It’s alive!

I broke the blog last week, while setting up a new MySQL database. I restored the database immediately, but didn’t know that I had to manually recreate its hostname. So. The blog stayed offline until this morning, when I realised (in a moment of panic) that I’d forgotten a step somewhere. Oops.

The Good:

In addition to fixing the blog (ha), I’ve remodelled and relaunched my photoblog under a new name. You can visit Winterlights through SBH’s gateway, or by clicking the direct link in the navigation bar at the top of this page. The gateway for the main site also has a new splash and colours.

I took a look at the preview for Knitscene’s Fall 2008 issue and there are some cute sweaters and accessories. I even see a couple I could knit from stash yarn–bonus!

Speaking of which… I think it’s stashalong time. I’m fine with the size of the stash, but there are lovely things hiding in there that I’m forgetting about. I’m not going to set an end date for the stashalong, but it’ll be sometime after the end of the summer. Also, when I start work again I want to focus on getting loose ends tied up and loans paid off and some cash saved up and all those things that need to be done to put myself in a better financial situation. I want to get a good plan in place and get it started.

The Bad:

I still have two days until my hospital interview. I’m hoping beyond all reason that I get it, because if I don’t… I don’t know what I’m going to do. I found two fantastic job openings elsewhere, one in the city (and hospital, even!) I was born in and one in Nova Scotia, but how am I supposed to start working and earning a decent salary if I can’t afford to move to where the jobs are? I have $5.75 in my wallet and zero in the bank. The idealist in me wishes that things would fall into place like they seemed to when I started college. The realist knows that this is, most often, not the case.

You know… anxiety disorders are odd things. I’ve had cause to wonder, over the past few weeks, whether I’ve really learned to cope so much better than before, or whether all I’d really done is remove myself from the situations that exacerbated the problems.

I guess I still can’t deal with some kinds of conflict. I also still can’t stand to try to reason with people who are 100% unresponsive to it. We all know people like this: they’ve essentially already made up their minds, often irrationally, about… well, nearly everything. If you offer a different viewpoint or disagree, you can all but see the doors slamming shut in their minds; from that point on they’re neither speaking nor listening and you might as well talk to a wall. I need to learn that some people will not change, and will continue to both make excuses and perpetuate the situations they claim to hate. I need to learn some level of detachment so it doesn’t affect me so much.

It’s a difficult thing to do. I thought I’d managed to rid myself of panic attacks, but I haven’t; they’re not as frequent, severe, or debilitating as before, but they exist, and I don’t like it. Still… 10 months ago, I’d been on meds for more than three years and was still not functioning like an average human being. Now, acquaintances (and the general public) don’t realise that I have these issues until I tell them, and I’ve been medication-free for six months. I’ll claim that as a victory, I think.

The Random:

I flipped through a bunch of old archive folders on this laptop last night, to see if I still needed the files, and in the process came across some XML LiveJournal backups. I’ve had that LJ since 2001, and some of the silliness still amuses me. Like this, from 2004:

Somehow, while talking to my mother about movies-from-books last night, I accidentally said “squid” instead of “peach”. The movie is called James and the Giant PEACH, brain. PEACH.

Ha.

FO — Silk Garden Mini Mitts

Pattern: Design 8 from Noro’s Designer Mini Knits
Yarn: Less than one ball of Noro Silk Garden in #211
Needles: 3.75 mm and 4.5 mm bamboo

I needed something to get the mojo going again, so a small (but not dishcloth-shaped) project was in order. I knit the pair in a few hours this afternoon, and other than shortening them to better fit my shrimp hands, I followed the pattern as written.

The skein of Silk Garden that I used was softer than usual. Also, it looked so delightfully rustic that I didn’t block the pair. I might, at some point, or I might leave them as-is. I might also take a photo of both of them, but I left my tripod in Moncton and wasn’t feeling creative. =D

Before I go, thanks for the comments on my beach photo. <3 I’ve not replied to them individually because I’ve had the ‘net connected to the laptop instead of the desktop for more than a week, and therefore haven’t have access to the original notifications.

Much more to talk about, but tomorrow. Yes.

<3

Not hard to tell what I think of the shore.

A little bit of everything.

I have one week left in my work placement, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it thus far. I feel that I’ve caught on quite quickly, too, and I hope that those I’ve worked with feel the same. Also, it took the brain less time than anticipated to readjust to an environment in which French is the working language.

