World Series Knitting

The Red Sox are in the World Series, which means two things at this house: one - the TV is out of the closet and we've got ourselves a brand new set of fancy-pants bunny ears; and two - there is about to be some serious knitting completed.  Steve says I'm a playoff fan, and I can't deny that. I'm only interested when it gets close to the end. I moan and groan about the 500 thousand games (really, there are that many - I swear) that get them to this point, and then I jump on in when things get exciting. So, now I'm in...and excited. But man, those games can go on. And the commercials. Ugh. My hands need some busy work, and hats are perfect. With a worsted weight yarn, I can just about complete a hat in the course of two games, depending on how exciting the game is...and how much energy I put into my ice cream.

This would be the Playoffs hat for Calvin (he chose the colors from my stash). Doubling up on the yarn, it made for a really thick hat (this was the desired effect, thankfully). It's based on the pattern in Last Minute Knitted Gifts. He asked for the ear flaps -"but no pompoms, Mom". Ack. When did he get too big for pompoms?

 
(Thankfully, he's not too big for playing camera with me - this one was his idea.)
Last night was Game One (and a very good start, at that), and therefore, yarn winding, guage swatching, and casting on for the next hat. Everyone in this house needs a new winter hat, and I'm relying on the Red Sox (and the bunny ears) to get me there.
So hey - Go Sox!

Comments

[heather]

i can't believe you're up so early after game one! but look, so am i. we're using the old bunny ears here, never thought to splurge on fancy new ones for the series...hmmm. last night they were draped over the dog. not kidding, chocolate labs are very accomodating. ;)

we switch the tv to blue screen during commercials, i think it's dvd mode. those commercials are crazy!

lovely orange knitting by the way. i spent the hours embroidering... taking my slow, sweet time backstitching rather the running stiches knowing i'd be there a while. i should really do that more often.

[jen j-m]

oh, you made me laugh this morning - we are total playoff fans, too. it's so exciting! love the hat.

[Sarah]

We're big Red Sox fans as well but bunny ears won't even work for us. I confess that the main times that I knit are on long car rides and while watching a movie. I have a few sweaters that I associate with various world events such as my "War Sweater" which I knit when watching events unfold in Kuwait.

[SOULEMAMA]

Well, good morning East Coast Red Sox fans - aren't you all up a little early? ;) Wishing you all a very restful day, and an exciting evening!!!

[jean]

oh Heather!! Thanks for the blue screen idea. We really need a solution like that here.
GO SOX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LOVE that hat, Amanda. I also need to do something BRIGHT for walks in the woods right now. Not woodsy blend in animalish colors.

[sarah]

great hat, love the flaps. My goodness Calvin is looking older in your last several posts. He and my Gryphon's hair are just about the same length! Do you cut Calvin's bangs at all? Gryphon just had a freak out fit on me yesterday when I suggested we needed to cut his bangs which are hanging right down in his face about 4-5 inches. He said he is growing a "hair helmet" and doesn't want me to cut it "AT ALL!!"

[Sarah]

GO SOX!

[erin]

gotta love the red sox (i did go to school in boston!).

that hat is crazy cute, amanda. maybe i need to look at that pattern a bit more carefully. i think i could talk jane in to pompoms, but not the ear flaps. hmmm....

[Meredith]

Adorable hat! But of course, the model makes the hat, right? I love his color choices too.

[stephanie]

not knitting socks while watching the sox?! i'm a new, married into it, sox playoffs fan, and also of the rabbit ears club. let's keep our fingers crossed!

[Rachel]

So far I've made nine hats from that book to give as gifts. I also made the armwarmers to match for several hat recipients even going so far as to modify the pattern to fit my 4- and 6-year-old. You are such an inspiration to me!

[viv]

No playoffs here but there are LMKG hats. I just made the same hat a few weeks ago for Lily. Love that pattern!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jacksviv/1543718898/

[Sefchen Coho]

Looks like rabbit ears for everyone. I'm also a 'married into it Sox fan'. I didn't make anything but did paint my nails purple. Maybe I should have done red, but I was thinking more Halloween themed.

[Wendy]

We're usually hockey fans around here, but since our daughter sang with her choir at one of the first games that started the Rockie's winning streak, she's kind of on the bandwagon. She doesn't even understand that winning that many in a row is unheard of.

