Now That's More Like It

June knitting is done! I finished the final hat about a week ago, but haven't had a chance to post until now. We have the Maltese Fisherman's hat (left), the Ganomy hat (center) and the Three Cornered hat (right). Each hat took no more than four hours to complete and they all fit an average woman's head. That says success to me!

The three cornered hat was made with a super chunky 100% Alpaca yarn leftover from a vest that I made for my daughter about three years ago. It is really soft and will hold in the heat nicely this winter. I'm not really sure how exactly to wear it but that is a minor detail.

I'm waiting until July to start the big scary shawl project, so here is what I've been doing in the interim:


Socks for NPH! After his tweet about wanting socks for his birthday, a good friend of mine at knitting decided that we should all make socks for him. She somehow wound up with his shipping address and shoe size before the evening was over and I was chosen to make a pair due to my knitting speed. It has been one full week and I have just finished the heel flap for the second sock. Oh, and this is my first completed sock. Ever. In the 12 years that I've been knitting, I have never finished a single sock.

I may be a little proud of this one.

A Bevy of. . . Aliens?!?!

I've had to put the hat knitting on hold to make gifts for a class I am teaching on Tuesday. It won't be long before I am done though and can get back to the book.



Aren't they adorable? Each little alien takes fifteen minutes to make on size seven needles with novelty yarn. When I am done with this batch I will have 30 to give out to the girls in the class. I'm planning on making a few more after I'm done with my hats and experimenting with gauge to get bigger, chubbier aliens.

Back to life and knitting for now. See you soon (and I'll bring some finished hats with me).

AB

Keep Moving Forward

Do you ever just have one of those days? You know, the type of day when everything you try to do to make life better/easier/happier for the people around you seems to backfire? Have you ever wanted to curl up in bed and just stay there forever? Today was that day.

Things about today that sucked:

• Work politics
• Family issues
• Rare meltdown from 4-year-old
  

At work, I was the dumping ground for management's petty little problems with everyone else. At my mom's birthday dinner, I was made to feel like absolute GARBAGE for offering to get part of the tab. Once we (finally) got home for the night, my daughter decided to get in on the fun and completely came apart over a pencil.

I decided to knit at that point. I took on the next of the three hats, Ganomy, which I had been told was the most difficult. I can see how it would be, for a beginner.

Things about today that rocked:

• Started Ganomy hat
• Finished Ganomy hat
  
• Had a tasty beverage

The hat is wonderful. I used some stash yarn that has been laying around for close to ten years that was originally going to be a shawl, the thought of which sends chills down my spine. It is Irish green and gray and the yarn is a 2-ply worsted weight wool. I'm not sure what kind of wool it is. Definitely came from a sheep though. I love the way this pattern came out. The only thing I'm not happy about is the fact that I could not find a ping-pong ball to put in for the bobble. I got over that pretty quickly though when I had that glass of wine.

All in all, I think today turned out pretty well. Granted, I'm still a little miffed about the needless interpersonal issues that came up and I'm in knots about going back to work on Monday, but it's nothing I can't handle. Especially since I'm wielding pointy sticks and have no inhibitions about using them.

It Starts

Almost all knitters know Elizabeth Zimmerman. She is knitting royalty. Read her books and it is easy to see why. She has this easy style about everything. No stress, just knitting.

About a year and a half ago, I bought the Knitter's Almanac with every intention of working through it from January to December. Life happened though and the book was lost on the shelf. Fast forward to finals week, Spring 2010. I'm absolutely falling apart when I notice the familiar green cover peeking out at me. I put away the textbooks for a little while and flipped through the pages. It was like catching up with an old friend. Just reading EZ's stories helped me clear my head and relax. That is when I decided to start my little project. I promised myself that after finals were done and the house was put back together I would work through the book as planned.

So what if I'm starting in June instead of January? They both start with J.

I'm also very happy to report that I have finished my first project! Truth be told, I couldn't put it down once I cast on. Bedtime got pushed back a bit but the results are worth it. I even got to use the rest of my first wheel spun yarn.

Life starts again, so goodbye for now. I'll write again soon.

AB