Never Say Die

I know I showed you the scarf a few days back and said the hat was coming. And then it seems I dropped off the blogging face of the earth after telling you about the Sit & Knit. But I haven't forgotten about the hat - here it is. Nor have I forgotten about the blog.

The truth is, I've been playing on Helium, a site for writers. I've been having a lot of fun writing articles and participating in contests. Well, one contest, and it appears that right now, I am in fourth place. If you land in the first three places, you get a cash prize. Not a great deal of money, but certainly enough for a yarn shopping spree - which I would not take because I had a ton of yarn - I'm just saying this as a way to compare. Of course, I could just say first prize is $60, second is $40 and third is $30 and not mention the yarn at all. Maybe next time.
In any case, the hat has been waiting to be photographed and placed in the shop.

This hat is so darn cute! It goes down over Calvin's head (yes, he's wearing a girl's hat. He's quite comfortable in his maleness) it's sized for a small head which means it would probably be at the ears of a human.
What I like about the hat is the star in the back. I didn't even know it was forming until I was done with the whole thing. It's one of those nice knitting surprises that happens every once in a while.

I should also go ahead and confess I've signed up for Facebook. I haven't made the pages live yet because I haven't completed the setup. I am going to have to embrace the technology. Not that I am against it - used to make my living installing hardware and software and troubleshooting PCs and if I didn't embrace technology, who would I be talking to right now? As soon as I've launched, I'll let you know. It is strictly a business decision - though I will probably manage to have some fun - I mean, I have fun with my work - or why do it?

I'm almost finished with a pair of legwarmers and they will go up in a few days - then, frankly, I have no idea what I'm gonna make next. I can't wait to find out!

Same Hat - Different Version

I love this hat. I think it looks vintage but it's only a few days old. Some lucky person can purchase this hat off my etsy site, but I would like to take this time in praise of good, old regular, acrylic yarn. Yes, I know there are those who turn their noses at acrylic yarn like it's a substitute teacher nobody likes or the computer geek who shows up at the football game. But there's plenty to be said for yarn that cost less than $3 a skein and can make not only this hat, but have enough left over to make another one that looks just like it.

Cheap doesn't mean cheap. Just like expensive doesn't mean better. You can drive a Toyota and you can drive a BMW. You may think you're better or you think other people think you're better because of the car you drive, but trust me, if they both get slapped by a train, people will feel sorrier for the Toyota owner.

Some acrylics have beautiful drape, glorious colors and delicious feel. I used to be in love with Caron by the Pound until I visited Hobby Lobby and touched, I Love This Yarn and I do love that yarn and if my house wasn't already filled with other yarn, I could just hang a Hobby Lobby light outside my house because you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

I know where my LYS is and I've even been inside. I've purchased needles and books from there and I've touched yarn. Haven't bought any yarn there, though. I'm not a reversed snob. I don't turn my nose at them - I just don't open my wallet for them. I have considered it and if the economy turns around, I will probably purchase some of it - not for me, but to make garments or items that I can charge more for and expect someone to buy. I'm not a snob - I'm....thrifty, Yes, that's it. I'm thrifty.

So let's hear it for the fake stuff...or as some clever ad person thought up:
the authentic replica. It is the cornerstone of yarn-dom and I shall forever be true!

Patience is a Virtue

I want you all to take a look at kat's site.(http://katnap.wordpress.com) It is simply one of the most gorgeous sites I've ever seen. go over and take a look at it - and read it while you're at it cuz the writing's pretty good, too.

Some things come quickly - some things take time. It is the yin and yang that keeps us in balance.
I started working on the 'cable box afghan' more than two weeks ago and it has tried my patience. It is not finished yet. I pinned the latest strip to the other three and figured I would need another three strips - two with one cable and the last one with two - and then the afghan would be done. (Of course, this is another design of mine which is probably one reason it's taking so long. Another thing I didn't consider was how much time doing a cable adds to the process. I've never made this many cables in one item before and they do take time because you have to use the third needles and have to do the twisting, etc. The result is stunning and I'm going to love it when its done but I didn't plan this afghan would take this long to make.
To help ease the pains of a project taking longer than I expected, I decided to start another project - it would be a hat. This hat. Seriously, how cute is this?
This actually took only a day to do so it wasn't much of a distraction, but it did serve its purpose in allowing me to do some more designing. This cloche like hat would be great in holding braids, dreads or extensions.
It's a little funky and a lot of cute.
I am back to working on the afghan and I expect it will take a few more weeks before it's done. Not only do the strips have to be done but then they have to be sewn together and a border put around the whole thing. But I understand now how the time put into it will make the whole experience that much better - especially when I'm done.

Mad Hatting - Part 2

So, I've already done the first hat and I have another one on the needles when I told the HB what I was up to. "I'm not really into hats."

Like that matters.

He said he'd rather have a scarf. I gave him a scarf a few weeks ago and now he has put a cramp in my knitting mojo. Should I make a combination of hats and scarves? Could it be that others of the male persuasion will not be into hats? Could it be some females might not want a hat because it doesn't match the coat, dress, hair style?