I’ve submitted an application, and there’s a position opening up. Interviews should be sometime in the next couple of weeks. Getting hired right where I am now would be the best for me personally, financially, and career-wise. I know there are other applicants, and I can only hope that I’ve made myself stand out somehow, despite being the quiet one in a group of chatterboxes.

Moving on to something far less life-altering, let’s revel for a moment in the geekiness of my Hello Kitty scrubs. I love them.

The weather’s been beautiful for the past couple of days. Pi’s enjoyed it in his own lazy way:

Since the windowsill was taken, Stevie chose the sofa and his favourite blankie:

I, on the other hand, put the dog in the car and went to a favourite place:

The wind was strong, but not cold. I tied a twenty-foot leash around my waist and let Samson wander along with me at more or less his own pace. I collected a few shells, including one with a perfect little hole right where a necklace string could go.

Stevie modelled another dishcloth for me:

I have no real knitting progress to show for the past three weeks, although I’ve been working on the Cot Blanket from Natural Knits for Babies & Moms in these six colours of Baby Cashmerino:

It’s knit in squares, so it’s portable if I choose to take it to work. I’ve been reading on my lunch breaks for a couple of weeks, but I’ll be back to the obsessive knitting soon enough.

Oh. I have to show off the cute sundress I got yesterday. I wore it today with ballet flats, pearl earrings, and a pearl bracelet, and for the first time ever a total stranger complimented me on my outfit.

Before I forget, I’ve been tagged for a meme. Here goes!

1) What was I doing ten years ago?
I was recovering from a bad bout of mono, and filling out the paperwork to transfer to a new university. I was also at the beginning of a relationship that would last for several years.

2) What are five (non-work) things on my to-do list for today:
It’s bedtime, so I’ll put things I plan to do tomorrow.
– Finish knitting another dishcloth, and work on something that’s not a dishcloth as well.
– Do said knitting while watching Enterprise.
– Laundry, laundry, laundry.
– Take some photos around town.
– Clip the cats’ claws. I save this one for last, because it’s a… complicated procedure. Brats.

3) Snacks I enjoy:
Brownies, bittersweet chocolate, popsicles.

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
Travel. Donate to my favourite charities. Find a house in England and another in British Columbia. Hire a gardener, because although I love trees, flowers, and garden-grown vegetables, I can’t keep them alive to save my life. Buy a car powered by something other than gas. Knit in exotic locales. Take dance lessons with a private instructor so the self-consciousness that keeps me from classes wouldn’t be an issue.

5) Places I have lived:
New Brunswick (Fredericton, St. Stephen, Bathurst, Sackville, Moncton) and Nova Scotia (Wolfville). In houses, apartments, and/or university dorms.

6) Jobs I have had:
In chronological order (including a couple of long-term volunteer spots) I’ve worked for: a tourist information centre, an art gallery, a figure skating club (as a coach), a vet/shelter, Tim Hortons, a LYS, and currently a hospital pharmacy.

7) Peeps I want to know more about:
All of you. Fill it out if you’d like to and ignore it if you don’t. <3

And now it's bed-and-book time. I'm about half through Forged in Fire, one of the Star Trek: Excelsior books. Despite being an Excelsior book, it’s based on things that happened on ST: Enterprise; it fills in gaps in canon, it has Sulu backstory, and it has Curzon Dax. All these things in the same book make me one happy nerd.

Almost, almost.

The bedroom’s been taken over by an assortment of boxes and bags. The rest of the place looks a little sparse and uncluttered, and the cats are eyeing the pet carriers like they’re jail cells.

I’m just about to shut down and pack up the computer with its various peripherals. Shouldn’t be more than a few days before I have it net-connected again.

As far as college is concerned, I am damned proud of myself. On our final comprehensive all-subject “board” exam, I scored the highest in the history of the program. I also scored 97% on the Pharmacology theory exam of d00m, and 100% (!!) on the Pharmacology drug-specific exam of d00m. No word on the other two exams yet, but no worries, either.

One night left here in the apartment. It’s going to be a quiet one.

Photos and splurges and moving and knitting and and and…

I promised a modelled photo of my cropped cardigan, didn’t I.

Love it. <3 It could stand to be a little smaller under the arms--I was winging the numbers a bit and cast on a few too many stitches when separating the sleeves, I think. I took the photo in one of the mirrors at the shop.

Speaking of the shop, I had my last shift yesterday. I'm going to miss it--it was great to be able to immerse myself in a craft I love, and, even better, actually get paid for it. Should I manage to move back to Moncton sometime in the next couple of years, I hope there'll still be room for me, even if only a couple hours a week.

