Juicy

Literally!  Today I started a three day juice cleanse, and I'm alternating between acceptance and freak-out.  The freak-outs are a result of my fear of failure. I'm not concerned that I'll wake up one day surrounded by a half-eaten cheese pizza, but that I'll cave and have a salad. I've ever been a great one for self control, so the thought of not chewing solely because I've decided not to chew scares me.

So this is what I'll be having for the next three days:

I'm doing the Blue Print Cleanse three day Renovation Cleanse, which is great for a newbie juicer like me.  The renovation is their entry level cleanse, which I think means it had heartier juices/more calories than the other cleanses.  It's only a little past one on day one, but I'm liking the juices (conveniently labeled in 1-6, the order in which they are to be consumed) so far.  Right now I'm sipping on a pineapple, apple, mint concoction and it's delicious.

In other, less literal juicy news, I recently finished another hat.

Details:

Pattern: Rikke, by Sarah Young

Yarn: Madeline Tosh DK

Needles: 3.5mm, 4.5mm

Start: March 24

Finish: March 26

I love this pattern, so so much.  It's so simple in it's appearance, design and construction, that it's genius.  All garter stitch and a subtle change in texture brought about by a simple change in needle size.  This is actually the second Rikke hat I've made; the first was for me and I wear it all the time.  It's black and I haven't managed to take a decent picture of it, so no blogging, but this pretty green (Jade is the colorway) shows the stitch detail and texture nicely.

I selected this yarn as part of a thank you gift I received for knitting something for a friend.  The way that it's dyed, the yarn seems almost to glow from the inside, all space-agey and stuff.  It's the first Madeline Tosh (side note: is she related to Peter Tosh, by chance? Because that would be cool) that I've ever worked with and now I get what all the fuss is about. It's incredibly buoyant and springy, making it a great pairing with patters in which stitch definition is a plus.  I was at Purl last week and had to stop myself from pulling one of her glowing tans off the shelf and shoving it into my basket, such was my enthusiasm for this yarn.  But I kept myself to the one skein of Spud & Chloe Sweater that I needed to finish another work in progress.

Last Friday I went to what turned out to be a lame party with some close friends (we enjoyed each other's company, anyway, almost as much as the Nilla Wafer banana pudding dessert that was on offer), and as we were leaving, I pulled this hat out of my bag and started working on it as we walked to the train.  I asked Him if he thought he might have use for the hat, when She jumped in and said she liked it, too.  Fortunatly, they're married, so Megan & David, this hat's for you!

Finally, a third, slightly more salacious and definitely funkier kind of juicy.  I leave you with the 1983 R&B hit "Juicy Fruit" by Mtume.  Sexy lyrics, yes, but it's still Sunday morning cleaning the house music to me.

A hat for Sarah

When I drew Sarah's name in the my knitting group's gift exchange this year, I was pretty excited because she's someone whose taste I think I know pretty well.  I thought making a gift for her would be easy.  Pride cometh before a fall . . .

A couple of years ago, Sarah turrned me on to a method for extending the utility of my fingerless mitts well into winter: layering them over cheap, knit gloves.  She loved it, I loved it.  But as a member of the Cult of the iPhone, her layered approach to hand wear has been causing her problems vis a vis phone use.  After hearing her comment that she thought she needed a pair of proper mittens, I started scouring Ravelry for mitten patterns.  I eventually decided to crochet a pair, using some Sanguine Gryphon Eidos fingering weight yarn that I bought at Rhinebeck last fall.  Crocheting a fabric sufficiently dense so as to be suitable for mittens was slow work, but fun.

When I finished the first mitten, it was snug on me, but my hands are extraordinarily large, so I thought it would be a good fit for Sarah.  With almost two weeks to go until the gift exchange, I felt very comfortable that I'd finish well ahead of our deadline.  At our next get-together, Sarah announces that she's just made herself a pair of mittens, and in doing so, has realized that she really just doesn't like mittens.

Well, shit.