Who really cares? It's a a gift, dangit. It's the start of a tradition. A hat is something you don't have to wear to the office or the movies. You can pull that sucker out on a day like today where the weather is cold and your car needs to be cleaned off. A nice warm hat can come in handy for something like that. It can come in handy when you need to go to the store and you don't want to comb out that mob that some folks call hair and it will hide it nicely.

It's the thing one gets and compares it with the ones the others got and then you start to trade for the color you want all the while knowing it's going to wind up in the bottom of a dresser drawer until that cold snap hits and then you don't care if someone see you in an orange and green hat with a big, old pom-pom on it cuz you will be warm! And maybe Aunt Bev wasn't all that crazy when she made you all hats.

That's what the giving spirit is all about.

No, the mojo is getting a little of his own back. He will not be second-guessed. The hat making will continue and we might not get them all done by Christmas and no one will get anything, but it will be a good start to the hat project or maybe I will open a store on Etsy.

But the madness goes on.

Mad Hatting

I took a peek at the calendar. Christmas is next week. It is next Thursday. We celebrate with HB's familia on Christmas Eve. I go to my own church and join them at about 9:30pm. They've already eaten and they are waiting for me to come. I will arrive and I will eat a quick dinner and then Santa will arrive and we will pass out presents.

My mother-in-law was a knitter and crocheter and she made booties. At the Thanksgiving dinner at my B-I-L's house, he said I should pick up the tradition of making booties for everyone.

That is so not going to happen. I don't knit booties or socks. Haven't tried them. Have no urge to try them. Never been tempted to review a pattern. I don't even think long enough about making them to reject the idea of making them.

However, one week out of the family get together, I have the urge to make hats for everyone...and get this; I'm thinking of color-coding:
Purple for Joe & me (2)
Green for his sister and her family (8 - doesn't include the grandchildren)
Blue for his brother and his family (9 - doesn't include the grandchildren)
Yes, I am thinking I will actually begin to knit 20 hats and have them done by next week.

I am thinking a quick pattern with a simple stitch. I am actually thinking of reviewing hat patterns and getting started this evening and working on nothing else until they are all done so I can wrap them and the HB can take them to the gathering.

I'm not currently on medication, but I'm thinking I should start taking...something.
Mad-Hatting...it's a new disease and I fear I may have it. Go ask Alice.
Talk me out of this!

Project Updates

So, you see the weird hat. I tried this thing on and I thought my head was going to topple over. The knot makes it so heavy; but I swear, it looks just like the photo in the patten. I may have to take the knot out and do a weave through or something. I can't sell or give it away - it could hurt someone!
The scarf is folded-4 times. I had someone 5'7 drape this over their shoulders and it still reached the ground. They could fold it over their neck several times which made it very warm. It's the Sunset Strip scarf. Someone wanted to know if it was a pastor's stole and I had to laugh because I had the idea the StitchCraft group should make one and give to the three pastors in our church. I still may look up some stoles on line for inspiration and do one in stockinette stitch then duplicate stitch the symbols in. Of course, I will let you know if that should come about.

Does she really have 5 projects going? Yes, she does. Don't know what she was thinking, but there you are. And for all the projects I have going and all the yarn it takes. My house still looks like Yarn Warehouse, LTD. It breeds in the dark when I'm not looking. And it will never end.

Purple Quick Knit

Isn't it cute? It looks blue in the photo, but that's just because of the flash. It's my favorite color-purple. The one on the right is without the flash. (I just stick things on Marilyn's head and take pictures. She's so used to it, she just kept on knitting away. I'm not sure if I stuck a pom-pom on the top, though I think one would look really cute.

This was going to be my entry hat for Ravelympics, but decided I needed to design my own - pray for me friends, I still have four strips to complete in five days to earn my afghan marathon medal. It's going to be a photo finish!

This is almost the same as the other quick knit hat except I used a different stitch. It's a knock off from Quick Knit - Cool Accessories. It's probably Caron By the Pound because I don't have any other yarn in purple. Well, I think I have some Hobby Lobby yarn in purple, but I haven't knit with it yet.
Check out the archive for the info on the hat!

Olympic Hat & Scarf

Here they are! My Olympic Hat & Scarf.

These were items entered into the Ravelympics! I have Cai, the afghan left to complete.
So, these were made mostly with Caron by the Pound, but the ring colors were made with yarn that was donated by someone. And I still dig the Pom-Pom on the hat. (Thanks to my hubby for being willing to model the hat!)

The scarf is mostly stockinette and it's folded and pinned to take out the curl. It's over about five feet long (I think). These will be available at the November Bazaar (sold separately).

Quick Knit Scarf

Well, I'm just a knitting fool since the Ravelympics started. I still have the olympic scarf and the cai afghan to go, but this was almost done so i thought it would be best to go ahead and finish it up.

This scarf goes with the hat (that's Marilyn modeling it). They're both made with Red Heart yarn on size 9 needles. The hat was modified from a pattern found in Quick Knit - Cool Accessories and the scarf was made up from a stitch I found in a stitch dictionary and thought it would make a great scarf. and so it does.

this cute little set will be sold at the November Bazaar - come on by and buy it!

Olympic Hat

So, here's my Olympic Hat! That's the hubby being the model. My favorite part is the Pom-Pom made with my pom-pom maker! It was a challenge because my original thought was to make a cap when I decided to make it into stocking cap. My first hat design!