Our First Project for January 2017, "It's a Girl Thing"

Hello Everyone! I hope everyone is enjoying knitting our first hat project, "It's a Girl Thing" by Joji Locatelli.  But, first things first. Linda reminded me that I should introduce myself and how our Blog came about. My name is Lisa and I am Linda's Step-Mother. I recently retired after 36 years of Federal Service. As with most recent retirees, the shift from daily work responsibilities to the freedom of pursuing something new now becomes a real and welcomed option. Linda came up with the idea for me to use my love of knitting, social media, and all things electronic and combine them through this Blog. This is my first attempt at blogging, but I love to knit and I love to talk about knitting, so from that, our Blog came to be. It's wonderful to be able to be part of this adventure with you as we learn new skills and talk about our mutual love of all things knitting. Linda also wanted me to mention that I am the one that taught her how to knit. I taught her basic knitting. The creativity, the advanced skills, the incredible teaching, the beautiful store, that's all Linda! (Proud S-Mom 😊)

Now, back to our project of the month. "It's a Girl Thing" by designer Joji Locatelli is our January project. Linda is teaching this skill builder hat on January 21st and 28th at Yarns by HPF. I will be knitting along virtually as I live in the Northeast. Joji Locatelli is a knitwear designer based in Argentina. Our pattern of the month is part of her "Authentic Collection". Visit her website at http://www.jojiknits.com to learn more about Joji Locatelli and her beautiful knitwear patterns. Her patterns are very well written and with special techniques that are actually easy to follow. I made the hat in the medium size. My kit included Cascade Heritage yarn in Snow and Navy and frabjous fibers Wonderland Yarn in sky blue. Linda made up kits in different color combinations or you can come up with your own. I used my circular needles which allow for varying sizing as you knit, particularly during shaping. Your cast-on should be stretchy. Joji uses Cable Cast-On in her pattern and that's the one I used. Linda is teaching German Twisted Cast-On (as found in the Brother Hat pattern - more in that in a future blogpost) as an alternative. Both methods work beautifully where you want a stretchy cast-on.  There are all sorts of videos online to help, but my go-to is Michelle Hunter at www.knitpurlhunter.com under Video Tips. I used the Cable Cast-On from the pattern. I suggest using sharp pointed needles to make this cast-on easier. Moving onto the ribbing, I wanted to make my ribbing neater. I found a great way on how to achieve neat, even ribbing in knitting on Suzie Sparkles Knitting at https://suziesparklesknitting.wordpress.com/tag/ribbing/. It made a difference for me and it may for you, too. Next, I moved to the striping part of the pattern. How do you get stripes to look straight, without the “jog”? “Jogless stripes” use an optical illusion in knitting. Linda and I like TECHknitting Jogless stripes—a new way at http://techknitting.blogspot.com/2007/01/jogless-stripes.html. Another good source is -love knitting- 4 Ways to Knit Jogless Stripes at http://blog.loveknitting.com/4-ways-to-knit-jogless-stripes/. I used the “Knit into the stitch below” method. Try out the different methods and use the one that appeals to your eye. And now, onto the lace portion of the pattern. I have to admit that I have avoided patterns with yarn overs, the stitch so necessary for lace knitting. So, as part of knitting with you and for our Blog, I looked up how to do a yarn over. And yes, I’ve been doing it wrong which is why I wasn’t getting the “holes” so necessary to lace knitting. Even an experienced, active knitter will learn something from skill builder classes, or in my case, skill re-builder! The lace part of the hat along with the straightforward ribbing and striping makes for a beautiful combination. I hope you’ve enjoyed knitting our January project, Joji Locatelli’s “It’s a Girl Thing” hat. Thank you for joining us on our Blog. Come back for future posts and if you find yourself in Jacksonville, Alabama, stop in and visit. Knit On! -- Lisa