Because I've known Sarah for about three years, I was able to shift gears without too much angst.  She likes hats, specifically slouchy ones.  Even better, she has a tendency to lose them, so could always benefit from having a spare or two.  I settled on a pattern I'd made twice before because I thought it would suit her style and set to work.

Pattern: Wurm, by Katushika

Yarn: Noro Taiyo & Jade Sapphire Mongolian Cashmere 6-ply

Needles: US7 & 8/4.5mm & 5.0mm

Started: January 30

Finished: February 4

I love this yarn so much.  I picked up the skein and as soon as I saw it in the store and carried it around with me like a greedy little hoarder until I decided to buy it.  The colors are so lovely and  I thought the variegation would lend themselves to the welted hat.  The silk content reduced the stretch off the yarn, which resulted in welting that is less pronounced that in the other Wurms I've made.  This bothered me at first, but I think that was more a matter of result versus expectations.  After I sat with the hat for a bit, I decided I was happy with this variation. 

This pattern has you work an extra long brim and then fold it in half, picking up stitched from the cast on edge and then continuing to knit up the hat.  I decided it would be nice to work the inner part of the brim using some super soft cashmere.  Mmmm soft.

Sarah's head is about my size, so I knew that if it fit me, it would fit her.

Bingo!  It's even a tad big, but I think it's OK.  Anyway, it's cute and cozy and Sarah likes it.  When I was running on Saturday morning I ran in to her heading off to run errands and lo!  She was wearing the hat.  Color me happy.

Portlandia

My hometown's all over the news these days.  There's the IFC TV show, Portlandia (if you don't have cable, you can catch some clips on youtube; it's hilarious), a new NBC sitcom that's set there, called Perfect Couples (which has become a guilty pleasure; check it out on cable on demand) and then last week, NPR aired a story the gist of which was this: Portland's unemployment rate is usually 1% higher than the national average and salaries are 20% lower than in Seattle, but (young) people keep moving there anyway because it's so awesome.  And there are biracial guys who work at food carts and play in metal bands.  Again: it's awesome.

I was home for a week earlier this month for a sad occasion, so I was kind of off and blue much of the time, but I did find it warming to be back in Portland again.  The city has changed a lot since I moved away in 1989 (!!), but some things have remained comfortingly the same, like Oaks Park, the amusement park and roller rink where I used to skate to Van Halen, Billy Squire, AC/DC and Ratt.  The park itself was rather rinky dink, as evidenced by the photo, but the skating was always good.

One afternoon in need of a diversion I drove my rented Toyota Yaris over to Burnisde Street in search of a shop owner who is a friend of a friend, just to say hi.  While looking for the FoaF, something in a window of a store called Haunt caught my eye:

Hand knits!  Like I said, I had some time to kill, so I went in and poked my nose around a bit.  The woman working was talking to a friend/customer and since the boutique is small, I couldn't help but overhear their conversation.  The customer was asking about a book that the shop owner had written, if she was going to do another, yadda yadda, and it clicked!  The shop owner was Laura Irwin, the author of Boutique Knits.  After the customer left, I overcame my aversion to intruding on one's privacy and asked her if she was, in fact, Laura Irwin.  She was quite surprised and so friendly.  She said something  to the effect that not many people know of her book, to which I replied "EVERYONE, I know who knits knows it," then admitted that this is probably a small percentage of the general population, however.  Then we chatted about crafting and the smallness of the knitting world. 

I maxed out on dorkiness when I asked if I could take a picture of her (since I'd missed out on my chance when I saw Ysolda Teague walking across the Brooklyn Bridge a few summers ago).  She graciously agreed.  

Cute, right?  The dress Laura's wearing is in keeping with the vibe of the store: modern, feminine with a touch of industrialism.  Because I was focusing on knits, I didn't take pics of the pretty tops, earrings, capelets and shrugs they carry.  Wouldn't have done them justice, anyway, as I'm not a stylist.  But Haunt stocks really lovely items and if you're in the Portland area, I highly recommend stopping in, and if you're not, Laura and her partners also maintain an Etsy shop called Haunt Studio.  Convenient, no?

