More Hats

Well, I gave up on trying to get the tri-color hat done for Soma in time for her to wear it this winter. I've knit up several inches, then didn't like the feel, or the look, or whatever, and so ripped it and started again and again and again. So, to make her something she could wear sooner rather than later, I raided the stash of cream Micro Chic (Gedifra) I was hoarding for myself, and made her a hat.

Anyway, here's the hat I made for Soma in the yummy Micro Chic:

The folded brim is actually knit as a strip. I used a provisional cast-on, then worked the 8-row ribbing pattern for 23 inches, and then grafted the two ends together. The stitches for the rest of the hat were picked up around one edge of the ribbed circle, and then worked in the round to the crown, which I also finished by grafting (Kitchener stitch) instead of the usual cut-the-yarn and-pull-it-through-the-remaining-stitches. It gave the top a nice flat finish, rather than the little poochier thing the other method leaves. (The scarf I made her is also in Micro Chic - see the Wrapped and Gone entry for a photo of Mikey modeling it.)

I rather like the hat and think I'll make one for myself, which is pretty silly since I'm not a hat person. So, well, maybe someone else will get it. Or I'll donate it. Anyway, I started the brim strip in Tahki's New Tweed that I just happen to have three skeins of (gawd I love yarn sales!):



And here's the three-color slip-stitch hat that is in progress. The yarns are KnitPick's Wool of the Andes, in Winter Night (blue), Cloud (pumpkin), and Daffodil (I don't need to spell this one out, do I?)



It will, I fear, be in progress for a while, because it seems to aggravate my carpal tunnel and shoulder stuff, since there is a lot of repetitive movements round and round and round (the hat being worked in the round on a #8 circular needle). Fortunately, it is fun to do, and it will go faster once I get to the point, about 4 more inches from now, when I can start the crown decreases.

And now, I think I'll get back to knitting instead of yakking.

I am not disturbed

I have a disconcerting (to others) way of bringing conversation in a restaurant to a complete halt just by chatting to another herper about the most humane ways of euthanizing prey.

Or revelling in the latest cool visual, like on CSI this week, when the tech, when trying to aspirate the vitreous humor from the eye to determine the approximate TOD (that would be time of death), and the whole dessicated eyeball and tangle of optic nerves came out looking like a cute little baby octopus.

Or figuring out ways to kill people, because I figure that talking about possibilities and writing about them are a heckuva lot better than actually going out and putting my ideas into practice (though I am at times sorely tempted).

Some of you knitters and FOK (friends of knitters) out there may have already come across the knitted uterus, complete with frilly fallopian tubes, a wonderful gift for that nice gynecologist in your life. There are also knitted breasts (supposedly used for educational purposes, teaching people the correct way to breastfeed their infants) and other anatomically mostly correct parts.

Nice, nice. Yawn, yawn.

But then I came across some knitted objets that truly tickled my warp gene: Beautiful Art Made With Knitting. I'd say that no cute fluffy bunnies were killed in the making of this production, but, well...


Not a lizard, and nothing knitted, just Tobago making short shrift of her favorite prey...

Wrapped and Gone

Phew! Never have two scarves taken so long! Well, two scarves that I worked on without taking breaks to work on other things.

I reworked the slip-stitch scarf for Wyatt's dad, the blue and yellow striped scarf. That came out well. And long. I then set to work on a three-color slip-stitch scarf for my niece. She mentioned that she really like the colors on the cover of a book I sent her, The Jew in the Lotus. Unfortunately, the photos available online, and scanned in from my own copy, don't do justice to the subtle shades of the actual book. And finding yarns in those colors that wouldn't just wash out was difficult. So, I chose deeper hues of the three main colors, a deep blue, pumpkin and sort of yellowy daffodil.

And worked up one 3-color mosaic scarf pattern that was nice enough on the front side, but not very attractive on the back. Since this was going to be a scarf, I wanted it nicer on the back. So I frogged the second or third attempt with with pattern, despite having found the needle size that created the fabric feel I wanted.

Scraping that pattern, I pulled out another 3-color mosaic pattern and began working that on various sized needles. The size that made a nice scarf-feel didn't look as good as the stitch pattern worked with smaller needles that resulted in a not nice scarf fabric. So, I said t'heck with it, I'll make a hat instead--later--and ordered some soft off-white Micro Chic (by Gedifra) to make a scarf for her.

Finally! All done! I get the scarves and Wyatt's hat packed up in the Priority Mail box, seal the box up, and then see the card I was going to enclose, sitting there on my desk. Fortunately, I hadn't printed out the Click 'n Ship (I love you, USPS!), so I sliced open the box, put the card in, and sealed it back up again.

After the label was printed and pasted on the box, covering the top-of-the-box seal, I realized that I hadn't taken photos of the scarves. ::sigh:: So, I flipped the box over, razored open the bottom seal, dug out the scarves (which were packed on the top of the box, of course), photographed them, and sealed them back up.

Thank goodness they like the scarves, and Wyatt has informed his mom that she is not permitted to wear his hat!

Here's a close-up of Soma's scarf, in the faggoted herringbone pattern I love so much.














Here's Mike wearing her scarf. Hmmm...it looks like a sort of furry tallit (Jewish prayer shawl) on him.














Here's Tim's scarf, which I really like, and may have to knit one for myself.













Here's a close-up of my purple scarf, knit using a strand of Katia's Diana together with a strand of Crystal Palace's Little Flowers. The actual color is darker, deeper.

















Dunno why I'm having such trouble photographing things today - they either come out too light or blurred because my whole body seems to be vibrating. Well, who cares. At least I'm vibrating with a gorgeous scarf that goes superbly with some of my purple tops. What else matters?!