Knit Along: Cupcake Cutie Hat from Needles 'n Pins - Day 4

Is cupcake an adjective?

It’s starting to take on cupcake-ish attributes. Not that you can really use “cupcake” as an adjective, but since I’m a professional, I’ll rise to the challenge. I don’t think it’s going to really shine until I put the ruffly layer that goes between the cake and frosting (hang on, that should be soon). Still, it’s pretty snazzy in its present state.

I have only one gripe--and it’s highly fixable. And I can’t really complain because it’s a gripe that might actually suit you. This was created for a first birthday present, so it’s one-year-old size if you make it according to pattern. The baby who’s head I want to “frost” with this isn’t born yet, so I find I’m wishing it were smaller. I may have enough yarn left over to crank out a scaled-down cupcake when I’m done with this one, so there’s hope. I’m smart enough to also know that since I have teenagers, it’s been well over a decade since I’ve spent quality time with a newborn. And I gave birth to “whopper” babies--9 pounds and 9 pounds twelve ounces respectively (!!!)--so even my own experience makes me a poor judge of newborn baby head size.

Still, I smile continually as I knit, anticipating the cutie who’ll wear this cupcake cutie.

I’ve always said, “I don’t want any more children. I just want to dress other people’s children.” Or, evidently, I just want to knit for babies that can’t keep me up at night.

My dog keeps me up at night. Maybe that’s why I’ve never knit the little diva a sweater. She’s too oblong to be a cupcake...eclair cutie dog sweater? I think not.

Knit Along: Cupcake Cutie Hat from Needles 'n Pins - Day 3

Hey, I'm a believer...

It’s just so cute.

The frosting section of this really does look like sprinkles frosting. I know I keep saying that, and I’m hoping the photo can do it justice, but I doubt it. You have to feel the creamy texture of the yarn, amuse your fingers through the little pastel bits...you gotta be here.

The nice part about this section is that it’s thoughtless. Rounds upon rounds of stockinette until you reach a specific measurement. It’s been a while since I’ve had that kind of project. You can watch good television while doing this and not miss something important. It’d bore me to tears on a long drive--you need more than endless stockinette to make it down certain stretches of Indiana, believe me--but it’s just fine for my life right now.

Have you ever noticed that? I’m convinced God knits. Now, scripture actually backs me up on this (Psalm 139--look it up if you don’t believe me), but I have more personal evidence. Doing DestiKNITions means that I don’t really have a lot of control over the projects I’m knitting. It’s the store that makes the choice, not I. But I will tell you that every single project has been the right thing for my situation, my mood, and...sad to say...my available brainpower at the moment. Coincidence? I think not. Providence likes a good purl-2-knit-2 ribbing, it seems.

Which makes my charming little cupcake all the more charming.

How can you not love a God who knows when you need a cupcake? And not just any old cupcake, but chocolate with sprinkles. Yep, God must knit. I’m sure glad I do.

Knit Along: Cupcake Cutie Hat from Needles 'n Pins - Day 2

If I knew you were coming, I’d have...

Okay, world, enough with these exploding weeks! Someone needs to have a talk with my life and make it show a little respect. I cannot keep up with my knitting, my deadlines, my teenagers, and everything else whilst putting out innumerable large-scale fires. Cease and desist!

Ahem. We now return you to your irregularly scheduled cupcake.

I have finished the chocolate cake part, and it looks so much like the bottom of a real cupcake I simply can’t wipe the grin from my face while knitting it. I swear I can taste devil’s food with the needles in my hands. And the constant craving for cupcakes, well, let’s just say I’ve given Weight Watchers a wide berth this month.

And, no, just in case you were wondering, Chocolate Cheerios do not satisfy that craving.

Now that I’ve moved on to the sprinkles frosting portion of our project (and let’s just take a moment to reflect on how much fun that is to say...er...type), my continental style knitting is flying through the rounds. And, just like in the previous section, the yarn looks so much like it’s culinary counterpart that I can’t help but smile.

And you know, a smile goes a looooooong way in a week like the one I’ve had.

Cupcake Cutie Hat from Needles 'n Pins

There's nice, and then there's...

Knitting: nice.

Knitting a cupcake: very nice.

Knitting a cupcake baby hat: flat-out euphoric.

If you sat down and tried to dream the most edifying way you could spend a couple of hours, this covers every sphere. Non-caloric, cutie-pie adorable knitted baked goods. Really, I think heaven might be filled with these. Well, these and real, edible cupcakes.