Another thing that made me happy when I was in Portland was getting the chance to see this dollface:

One of the early members of the Fort Greene/Clinton Hill Knit and Crochet Group, she moved back west a little over two years ago.  She's thriving out there, which is wonderful.  Making and selling a lot of art (on Etsy at her store Little Canoe), being outdoorsey, living the good life, which in Portland, includes eating good food.  In addition to my favorite pie place, Random Order Coffeehouse & Bakery, she turned me on to this spot here:

The Potato Champion is one of Portland's many, many amazing food carts.  This one is located in a "pod" (cluster of food carts) across from the Burgerville on 12th and Hawthorne.  I had a hard time deciding between the Belgian style fries, poutine, chili cheese fries and PB&J fries, but I opted for the exotic sounding poutine.  It's a crazy delicious concoction of French Canadian origin that combines french fries, cheese curds and gravy. Yummy peasant food - right up my alley.  The poutine was hard to believe delicious, and as I sat in one of the pod's picnic tables enjoying my snack, I felt really happy and lucky, and also a little nostalgic for my childhood in hippie, progressive, green, coffee-drinking, beer brewing, laid-back Portland.

Pik-a-Mix

For me, the holiday season is spent alternating between two modes: revelry and crafting lock-down. I enjoy them both, but I must admit that I'll be relieved when January rolls around and I can operate on a less frenetic pace. The revelry is fun and offers a distraction from the cares and burdens of normal life, but the crafting provides me time to think, plan, mull and relax.  I relaxed so much this year that I couldn't seem to get off one project type: hats.  It's almost become an addiction, but one that's that's healthier than wine or bourbon or easy men.

Some of these hats were were made with particular loved ones in mind, but others came about only because I wanted to experiment with specific yarns or techniques.

Pattern: My Own

Yarn: Frog Tree Alpaca Chunky

Needles: 5.0mm/6.5mm

Started: December 23

Finished: December 24

What I've learned about alpaca is that it makes terrible pullovers (because it's super warm and gets itchy) and its really drapey, both qualities that I thought would make it suitable for a slouchy winter hat.  I really liked Kim Hargreaves Kat hat, but I wasn't in the mood to spend $26 on a pattern book, so I improvised this hat with the help of a stitch dictionary.  I used somewhere in the neighborhood of 120-130 yards of the Frog Tree Alpaca.  Love it!  Loved it so much that as soon as i finished, I whipped up another.

Pattern: My Own

Yarn: Rowan Rowanflek DK Tweed (held doubled)

Needles: 5.5mm/9.0mm

Started: December 24

Finished: December 25

While I'm happy with this project overall, I'm not great fan of the yarn.  It's a wool cotton blend, but it's oddly stiff and unyielding.  I had to use large needles to prevent knitting a super stiff, icky fabric that would result in more of a helmet than a hat.  It's hard to tell from the picture, but the yarn is tweedily flecked.  I wanted to make a black because so many of us have black winter coats and colorful scarves, it's sometimes helpful to have one accessory that can fade in to the background a bit.

Both the yarn and pattern for this next project were selected specifically for it's recipient.  David married one of my besties, Lauren, last summer.  He's a fun and handsome man who hails from Portsmouth, England who, more than almost anyone else I know, is always super psyched  to get a handmade gift from me, be it a cake, mix CD or knitwear. Since the UK is known for being damp and chilly, a hat was in order, and given this location, tweed seemed quite appropriate as well.  Cables don't seem like his style, so I decided to go with a simple ribbed hat. 

Pattern: Marsan Watchcap, by Staceyjoy Elkin

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Donegal Luxury Tweed Aran

Needles: 4.5mm

Started: December 12

Finished: December 15

I modified the pattern so that I worked in a k1tbl, p1 rib, which results in awesome stitch def.  What makes this so neat, to me, is that when you've completed the brim, slip, turn, flip inside out move that results in your knitting in the opposite direction. This means that when the brim is flipped up, the visible rib is the same, not the reverse, of the rib on the body of the hat. Genius!