We got creamed last night, but we'll come back, just you wait. :)

And I love the hat. I can't wait until a project like that takes less than a month for me.

[bubbachic]

Blimey, thats a new one on me...kids get too big for pom poms?...darn!

Dee
x

[michele]

I have the same hat on my needles, love that hat! I changed the garter st border to moss stitch for a change.

And Go Rockies!
peace
michele
living in Colorado

[kat nicholas]

wow! who knew there were so many of us out there with our rabbit ears, watching the playoffs? we're doing the same down here in north carolina, (and finally having some rain!). love the hat - my favorite colors! too bad about the pom pom, though. i've recently decided to expand my creative palette and have been teaching myself embroidery - really loving it. it's a great thing to work on while watching the world series. go red sox!!!

[Anne]

Way to go Red Sox! Way to go Amanda, great hat. I love your son's color sense. let us celebrate that instead of thinking about pom poms.

Anne

[emily]

Haha- I have been doing the playoff, now series knittign as well. It is a great opportunity to get in the hats and mittens I meant to have made in time for November! And... how about that Josh Beckett? What a game!:)

[Stefani]

Wait, what? There's play offs? Guess it's time to drag our TV out too! Love that boy... he looks like a little fallen orange leaf in that last shot. But maybe he was going for fallen pirate or morose poet maybe :-)

[Diane]

Love the adorable knitted caps ... Love the knitting. Love everything you make really, Amanda. I've been reading your blog for well over a year now, and I'm still very much itching to jump in and learn some of the things you do. Where do I even start? Maybe Martha Stewart has a good tutorial. Maybe I should actually ask my mother (*GASP*) ... I'm open for suggestions.

[SOULEMAMA]

Hey Diane!! There are lots of places to start! Do you want to knit? Sew? Embroider?

My favorite intro knitting book is Kids Knitting by Melanie Falick (but it's not just for kids!!). The instructions in this book are so clear - really visual, too, which I think is helpful to a lot of people.

And my new favorite basic sewing book is Bend-The-Rules Sewing by Amy Karol. Great instructions with FABULOUS projects!! ;)

For embroidery - Sublime Stitching is really great - instructionally and for the iron-on patterns.

Any of these, I think, are really great beginner guides to get you started on the basics of each skill - including instructions, descriptions of materials, etc.

But most importantly? Just play around! And don't be afraid of making mistakes. Have fun!!!

[Wendy]

Lucky boy to have such a fantastic hat. I love the "Out of Retirement" hat also.

[Andrea]

Hi Amanda,
Ok..I'm like Diane..I've been reading your blog for awhile now and dreaming of the day that my little hands are working hard on some fabulous crafty project while watching the Red Sox take home another series win!! ;)
But alas, the desire is there but the skill is lacking. I will take a look at some of the books you recommended for Diane and maybe during next years playoffs will be able to report on the fabulous fall sweaters, knitted by my own hand, that my son and daughter are wearing. :)
Oh...and I hate to admit this...well not really, but my husband is actually the star of probably one of the most-hated red sox playoff commercials...WB Mason. We live in NC now so we don't get to see them anymore. But we hear from family & friends who are still up north that if they have to see his crazy mug and hear that jingle one more time they are going to scream!! Ah...please don't throw anything at me...now you know. WB Mason is actually a fabulous husband and father to 2 wonderfully adorable little ones. GO RED SOX!!!!

[Lisa]

Shouldn't you be knitting sox during the game?? :)

[katie]

love the hat, and the pictures! Yes, go red sox...maybe for the next game i will start piecing together a quilt!

[Melissa]

I love the orange nubby yarn.

[childsplay]

Seeing that I am looking out over the Rocky Mountains right now...I'm going Denver all the way!

Even though we got shilled last night...ouch.

Cute hat--even without the pompoms. :)

[lisa s]

you are so funny. love the hat...
my husband is the BIGGEST red sox fan.... :) he'd approve of the TV being out of the closet for this!

[Allegra]

I'm the same way pretty much about watching sports. I get really involved once it "means something" or gets near the end. I plan to do a lot of knitting this week watching the games as well, although I will be rooting for the other team, being from Denver and all......

