Tag Archives: purple

Alaska Weddings: Amy + Joe

December 6, 2015 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

Last-minute weddings are sometimes the best. When my high school friend Amy called me last week to ask if I’d make her bridal bouquet for her wedding this week, I couldn’t say no.

Amy asked for plum and white colors. Alaska Wholesale Flower Market had the most precious Moody Blues roses and deep purple mini carnations. Amy was sold.

I love presenting the corsages and bouts in a pretty way. My first step is to use grocery store doughnut boxes. They have the clear window on the top so you can peek inside and they are big enough to hold several boutonnieres at once. I happened to have some purple tissue paper that was perfect for this occasion.

I had a few leftovers so I made myself a little flower crown. I was able to stop by the reception in the evening and ran into all my old friends. It was a fun reunion. And, of course, I had Ivan model my crown.

Alaska Winter Wedding | flower crown made with white spray roses, statice, mini myrtle, waxflower, Sitka spruce, eucalyptus and purple mini carnations. Designed by Natasha Price of Alaskaknitnat.com — Blue Steel

Crafts, Knit & Crochet, Knitting, Patterns

Mermaid Hat

November 21, 2015 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

Rachel, my best friend from childhood, has been asking me to knit her a hat for three years. When I visited her in Seattle in 2012 we even picked out the yarn and everything.

She requested a cable hat and I’ve never had such a hard time finding a pattern I liked. I started three different patterns including the classic “Stitch ‘n’ Bitch Nation” one, but I just didn’t like them.

So I tucked the ball of purple yarn away in my stash and temporarily gave up.

Three years later I called Rachel to tell her I was coming back to Seattle for a work trip and asked if she would like me to bring her anything from home. She reminded me of my hat promise. I was determined this time that I would have a finished hat by the time I reached The City of Flowers.

I went back to Ravelry and found just what I was looking for. It must not have been posted when I last looked up cabled hats.

Presenting the Mermaid Hat:

I used Blue Sky Alpaca’s Worsted Hand Dyed yarn in Mulberry. The downside was I only bought one skein and ran out of yarn two rounds before the end. Luckily I had left a long tail when I started so I had to Frankenstein the yarn toward the end, but it all worked out. PHEW!

I really loved the little braided stitch going up the hat between the cables. It is a good pattern for folks who have gotten down cables but are still not ready for anything complicated.

Get the free pattern here.

Knit & Crochet, Knitting

Malabrigo Cable Cowl

February 28, 2015 alaskaknitnat 7 Comments

My local yarn shop started carrying Malabrigo yarn. I have never knitted with Malabrigo before, but I know some knitters who are total snobs about this yarn. They refuse to knit with anything else. I now understand why. The Malabrigo worsted merino is like knitting with clouds. It’s so soft and light between my fingers – an absolute joy to work with. It’s also reasonably priced for the quality. At around $12 per hank, it has so much potential for small projects without breaking the bank.

I really wanted to show of the lustre and quality of the yarn. I decided on a cabled cowl. I don’t have much experience with cables except that they aren’t really difficult; they just take concentration and the ability to keep track of rows.

I wanted to try something beyond a simple cable, but nothing too complicated. I settled on a lovely Ravelry pattern from Auriga’s Knits called the Spikelets Cowl. I recommend this pattern to those who have a little experience with cables but are ready to go to the next level. It was fun to knit, and even more luxurious to wear.

I used one hank of Malabrigo Worsted Merino in Purple Mystery.