This next project started as something else entirely, and was, in fact, a completed project.  The first iteration was a slouchy beret that had no slouch. It was awkward, at best, so I ripped it out and started on a pattern I've been wanting to make for a a few weeks now.



Pattern:

Last Minute Slouch by Madelinetosh

Yarn: Manos del Uruguay Silky Blend (held doubled)

Needles: 5.5mm, 6.0mm

Started: December 25

Finished: December 26

Not so slouchy, but I have a big head.  None of the photos that I took capture the depth and shine of this yarn.  If you've seen it, you know what I mean.  This hat is the polar opposite of the slouchy black beret, and by that I mean it demands a neutral scarf and black coat. Bright and shiny, this one would be good to wear to a parade (easy to spot).

 Pattern: Scarab, by Jane Richmond

Yarn: Jade Sapphire Mongolian Cashmere 6-ply

Needles: I'm guessing 4.5 & 5.5

Started: December 8

Finished: December 11

I'm petering out here, so these last two will be brief.  This yarn is amazing.  I want pillows made out of it.  I want a hat out of it.  I want a bra made out of it.  This pattern utilizes a folded brim (attached to the body via  picked up stitches) for extra warmth around the ears, and extra luxe in general.  Faux cabling every 4th row meant an easy and satisfying knit.  The yarn was a bit of a splash out, but the recipient, Megan, has been a friend since 1985, so she's earned it.

This last one was the first of the holiday batch that i made.  Easy pattern that results in a well textured hat with a pattern that's noticeable yet subtle.  I really like the soft  effect of cabling without the use of purl stitches.

Pattern: Isotope Cable Hat by Tonya Wagner

Yarn: Rowan Lima

Needles:  didn't make note, but I'm guessing 5.0mm

Started: November 13

Finished: November 15

This really isn't a Christmas gift. I was a bit lax with one of my birthday presents last year, so this will be going to Lauren, wife of David of the green tweed hat as part of a belated anniversary of your birth gift. Lauren's lovely with long dark hair, and I'm thinking she'll look a little like Ali Macgraw back in the 70's.

Cute, right?  Steve McQueen knew how to pick 'em.

I'm beat now.  Need a wee drink and then to bed.  Happy New Year!

Orchids and Bunnies and Fairy Lights

This hat.  Oh, this hat.  I've been wanting to make this hat for more than a year now. Sometimes I worry things to death while other times I make super snap decisions.  One would think that picking up a pair of needles and starting on something as low commitment as a hat would be no big deal, but for some reason, I was hesitant to knit this one, even though I really, really wanted it.

A couple of weeks ago when I was at Rhinebeck, I saw a skein of yarn at a booth that I really, really wanted, kind of how I really, really wanted to make this hat, and it just kind of came to me that they might be a perfect match.  So I bought the yarn and now I have the hat.

Details:

Pattern: Orchids and Fairy Lights, by Tiny Owl Knits

Yarn: Jamie Harmon Merino/Angora 2-ply

Needles: 4.0mm & 5.0mm

Started: November 10

Finished: November 13

Tiny Owl Knits is the same person who deigned the Some Cloudy Day legwarmers that I made earlier this fall.  She's got a whole foresty, magical fairy vibe going on, and while I'm not really able to pull that off myself, I find myself drawn to many of her designs nonetheless.  For example, one of the things I love about this hat is it's softness, like the way the bobbles are set at the tips of the cables like buds at the tips of branches, and even how the cables aren't typical cables in that they never cross, so they're never cut off.  They just look to be stretching and growing like saplings.  So cute!  But not twee.  At least I don't think so.



Photos courtesy of Oiyi and Penny.


I'm not exactly sure how much of this yarn I had because it wasn't labeled, but as I worked, I realized I wouldn't have enough yarn to complete the hat as written, so I eliminated one pattern repeat from the length.  Still, it fits, so that's good.  For such a soft yarn, the Jamie Harmon produced great stitch definition; I'm quite pleased with how the bobbles pop.  It's super annoying to go through the work of making bobbles only to have then turn out flaccid receding.  Blech.

