This is a repost of an entry I did approximately 3 years ago which was, mostly, about the sweater that Joe is wearing.  But there's also quite a bit about the hat....which is exactly the same hat that I made for Adam this fall.  Same construction method, same principle for reduction, but this one is felted so consequently was originally 1/3 bigger and also knit up with a finer yarn.  I believe at the time I referred to it as Joe's Interminable Hat.  I should probably work up an actual pattern for people from Newborn to Big Man size. 

Joe and I went out for a drive today to look for interesting places to photograph.  As you can see here both Joe and I found a few interesting things.  He is taking pictures with his super hi-price pro digital camera complete with a large pack of accessories and an enormous tripod.  He is taking pictures of the Saco River and I am taking pictures of him -- but I am using my I-Phone.  I wanted you to see the sweater.  I made this for him this winter and it is, I am embarrassed to say, the first sweater I have ever made him.  Since we have been married almost 25 years I have no respectable excuse to give you.  In my defense I did make him the hat.  Let me tell you about that hat.

He wanted a felted hat that was windproof.  It should also not be the least bit scratchy.  And it had to be black.  I knit that hat out of recycled cashmere and merino (both black) and neither one the least bit scratchy.  Recycled yarn is obtained from unraveling sweaters, so the yarn is fine and crinkly.  Also, in order to felt something to size you have to make it at least 1/3 bigger in all directions than the finished product.  So, between the fine crinkly yarn, the completely black color scheme, the enormous size, the tiny stitches and the complete lack of anything interesting going on in the way of pattern or anything else this hat is the equivalent in interminable knitting of at least one sweater -- quite possibly two.

The good thing is that he loves the hat and has worn it almost constantly for the last 7 years.  So it seemed he had earned a sweater.  I want to point out the nice way that the cable runs across his shoulders and down the arm.  I believe while I was taking pictures I also commented on how splendid the sweater looked from the back, adding that he always had a very nice rear aspect.  That is what elicited the look that you see here.  I believe he is wondering what exactly I might be implying and, perhaps, how best to follow up.

If you look at the entry below you will see that I saw my friend Berta's Pinterest posting for an afghan design that she wanted to try....if she could only find the pattern.  I took a look....it was a slow rainy Sunday afternoon with lots of sitting around watching movies in the plan, so I grabbed some scrap yarn and gave it a shot.  This is what I came up with, and the pattern to make these little squares is available to you in the entry that I made just prior to this one.

I ran out of the variegated yarn after I had completed 6 squares, although there was still plenty of purple left.  So I left it laying around for a bit on the table in the studio, which is my favorite spot to leave things that I want to think about for a while.  It occurred to me while I was watching a Netflix movie and knitting that the size of the knitting sample was almost perfect for the side and fold over section of the I-pad.  So I knit an I-cord border around the whole thing and then used some of my ENORMOUS stash of rug wool to make an I-Pad cover sleeve which I then sewed the knitting sample to as a kind of decorative cover/extra padding.

As you can see here, I also added a little pocket at the base so that you can roll up the whole shebang, tie it off with the green ties and have your I-Pad at the perfect level of Prop for reading or viewing.  Plus I find that when I sit down to read a nice novel with my cup of tea the customary I-Pad covers are a little....technical in feel.  This knitted, wool backed cover gives the whole experience a nice, cozy, nestling in feel that is more conducive to maximum relaxation...at least for me.

My friend Roberta posted a picture to Pinterest under Things I Want to Try.  I looked at the picture and shot her an e-mail offering to write up the pattern so that she could try it.  This is a photo of my version, using the scrap yarn that I had on hand.  I used a worsted weight yarn and a size 5 needle.  This would be a great pattern to use as your Carrying Around Knitting, particularly if you do the Bow Ties in Stash Scrap Colors (or hand dyes, or handspun) and use a unifying color like black, or white, or grey, or brown in the place of the purple.   I recommend that you just carry around the directions for the Bowties and wait until you are sitting down at home to knit up the little quadrilateral Inserts and do the sewing up while you are comfortable.

Bowtie Pattern:  Cast on 20 stitches using a flexible cast on method.  I Knit On myself, but any method that doesn't result in a hard stiff edge is fine.  Knit one row.  At the beginning of the next 12 rows Slip 1, Knit 1, Pass the Slip stitch over, Knit to the end of the row.  You should have 8 stitches on your needle.  Slip the first stitch and knit to the end of the row for the next 16 rows.  Now to do the last increasing bit.  Knit into the front and back of the first stitch and then knit to the end of the row for the next 12 rows or until you have 20 stitches on your needle.  Bind off with a flexible bind off method.  This is a good one.  Knit 2 stitches then insert the tip of your left hand needle back into the 2 on the right hand needle and knit them together.  Knit another stitch.  Repeat.

Quadrilateral Insert Pattern:  Once you get a few of the Bowties done load up a movie or your favorite music and start to knit the Inserts and assemble your squares.  Cast on 20 stitches and knit one row.  Knit 2 together at the beginning of the next 12 rows.  You should have 8 live stitches left on your needle.  Break off the yarn leaving about a 20 inch tail which you thread onto a darning needle.  Sew the live stitches down, one at a time, to the straight edge at the narrow part of the Bowtie.  Use a mattress stitch to join the angles of the Bowtie and the Insert together.  Use the bit of yarn left from when you cast on to sew up the other angle.  Repeat for the other side, and then over and over as many times as you have little Bowties.  Sew the squares together using a mattress stitch as well.  The mattress stitch keeps things flexible....you don't want hard edges....everything should be kind of stretchy.

Pat Dunn made four pair of these fingerless mitts for her daughters and daughters-in-law for Christmas.  Much to my chagrin, it has been a very long time since I took these pictures and I have been very delinquent in posting them.  I particularly like that she spread her sock yarn colors around, mixing and matching and adding a few yards of a couple of her stash colors to make each one individual.  They are photographed in the kitchen on top of the old butcher block table that I inherited from my Dad.  If you would like to make some of these yourself the pattern is available under Patterns as Seasons Greetings Gloves and Mitts and on Ravelry, along with a pattern for long Greta Garbo style gloves that you can make to wear either separately or underneath the fingerless mitts.