[Lisa]

Great knitted cap. That last minuted knit gifts book is on my next buy list. I just finished some pincushions with Joelle's other book. Lots of great projects.

Great colors too!

[greenemother]

We're not too much into sports down here, but since the weather has turned, I'm really getting the urge to get the tv out and watch some old movies. It's so nice to know that I'm not the only one out here that puts their TV away. When friends and family first came over, they gave a puzzled look at the official spot where the tv once sat and after a while asked if our tv was broken. We just said no, there's just nothing good on, and there are so many other enjoyable things to do instead. (We also have a computer, so we're not that detached!lol)
Now they're just impressed or think we're a little crazy or who knows! But, ohh, on days when it's cold.. with a cup of hot chocolate! Much better than watching it on the labtop's screen!

[Tara]

I spent my evening in the very same way! Except I was knitting bona fide Red Sox Socks. Yes, I started them in Spring Training, but managed to duck out of watching those 5000 games and well, the Sox suffered. I sewed in the last end of the first sock last night and the 2nd sock is about 10 rows and a sewn down hem from joining its mate on my Red Sox Fan's feet.
Knit on, Sox sister.

[kimberly/tippytoes]

Funny, I just had this conversation today with a mom at my daughter's school. We both credited the Red Sox with helping us make progress on hats.

Red Sox fans in California here!

[earthchick]

Lovely hat, great colors, fun pics.

Btw, thanks for the etsy linky-love in the last post. I couldn't resist the gorgeous hand-dyed yarn. Looked perfect for a Zeebee hat, so soon I'll be doing the hat-knitting thing too.

[Grace]

hee hee, play-off fan here, too, although my dad would be horrified because we were raised as a complete baseball family. ;) also on the rabbit ears. nothing against the red sox, but national league all the way, lol!

fabulous knitting! also doing some world series knitting here.

[Barbara]

ha! this is why I need to learn to knit...

[Cindy Mitlo]

I just stumbled upon your blog, and wish I had found it before my almost-annual trip to Portland. I LOVE your neck of the woods and try to go every year to visit some dear friends. Be sure to add Edith and Edna (did I get that right?). I was thrilled to discover it this past August. Two Lights, Wolfe's neck and the path around Back Cove are my favorites whenever I visit, but next year I'll be sure to check out all the recommendations for yarn and craft stores. Thanks!

[Mary]

It's good that you can get into the World Series because I? Had no idea who was even playing. Hey, I'm a Southern girl and this is football season! I've got some gridiron action to follow! LOL!

[robin]

Go sox!! Go hats!!! <3

[SUzie Sews]

LOve the hat...As for your header picture...adorable.
Suzie Sews

[Daisy]

I'm happy to know that no matter where on mother earth we are- we are so similar. Here in Australia we have AFL ( Australian Football League) and I too get on the bandwagon come finals time. This year the craft of choice was needle felting (bad idea) watching our beloved Collingwood Magpies miss out again in September.

[Julie]

Do you really keep your television in the closet? That's wonderful! I wonder if I could get away with that around here. We hate TV and yet I think we might both twitch for a few days if we put it in a closet.

[mary lou]

I am a playoff baseball fan, too. I was quite incensed that most of the playoffs were on cable -- the great american pastime and you have to pay to see it? We don't have cable, but fortunately have an antennae from the previous homeowner. And also, in Central Time, so I get some decent nights sleep.

[spuncrack]

Doing the same thing over here in Colorado, but rooting for the other team(Go Rocks!). Just finished one cabled hat last night for my son. There will be a new one on the needles tonight for my daughter. What a great excuse to get some knitting done!

[Amber]

Ah, I understand your last-minute fan attitude. Who can sit around and watch all those games?! Great results with the hat!

[Madeline]

I am a play off fan too. But what a play off fan I am. I frightened my kids with my zeal during their world series win. What a fabulous hat.

[Becky]

Love the hat, and I completely agree with you on the need for busy work during the game, but I'm afraid that since I'm living in Colorado, I have to say

GO ROCKIES!!!

:)

[breana]

Y'all are beating our PANTS off. Rocktober is coming rapidly to an end...

*sigh*

[Gift of Green]

Go Sox! When is someone going to write "Last Minute Crocheted Gifts?" :)