So, I am happy with my little luxury purchase and with the pattern it paired with.  This cozy little thing fills a "neutral headwear" void in my wardrobe.  Now, if the weather would cooperate and stay below 6o, I could bust her out.

Look around, Leaves are brown

And the sky is a hazy shade of winter. 

Only its 75 degrees outside.  And raining.  What's the deal, nature?  I'm not one of those wussies who complains about the weather, because really, what's more boring?  Aside from listening to someone talk about his workout; that's infinitely more boring than the weather.    No, my issue is a more practical one:  I don't know what to wear. My trusty waterproof jacket and wellies are great at keeping moisture out, and in, as in when I stand on the still hot from the summer subway platform in all that rubber and Tyvek and Gore-Tex(TM) my body temp rises until I'm sweating like a pig at a BBQ.  Waterproof doesn't breathe!  It's too sweaty for sweaters, yet folks still rocking their light and bright summer gear look foolish, as the days have grown short and the light is now more flattering on greys, browns and russets than bright pinks, yellows and greens.  It's put me in a quandary Jack Donaghy! A quandary!

One thing I've not done is slow up on my knitting.  It's still prohibitively warm for me, or anyone else, to wear the things that I've made, but I've kept at it.  My tenacity has had more to do with my wanting to work through some of my stash as anything else.  As of late, it has become more burdensome than inspiring, and so I am lightening my load.  In addition to these various projects, I also took three shopping bags of yarn to the Goodwill and, man, was there a spring in my step when I'd finished that errand.

So what have I made?

Details:

Pattern: Ottilia Mittens, by Mari Muinonen

Yarn: Lion Brand Fisherman Wool

Needles: 4.0mm

Started: August 21

Finished:  August 27

I've been a fan of Mari Muinonen's patterns for a couple of years now but this is only the second one I've ever knit.  The mittens were fun and interesting, completed while I was dogsitting at a home with cable television, so there was a lot of The First 48 going on in the background.  The yarn (I used maybe 1/4 of a skein) is more from our spring time yarn swap.  I've really been feeling the brown lately, and cables, too.  Actually, what I've been feeling texture, in general, to wit:

Details:

Pattern: Martha Cowl Scarf, by Che (Little Thingies Ravelry Shop)

Yarn: Unknown cotton or cotton/wool blend

Hook: 5.5mm

Started: September 23

Finished: September 24

This was, I believe, my third attempt at making a chunky cowl, and the first one that was successful.  In order to be functional, a cowl needs to keep you warm, but most of cowls knit or crocheted with heavier yarns, and some worked at finer gauges, sit away from the neck leaving it exposed.  This is nonsense! If it's cold enough for me to wear something thick and heavy around my neck, then my neck needs protection.  it's not rocket science.  And yet I continue to see a proliferation of patterns that offer no protection from the elements whatsoever.  It's ridonkulous.

Well, that's certainly not a problem here. 

Crocheted with heavier yarn, the simple and airy stitch pattern prevents this cowl from being too stiff to scrunch , so I can double wrap it 'round my neck and keep cozy and warm.  Yes, please!

This next project was something that had been sitting in my queue for over year, but I never had quite the right yarn for it.  Until I frogged a 3/4 finished and poorly conceived sweater this past summer and found myself with just the right shade of alpaca.

Details:

Pattern: Some Cloudy Day, by Tiny Owl Knits

Yarn: Sajima Alpaca

Needles: 3.25mm/3.5mm

Started: August 25

Finished: September 4

I had originally planned on making these for me, but about 1/2 way through the first legwarmer, I decided they were for Beth.  I'd sent hats to her husband and twins in Sweden last summer, but nothing for her (she's had my handknits before, so it's not as bad as it sounds), and so it seemed clear that she was next in line for a present.  Also, like me, she wears skirts all winter long (clogs, too!) so I knew she would appreciate the extra layer of warmth.  