Did I mention I really like cupcakes? You’d be hard-pressed to find a DestiKNITions itinerary that doesn’t include cupcakes. So, I was grinning from ear to ear when Doreen at Needles ‘n Pins offered up this little goodie for my knit-along. Fold in the fact that a friend of mine is about to have a very-much-waited-for baby, and life has just fallen into perfect harmony.

The fiber here is part of the joy. Berroco’s Comfort DK is just about the softest thing ever, and machine washable, too (an absolute necessity for baby stuff, if you ask me). I’m starting on the “cake” portion of the cupcake--chocolate, of course--and this stuff feels like chocolate. Soft and smooth. My pulse goes down just fingering the stuff.

My recently acquired continental knitting is exceedingly handy in the 2x2 ribbing that makes up the bottom of this project. I do wish I had sharper circs in the size needed for this pattern--I’ve discovered I prefer a sharp point when I knit continental. Still, my addi Turbo’s are holding their own just fine, but it does make me crave those stunning Harmony needles KnitPicks offers (gotta save something for my birthday). I should add--or is that addi--that addi also makes a lace point to meet my needs, too.

No matter what else I can say about this project, I just adore the concept that I’m knitting.

A cupcake hat.

For a baby.

Pure bliss.

DELAVAN, WI

Get away from it all...sort of

Only a knitter would drive twenty miles out of her way to find a great yarn store.

Actually, that’s a lie. A knitter would drive farther than that (as you’ll soon learn), if the yarn store was really worth it.

Nineneen seconds on the internet can find you

a yarn store. DestiKNITions is about finding you that great yarn store, the one that’s practically its own community, therapy, family, and yarn-obsession support group all wrapped up in fiber-filled four walls.

People often like to “get away from it all.” Me? I like to “get away from it all as long as there’s a cool yarn store nearby.”

Now entering Delavan, WI.

I’ve been here before--part of my husband’s family hails from these parts--but this visit was for a meeting of a ministry I strongly support: Young Life. The three day weekend seminar offered my husband and I the chance to kick back at a wonderful old-school resort called Lake Lawn Resort. It’s primarily a summer place, so reminiscent of Dirty Dancing that you expect Patrick Swayze to wander out of a cabin and hoist “Baby” in a victorious dancing lift at any second, but with a laid back winter charm in the off season. The kind of place that bored you to tears as a teenager but you just adore now that you’ve got teenagers of your own.

Lake Lawn boasts a spa, good food, a great view, and a homey-but-not-dowdy atmosphere that creates the right mix of relaxation and diversion. Civilization is just down the street if you need it, but you can convince yourself you’re out in the middle of nowhere if that’s what you need more.

For starters, don’t even THINK of spending a weekend in Wisconsin without partaking of an official Wisconsin Friday Night Fish Fry. My buddies at Needles 'n Pins recommended The Duck Inn, but there are probably a dozen good choices for this Dairy State obsession. Everyone will have a recommendation--just pick one. You may think you’ve had fried fish before, but if you haven’t done it in Wisconsin on a Friday night, everything else pales (or would that be scales) in comparison.

Saturday belongs to Delavan. Or, more precisely, outside of Delevan, up there on County Road A, at the jam-packed little white farm house that hosts Needles ‘n Pins Yarn Shoppe.

It’s my favorite kind of place--a total, satisfying “find” you’d miss if you weren’t looking for it. But you know us knitters, we’ll go hunting for a good yarn shop, even if we have to drive by it six times to get it right (not that we know from experience or anything).

Needles 'n Pins is the real deal. An authentic, knowledgeable store filled with quality inventory. And I do mean filled. Every square inch of this place is packed to the gills. Owner and multi-published author Doreen Marquart is one of those unflappable masters who won’t blink when you show her the tangled mess you’ve made of your entrelac or the catastrophe you’re calling a cable. No sock has ever stumped this gal, and she’s got customers from

a bright 9-year old to a spunky 89-year-old currently knitting afghans for her great-great-grandchildren. The store specializes in friendly, individualized help. During my visit, a woman entered the store and declared she’d driven sixty miles to come get help with a mistake. Foolishness? Not on your life. Real knitters know a great shop when they see one, and as this woman so deftly put it, “It’s a long way to go but the people are so nice!” As far as I could tell, Doreen might even hand you some chocolate to calm you down while she walks you through a solution.

When I say deep inventory, I mean it “I want to make sure you’ve got enough to make your project,” Doreen says. A conservative estimate is 40,000 skeins, not to mention the full shelves of patterns, needles, buttons, and such. Yes, ma’am, you’ll leave this store fully equipped, or I’m guessing she won’t let you out the door.

