We enter the Penguin Zone!
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| Look at those Penguins dancing merrily around the hat! |
My love of this team is deep rooted. My love of sports comes from my dad. On weekends and nights the TV would be turned to some sporting event and I became hooked. I remember sitting on the couch watching the 1991 and 1992 Stanley Cup championships with him and watching countless games of hockey, baseball and football.
My love of hockey was only intensified by one of my best friends. Jenn is a rabid Pens fan and has traveled to many games including the Stanley Cup finals in Detroit. She lives the Pens and we tweet each other during games discussing the plays, injuries and the chances. This season has been fraught with injury and their struggle is well documented but being a fan means you stick by your team through thick and thin.
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| I am kinda crafty and took a cake decorating class, this was one of my creations |
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| We waited to see the Stanley cup after the Pens won in 2009. |
So as you can see we are big fans and when I saw a fellow Raveler pinkoknitter made this amazing hat and I knew I had to make it for Jenn. I mean I made her the cake for her birthday the year before and it was time to make a hat so I started.
I had to learn how to cast on, knit and purl to do the ribbing and then I started to switch colors and figure out color work. Thank goodness for You Tube because it was a huge help to figure some of this out.I still need to figure out the twist to keep the colors in the background but I think I did pretty good and by the end I was double fisting the colors and knitting in both English and continental!
I finished the but little penguins and started on the decreases. I think my first attempt at knitting came out well and Jenn wants to learn to knit now too! More projects are on the way but this is an awesome first finished knitted object!
Don't forget to check out other Finished Object at Tami's Amis
<3 Heather
Details also found here:
Needles - Size 5/3.75 mm with 16 inch cables and Size 5 double needles
Yarn - Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran in Gold and White, Plymouth Yarn Encore Worsted in Black
Duration - 3 months but it start and stop work during that time (probably 12 evenings worth of work all together as I am a slow knitter)
Colorwork Video - Colorwork: Stranded Basics
It's hard for me to say this is cute because I'm a Caps fan (how about that game the other night? haha, honestly I was disappointed it was a 1-0 boring game). BUT I also have to say I'll admit to it being cute because I married a Pittsburgh native lol (games get interesting in our house). You did a great job on it, especially for it being your first knit project! You combined a lot of new skills to learn into one project and should be very proud :)
ReplyDeleteI love that hat, so cool! And go you learning colourwork so quickly! I've just started on my first attempt ;)
ReplyDeleteSorry to reply to Pink's comment, but I don't see a window for leaving my own. I love it!! Those penguins are adorable!! Great job. To keep background colors in the back ground, always float it above the other color.
DeleteChris, thanks for commenting. I think screwed up in not leaving enough slack and it bunched a bit but I learned and it will be better next time. :) Thanks again!
DeleteThanks FoFo!
ReplyDeleteNicole - I forgive you :) I missed it because I was in class and had a meeting on Wednesday I did hear about it though from my Dad and yeah frustrating is a good word to describe it. Thanks though and really having a good first project with knitting has helped keep me interested
Pinkundine - Thanks! I think it's the engineer in me because the little grid was so easy to follow and I crochet a lot so continental knitting was like second nature. Still having problems with continental purling...just need practice I guess.
Good Job Heather! Better start practicing that purling! Our class is coming sooner than you think! Eeeek!
ReplyDeleteVery cute hat!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your hat! It's awesome. Hubby's a big hockey fan too. I sorta watch, mostly I knit or crochet in front of the tube while he's watching. My deepest condolences for your recent loss. I've found talking about Mom to be very healing. I have a tab on the top of my blog titled Memories of Mom. They're alphabetical memories. It's been fun to remember some of those times, and the use of the alphabet has forces some memories out of the depths of my mind. I'm not yet done.........every now and again I post a blog. Check it out. You might enjoy doing something similar. Sometimes it brings tears, but that's ok too; often it brings a smile and a fond memory. Hugs to you
ReplyDeleteThanks I appreciate that. I liked your alphabet idea but I am working out a balance between my hobbies and my memories. I plan on checking out your stuff some more. Thanks for the encouragement, it means a lot.
DeleteYour penguin hat is super cute! My love of black and gold has to do with the Boston Bruins though:)
ReplyDeleteThat's understandable. Someone once told me that Bruins fans were rather peeved when the Penguins switched to Black and Gold. Bruins are a good club and it's going to be an interesting second half of the season.
DeleteHeather, you did a fabulous job on this hat. It's hard to believe it's your first attempt at stranded color work. We must continue to spread the Penguins love. Our boys need our support now more than ever. :-)
ReplyDeleteLet's Go Pens!
Thanks! Your help was greatly appreciated and I wouldn't have attempted it if you hadn't posted your hat first. :)
DeleteAwesome penguin hat!
ReplyDeleteYou always manage to give me the best presents! So excited you are teaching me, so that I can eventually return the awesomeness! Love you! Let's Go Pens! <3
ReplyDeleteI love the penguin hat!! ((hugs)), Teresa :-)
ReplyDeleteYay Pens! I met Stanley then too. Well worth the 5-1/2 hr wait :D
ReplyDeleteYeah it was a special day. I don't remember how long we waited but we had fun.
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