These are pretty great, and by that I mean the pattern is pretty great.  Like Mari Muinonen, Tiny Owl Knits has designed several patterns that I really like, but this was the first one I'd made.  The lace pattern is easy, but effective and I enjoyed these so much that I promptly turned around and bought one of her hat patterns.  Let's see if I can get that finished before New Year's.

Mad hatting

Ja, it's more hats.  I'm queueing them faster than I can cast on and there's no end in sight.  I started another this morning after finishing one late last night.  It's kind of like that summer I went on an accidental Twizzler diet: for 2 1/2 days I craved twizzlers like nobody's business.  At breakfast with coffee, during the day while sitting at the information desk directing people's calls, and in the evenings with beer.  Nothing else appealed to me.  Then, in the middle of day 3 I hit a serious wall, had a serious stomach ache and the shakes.  The next day, I returned to my normal dietary habits and I was none the worse for wear.  Sometimes you just have to let yourself scratch that itch (unless the itch is to freebase or drunk dial something else absurd, in which someone close needs to slap you and tell you to get it together).

So, here we have the second in my Prince themed hats: When Doves Cry.

Details:

Pattern: Rose Red, by Ysolda Teague

Yarn: Shadyside Farm Studio Angora with Lambswool

Needles: 3.75mm, 4.0mm

Started: July 22

Finished: July 23

The second time around with this hat, I decided to make the size small.  It turned out small, alright.  Tomo (my gracious model) is petite with a small head and it's snug at the brim on her.  This throws a bit of wrench into my intended gifting plans, but I remain optimistic.  If nothing else, I know an adorable three year old who's sure to grow in to it eventually. 

The yarn is some that I received during my knitting group's great yarn swap last spring.  It is so soft and so fuzzy and so incredibly awesome, like the plumes of little, tiny weeping doves (there's your thematic tie in, ladies and germs).

On the same day that I finished the beret, I started on a pair of hats for my friends Felix and Rasmus.  To call  them friends might be a stretch, as they are only 9 months old, but I am awfully fond of them.  Felix and Rasmus (or FeRas, as their mum calls them) aren't identical twins, but they look enough alike that I have a hard time telling them apart.  Consequently, I have been known to refer to them as "This one" and "that one."  It would be pretty great if it turned out I were always calling the same twin "this one" and the other twin "that one", so that when I'm old and dotty and they called me on the phone I could ask "who is it," and when the man on the other end answered "This one," I would know who he was.

As that day is approx. 40 years in the future, for now our relationship is limited to me making them things and them smiling at me, which is more than payment enough.

Details:

Pattern: Elvish, by Melanie Hoffman

Yarn: Nashua Handknits Creative Focus Worsted

Needles: 4.0mm & 4.5mm

Started: July 23

Finished: July 26

This pattern is an adaptation (for worsted weight yarn) of the Sweet Baby Norwegian Cap that is so popular (and deservedly so).  In a departure from my usual m.o., I knit these using DPNs rather than the Magic Loop method and I had fun with those pointy little sticks!  The yarn is pretty woolly which I thought was appropriate for children who are half Swedish.  One of the things I like about Scandinavian knitting, both traditional and contemporary, is that it doesn't shy away from woolly, textured wools.  Shit gets cold up there, and some bamboo cotton blend is more appropriate for L.A. than Malmo!  I popped these in the mail today, which may not have been the smartest move since it's still too warm in Sweden for wool hats and the family will be back in New York before the weather turns seriously cold, but I really, really wanted to surprise  their parents.

Speaking of parents, I also knit a hat for This One and That One's father, or Far, as they say in his homeland.

Details:

Pattern: 70s Ski Hat, by Whitney Van Nes for The Purl Bee

Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash, Patons Classic Wool Merino, Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool

Needles: 4.5mm

Started: July 27

Finished: July 28

I'd made this hat twice before, the year after I started knitting, but didn't remember much about the construction, so the project was fun and felt new.  It's got a neat cashmere band on the inside (yes, I actually used cashmere this time) that you work beginning with a provisional cast on.  Then, when it's time to join the main color for the hat, you knit one row with the new yarn, purl one row with the new yarn, and then knit all remaining rows.  This creates a neat little ridge in the fabric that makes it easy to fold the cashmere lining portion under. 

