I used the varigated yarn to knit the front and back and was going to use the solid navy for the accent, but it looked horrible! Not appropriate for an 8 year old boy anyway. Would have been cute for a baby I suppose, but this is done in Bernat Softee Chunky so it's got huge stitches.
I knit it up on my Toyota KS610 bulky machine.
Below is the balaclava I knit for E.J. It's out of the same yarn that Alex's was knit with. Now, this one I did by hand, I converted the hand knit pattern to the machine and knit Alex's on the LK140 so it had a seam up the back of it. I also ran out of yarn while knitting E.J.'s so I had to improvise and used a double strand of Lion Brand Wool-Ease sportweight. The color is different, but it almost looks like I planned it that way. Both hats were knit in Lion Brand Wool-Ease worsted weight based on the Helmet Liner pattern at http://www.tropicalyarns.com
My only suggestion would be to make the ribbed neck part about 2 inches longer for better neck coverage. E.J. folds the ribbing up and it looks like a regular knit hat when he isn't keeping the cold wind off his face. I should have knit him some of these years ago because he says it really does keep him warm, along with his scarf that is :) Stick 'Em Up!
These socks have been OTN's for over a year now. I think this Regia sock yarn was among the first skeins of sock yarn I ever bought! Anyway, the pattern was an experiment, E.J. commented that he can feel the bumps from the purl side of the fabric on the soles of his feet, I think he just has over sensitive feet. But anyway, I decided to try switching my stitches so the knit side was "under foot" and guess what? He's right, there really is a difference. My feet aren't so sensitive so the purl bumps are fine for me, but I guess this will be the new method to use for his socks. Too bad I really dislike purl knitting. Maybe I'll just make his socks inside out next time and see how that works :) Anyway, one UnFinished Object down, a gazillion more to go.
