You see, I really love, love, love, to buy yarn! (And fabric, but that's a different post!). So, basically, I have piles and boxes, and bags of yarn in my basement (not to worry, my basement is very dry and the yarn is quite safe there), that is just begging to be made into something.
I also love making things to give away. I often make things for the local food bank. They have a bin where they put the donated hats, scarves, mittens, and slippers, and the children can pick something from the bin when they visit. This thought makes me happy, that children are wearing the things I make.
So, to make a long story short, my USM helps me make lots of things faster. Do I know how to knit and crochet? YES! And I love making things by hand, too. But sometimes I just want to make a bunch of things quickly with all that yarn I have laying around. At times like that, I turn to my trusty USM. And now, I have the garter bar my Mum so nicely paid for, because she knew I really wanted it and would not likely buy it for myself. I'm embarassed to say that it has taken me months to take the garter bar out of the tube it came in and use it!
The above photo shows a few things. At the top, the top rows of a hat hang off the needles. The top row is my decrease row for the gathering at the top. After that come the 35 or so rows of straight knitting which go very quickly! The bottom 6 rows were done with the garter bar. The garter bar allows me to remove the knitting from the needles, turn it around, put it all back on the needles, and knit a purl row. If you do this a few times (or 6, like I've done), it makes a nice edge that won't curl, as just straight knitting would do.
This photo (above) shows the process to remove the knitting from the black plastic hem that holds the weights at the bottom of the knitting. I could start with a different type of cast-on that would allow me to remove the knitting without having to stitch by hand, but I don't like doing it that way.
And, finally, the finished beanie. I love how the top looks and this style looks perfectly sweet on little heads! Next, I will experiment with how to use the garter bar to do decreases that will allow the hat to lie flat against the head, and not be gathered like this.
This is the back seam of the hat - and my huge error! I was too busy learning to use the garter bar to notice that I had skipped 4 stitches at the beginning of a row. Oh well, the hat will still be warm, even with the mistake.
This project is also great for using up scraps from other projects - you can make great stripey patterns! I know I'm weird for thinking this, but I really can't wait for the snow, when I will find more time to hole up in my sewing room and make sure the USM gets used lots more!!
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