Now, my friend said her husband's head is "gigantic" and I truly hope that it is, because this hat if h-u-g-e.  It's even big on me, and I have a head the Sputnik could orbit. This, too, went off in the mail today, so I guess I'll find out soon enough. 

Speaking of huge heads, I'll leave you with a favorite clip from one of my favorite movies of the early 1990s:

The kind you find in a second hand store

If you recognize that line, you probably know what's coming next.

Yeah, baby: a raspberry beret.

A week ago, this project wasn't on my mind, was no where near the horizon.  Then my friend Emily from my knitting group passed on some information about a yarn store's going-out-of-business sale.  Fresh off a six-month long yarn buying moratorium, I kind of lost my mind.  But 40% off?  COME on!  I felt compelled to start working with some of the newly purchased yarn immediately, and so I did.

Details:

Pattern: Rose Red, by Ysolda Teague

Yarn: Mirasol Yarn Qina

Needles: US6/4.0mm

Started: July 16

Finished: July 17

This yarn was wonderful to work with.  It's an alpaca/bamboo blend, so you can imagine how soft it is.  It was so smooth with a great hand, and I love the slight fuzz.  I also really enjoyed working this pattern.  Like everything I've ever knit by Ysolda, it was clearly written and well edited, with both written and charted instructions.  I love working crochet with diagrams, but for knitting I often prefer written directions.  I find it's easier for me to keep my place, and I cannot for life of me remember all of the chart symbols. 

Another neat thing about Rose Red is that it has directions for making three different sizes!  I've found that most hat patterns are written in one size only, so that if you are like me and have a large head, you have to start fiddling with numbers and patterns.  I can't be bothered when a pattern contains cables and leaf/lace work.  Also, it's annoying to pay for something only to have to rejigger it on my own.  So kudos to yo, Ysolda Teague, and thank you for another great pattern.

My plan is to mail this off to its recepient later this week.  She and her family have decamped to Sweden for the sumemr, where her husband is from and where his family is.  So lucky!  Sweden in summer is beautiful and a little bit magical, if you ask me.

There's something else I've been meaning to share: a hexagon blanket started, and finished long ago.

 

Details:

Pattern: Ruby Hexagon Blanket, by Nova Seals

Yarn: many, many different and unknown worsted & DK weights

Hook: 4.5mm

Started: April 4

Finished: April 15

I was inspired to make this by my friend Jane, who crocheted a beautiful version out of sock yarn.  I had neither the stash or the patience to make this out of sock yarn, but worsteds I had in abundance.  Hexagons appeals to the side of me that likes geometric shapes, an attraction which goes way back.  When I was in 8th grade, I had 2 twin beds in my bedroom, a la Richie Cunningham, and they were covered with matching comforters: white with a pale grey large-scale grid, on top of which were screened geometric shapes in primary colors.  It felt very Samantha Baker.    

But I digress. 

The afghan.  I haven't measured it, but it's long enough for me to cover up while lying on the couch, and I'm 5'7 3/4".  My one impracticality with this project was that not all of the yarn that I used is machine washable. I would never saddle a loved one with burden like this, but forr me it's fine.  I'll either hand wash, dry clean or take my chances on the gentle cycle.  If it gets ruined, I can make another.

She's a dance, dance, dance, dance dancing machine!

I like routine, sometimes a bit too much.

I've been keeping myself pretty busy the past couple of months with knitting and canning. Like I'd said in an earlier post, canning has become an obsession, and it's a time consuming one: recipe research, trips to farmers' markets, schlepping to the hardware store for jars, sterilizing said jars, cooking up the goods and cleaning up the resultant mess. The more I do it, the easier and more routine it becomes; I know what to do and learn what to expect, get my timing down. It's been super fun, but looking back, I see how much of my free time it's taken. I like that; I like being productive. But I think I've also really quieted my social life quite a bit. Which is also OK; I like concentrating and concentration requires other things to take a back seat. But sometimes, enough is enough. The other night I felt like Diana Ross, singing: I'm coming out!