I got presents! A blue/green knitting bag & gorgeous brown/green/blue hardcover journal from one of my awesome regular customers, and gift certificates & sock-sized stitch markers from my wonderful co-workers and the fabulous person I actually work(ed) for. The gifts were totally unexpected, but so very much appreciated.

I redeemed one of the gift certificates during my last shift and put a large dent in the other. =D I put a load of DB Donegal Aran Tweed away a few months ago, and had been picking it up a couple of balls at a time since then. I picked up the remaining balls on Saturday, plus some green Felted Tweed and Sirdar's Little Sweet Peas book.

I’m planning lace with the Felted Tweed. I want something a little more challenging than the projects I’ve been knitting lately, so I think I’m going to try the Alpine knit scarf from VLT, the one with the leafy insertion and diamond border. I may knit the pattern as written (it’ll be huge with thicker yarn) or I may cut the number of horizontal repeats of the leaf insertion from 4 to 2. Haven’t decided.

I’ve started another pair of socks from New Pathways for Sock Knitters:

I used the Master Upstream pattern, and added a bit of texture to the arch expansion and cuff with a knit-two-rows-purl-one-row sequence. Yarn is Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sport in Envy; sport-weight socks always knit up so quickly, and toe-up seems to go even faster. As always, I’m knitting tighter than the ballband recommends–7.5 sts per inch instead of 6.

There’s a gorgeous new (well, new to me) colourway on BMFA’s site called Kaw. Those are my initials. It must be a sign. A sign of what, I don’t know. Perhaps my impending leap into total insanity–I’ve teetered on the edge of the cliff long enough, yes?

Dad took a carload of stuff from the apartment a couple of days ago, on his way back from the southern part of the province, and the apartment looks rather bare without its usual explosion of yarn (and fabric, and general clutter). The cats seem a little bit lost without their usual obstacle course.

It’s occurred to me that if the pieces of life fall into place for me over the next couple of months like I’ve been hoping, I may be able to go to Rhinebeck this year. I may have possibly even checked fares for the abysmally long (but totally affordable if I’m properly employed!) train ride. Maybe.

And now, back to the books.

Insert dramatic entrance here.

Formal classes are over, and all that remains is a two-week span of practical exams, written exams, and project deadlines. I’ve been working like a mad thing but keeping the stress under control, which is an accomplishment in and of itself as far as I’m concerned.

There are daffodils outside my window.

I’ve started packing up the apartment. It’s mine until the end of the summer, so most of what I own will be staying here until I find out where I’ll be headed after OJT. When I leave in a couple of weeks, I’m taking the cats, the computer, the yarn, and the books. The necessities of life, or at least my life.

The only knitting and/or reading time I’ve had has been on transit, but I’ve made good use of it. Since I’ve been AWOL, I’ve read Thomas Mullen’s The Last Town on Earth, Kim Edwards’ The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, and the Yarn Harlot’s Things I Learned from Knitting–Whether I Wanted To or Not. The first was good, the second was gorgeous, and the third is going into the knitting bag, permanently, along with At Knit’s End.

I’m a monogamous reader, but I like having a constant queue–it means I’m never stuck without something new to read, especially if I have (although I’ve not had time in months) one of my must-read-this-entire-book-tonight evenings. The queue of unread books at the moment looks like this:

Last week, at the end of a less-than-stellar day, I found a package in my mailbox–a PIF gift from the lovely Gilraen. Look at these beauties:

Monkeys! In Wollmeise, and with the no-purl mod I’ve seen and loved. They couldn’t fit my feet any better if they were knit directly onto them. There were also the most adorable little animal-shaped stitch markers, one sheep and one mouse, and a bar of dark organic chocolate (how I love dark chocolate)–I meant to take photos of both, but the stitch markers are already attached to a project and, well, the chocolate is long gone. <3 Thank you, Gilraen, for such wonderful gifts.

I have parcels of my own to put in the mail--two PIF gifts, plus one for a new baby, one for a birthday (even though it's very belated... eek), and one for, er, Christmas. I'm going to get those posted as soon as the budget allows.

I also have some FOs, and a new pattern.

Pattern: Old Shale worked over 36 sts
Yarn: 1 ball of Karabella Boise in Wine (#63)
Needles: 4.25 mm bamboo straights

For my grandmother’s 80th birthday. I started this on Lantern Moon ebony needles, but switched to my bamboo–seems I don’t like working with the ebony ones as much as I thought I would. Yarn feels gorgeous, both in the skein and knit up; I blocked minimally to preserve the squishiness.

