simple) is the Espace Tricot collection. They offer a slew of free patterns of all types. The sweater below is one I recently knit.

Turtle Dove hand-knit sweater in Quarry yarn — Photos of My Turtle Dove Sweater / Poncho

In closing, I suggest being careful where the free patterns come from. If you begin to knit something that looks good and get toward the end and hit trouble, you’ve wasted lots of time. But, many free patterns are definitely worth knitting.