Really, who has more style than her? Too bad about those DUIs a few years back. Back to me:

I got to change things up the other Friday at a super fun party. The older my friends and I get, the fewer parties crop up, but this one made up for the dearth. What's better than a house party with a DJ playing funk and soul music? Stayed out past 4, so my a** was dragging the next day. But it felt good; even waking up this morning looking like road kill felt good. It was a reminder that I'm not just this canning, knitting shut-in.

That being said, I do love to knit.

Pattern: Viking Hat
Needles: US8s/5mm
Yarn: Lion Brand Vanna's Choice Solid
Started: September 12
Finished: September 14

So cute! And fun. Intended for a duo of babies to be, the sexes of which are still unknown. When they reveal themselves, I will add either little braids (for girls) or ear-flaps (for boys) to the hats. The yarn is 100% acrylic, but soft and washable, which I consider to be of paramount importance when knitting for children. I made two hats, each of which knit up in about 4 hours, including making, stuffing and sewing on the horns. The horns are a bit wonky, because I'm not the best seamstress, but I don't think the recipients will mind.

I've also finished Sylvi, save for sewing on the flower petals. Pictures of that next time!

How I know people of color are not making SPF

I've spent a good bit of time in the out-of-doors on our few sunny days this spring, and have twice burned my face and neck inadvertently. So, this morning, before heading out to meet my with my friend Rachel for a bike ride, I decided it would be prudent to slather on some SPF, SPF 60 for babies, to be specific. I applied the recommended amount, and after rubbing and rubbing the junk in, I looked like this:





This is ridiculous! I look like that creepy kid from Powder. I fear skin cancer as much as, or perhaps more than, the next person, and so I want to protect myself. However, I cannot go out in public looking like this. It's not a matter of vanity; it's just common sense. I have to believe that if there were people of color working in the sun-protection industry that they would try to advance a plan to develop high SPF lotion that wouldn't make people like me look like stand-ins for Baby Jane. Right? So, hows about someone get to work on this soon, OK?




Whiteface aside, the bike riding was super fun, despite the fact that we ran into two separate races taking place in the park: one for runners and one for bikers. The hundreds of bikers kind of came upon us in a wolf pack, like the cars on the freeway in that scene from Clueless when Murray tries to teach Dion how to drive. I was pleased with myself for making it out on time this, since I was up until 3:30 this morning finishing my Lace Bolero.

I came home from a friend's party around 11:30 last night and decided there would be no sleep until the thing was finished. Like, completely finished. I sewed the sleeves up and everything.

The pattern is Ribbed Lace Bolero by Kelly Maher, knit up on US6s and US10s, using some Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece (an 80/20 cotton/wool blend) that Amy passed on to me last year. The pattern was fun to kit and easy to memorize, save for the wackadoo transition from the lace portion to the 2x2 ribbing at the end. I may have been too tired to get it, because it had me completely baffled. I eventually gave up and just started in on the ribbing. I don't think anyone will notice, and if they do notice, I don't think they'll care. It's a great little cover-up that I expect to use quite often this summer and fall.

I also managed to turn out another little project for myself this week, the Spring Beret by Natalie Larson.

For this, the less slouchy version of the pattern, I used Knit One, Crochet Two's 2nd Time Around yarn, which is made of recycled cotton and acrylic. The yarn, which is a remnant from a yet to be revealed secret project, has a tendency to curl in around itself, but was otherwise a pleasure to work with. I was happy to experiment with a recycled yarn, and even happier to get it on deep discount at The Point's going out of business sale in April. Recently I've been wearing my hair pulled back and twisted, which is more conducive to hat-wearing than my usual do, so I decided to fill a void in my wardrobe: the I-hate-to-carry-an-umbrella-yet-want-to-keep-my-hair-dry-on-these-drizzly-spring-days hat. I think it will do its job quite nicely.