She’s got an eye for quality, that Doreen. She was one of the first people to discover Koigu (pronounced koy-goo, in case you were wondering as I was) back before it became the mad trend that it’s become. So, as you can imagine, she’s got a whopping inventory of the stuff and some other nifty new finds besides. Don’t you dare leave without asking to see the “milk yarn.” Yarn from milk? You betcha. After all, Wisconsin is “the dairy state.”

Doreen offered up our first baby project for my “knit along” from Needles 'n Pins, her adorable original “Cupcake Cutie” hat. As you can imagine, it’s a store favorite, and the exclusive pattern is available for purchase. Fans of DestiKNITions know my fondness for cupcakes--I just love it when my passions converge!

Another project Doreen recommends is the “Very Easy Baby Sweater” from Lisa Knits. Done up in Opal or On Line Supersocke 6-fach, this could make a little person in your life very comfy this winter.

For your own comfort--or the comfort of a lucky friend--take on Judy Pascale’s Shapely Shawlette, an excellent use of Doreen’s huge inventory of Koigu Premium Merino or her other great find, Claudia.

Your gadget find from this store is the very clever Susan Bates Handi Tool, a smart combo of craft needle and crochet hook.

After your sheepy shopping frenzy, ask Noreen for directions to The Real McCoys “just over the hill” for down home good burger experience. Or, if the small town main street is your thing (delightfully refreshing for this city suburb gal), drive back into Delavan and spend the afternoon on the honest-to-goodness main street. I had surprisingly good crepes at the Sun Mist diner, but other favorites were the Brick Street Market for cheese (of course, you’ve got to buy cheese!), the sheer hunt-for-a-bargain atmosphere of Tommy Guns Antique Mall, and the outdoor statues depicting Delavan’s relationship with the circus (betcha didn’t know that!).

My weekend was just the low-key get-away that I needed. If you need more wow in your weekend, spend a day at Lake Geneva, but this out of the way trip was just what this frazzled knitter needed.

Knit Along: Traveling Vines Scarf from Magpie Yarns - DONE!

DestiKNITions finishes traveling the Traveling Vines

I’m delighted to have this finished. It’s soaking to block as I type, getting ready to make its Valentine’s Day debut. That’s right, I finished it in time to wear it on the holiday I planned--an Allie first!

A really lovely pattern, just intriguing enough to keep me challenged without frying my brain. And what girl can’t use some tiny sequins in her everyday life? That sparkle you catch out of the corner of your eye at the grocery store? It’ll be me.

Next up? DestiKNITions goes to the middle of nowhere...and likes it!

Knit Along: Traveling Vines Scarf from Magpie Yarns - Day 6

A nifty new trick...

Last weekend was knitting heaven. Sure, the meetings were long, but I had my knitting. As you’ve heard me say before, knitting improves my ability to absorb whatever it is you’re trying to tell me. Especially if it takes a long time to deliver your message. I visited a charming yarn shop you’ll hear about in a future episode, I ate good food with good people, made important plans, and had fun.

And got to the final yards--literally--of my Traveling Vines Scarf. Now this is one of those “knit til it’s done” patterns, where you’re not working to hit a specific length, nor even to a specific row in a repeat, you just go until you’re done. Those are nice, but they always make me nervous. I’m too much of a plan-ahead person not to worry that I’ll run out of yarn before I do the final four rows of garter stitch the pattern calls for.

But this time? I’m cool as a cucumber. Why? Because I learned the niftiest little trick at a cast on class at my local knitting store. A finishing trick in a cast on class? It’s not as odd as you’d think. We were talking about the strengths and weaknesses of the long-tail cast-on, which inevitably led to the dilemma of how long of a tail is long enough? Our teacher showed us the following technique to make sure you’ve got all the yarn you need:

First, wrap your yarn ten times around your needle. That’s a fairly accurate estimate of the yarn needed for ten stitches. Now, unwrap that yarn, and you’ve got a specific length of yarn to produce ten stitches. Simply fold that length back on itself the number of stitches in your row times the number of rows.

Let me explain in detail. For this project, each row is thirty stitches. I fished around in the middle of my ball to find the inner end of my yarn. Because it’s a workable number, I wrapped thirty times to get my length (this wouldn’t work with a 90 stitch row for obvious reasons). Since I know I have four rows of garter stitch to save up for at the end of my scarf, I folded up four times my initial length. I put a simple slip knot at that length--plus a little extra for added insurance--as my signal. Now, since this pattern tells me I can stop on essentially any row, I can just knit happily along until I get to my knot, then I know it’s time to start my four garter rows. No stress, no worries. And I get to use every delectable inch of this yarn--gotta love that.

I’ll be binding off any minute now. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you get a glimpse of the finished product.