Pattern: Perdita from Knitty
Yarn: oddments of Patons Grace
Needles: 3.0 mm bamboo

Sometimes a girl just needs a couple-hour knit. With shiny beads. There are three variations in the pattern–I chose Bluebell. Lilac is next, then probably Lily of the Valley to round out the trio.

Pattern: Based on Cropped Cardigan with Leaf Ties from Fitted Knits
Yarn: Less than 2 skeins of Noro Silver Thaw in #10 and oddments of black Lamb’s Pride Worsted
Needles & Hooks: 5.0 mm KP circs and 4.5 mm bamboo hook

Look, it’s a cardigan! A little cropped one, not much more than a sweaterlet, but a cardigan nonetheless. No modelled shots yet, as I haven’t been able to get decent ones (and also, I haven’t decided on buttons), but I’m pleased with it and the mods I made. I obviously omitted the applied i-cord and leaf ties in favour of a simple crochet edging, and I exchanged the picot hems for several rows of garter rib. Also, I omitted the “work 15 rows even” that the pattern specifies in-between separating the sleeves and starting the front neck shaping, to raise the neckline and make it fit me better.

I originally bought the yarn to make a Retro Redux shrug, with Silver Thaw for the body and Lamb’s Pride for the ribbed edges. I still plan to knit that, but I’m going to use a steel-blue wool/bamboo blend from the stash instead.

Pi loves modelling dishcloths… really.

It’s not available here on the blog, but I wanted to show off a photo of the simple pattern I wrote up for the shop’s warm-weather beginner knitting classes. Just a simple scarf with a basketweave insertion at each end, but the RYC Bamboo Soft was lovely to knit.

Before I go, here’s a random photo of me from a couple of months ago, complete with red nose (allergies) and lovely circles under eyes that somehow look brown instead of blue:

A departure, but temporary.

Public Service Announcement: I have sixteen days left of formal classes.

Sixteen.

After that, it’s two weeks of practical exams and written exams, then I’m off to the north shore for my work placement. The amount of work left to do in those sixteen short days is truly ridiculous, so I’m going incommunicado until classes are done. Honestly, I haven’t been posting much or reading blogs, anyhow.

See y’all in May. And thank you, lovelies, for birthday wishes and all-around good thoughts. <3

FO — Half-Pipe Hat

Pattern: Half-Pipe Hat from Son of Stitch ‘n’ Bitch
Yarn: 2 skeins of Mirasol Sulka in 204 (Cocoa)
Needles: 5.0 mm circs

Quick, easy, and cute. I cast on last Saturday at work, and finished this afternoon between customers.

There’s plastic canvas folded into the brim for shape. Note the pink pins–the hat’s still wet. I wanted to block before I stitched the plastic canvas into place; I’m planning on doing that tomorrow morning at work and the hat won’t be coming home for photos.

I actually had to “finish” the hat twice–I was so tired and preoccupied the first time that I forgot to start decreasing every row instead of every second. I didn’t even notice until I’d grafted the stitches at the top of the crown and plopped the thing on my styrofoam head. Then, I couldn’t do much but laugh at the two-inch-high fin sticking straight up from the top. Oops.

Noro Kureyon Sock made its first appearance at the shop this week, so that’s the next sample on the needles. I love being able to knit during work hours–it makes up for the complete lack of knitting time I’ve had everywhere else these past couple of weeks. I have piles of schoolwork, and I’ve been covering extra shifts for on-vacation co-workers, too.

Birthdays, crocuses, and the inside of my head.

Regardless of the weather, I don’t tend to feel like spring is arriving until I see crocuses. And on Friday, I did–little purple ones in the flowerbeds outside city hall. Once I see the first ones they seem to be everywhere–it’s like every crocus in a city sprouts simultaneously. There are yellow ones in my front yard, and tall stalks that will bloom into tulips and daffodils. Saturday’s rain washed away much of the snow, and the temperatures are supposed to be in the double digits all week.

I had a lovely birthday. I spent the morning on the sofa with sticks, string, and assorted feline footwarmers, spent the afternoon downtown enjoying the air and crocuses (while doing a little shopping with birthday cash), and spent the evening at a fabulous Best of Broadway stage show. Rather than a cake, I got myself a Skor-flavoured ice cream pizza from DQ. Mmm.

I was so impressed by the show–thirty-four songs from a variety of Broadway and off-Broadway musicals, and so many of my favourites among them, even the lesser-known ones. I remember songs from Les Miserables, Jekyll & Hyde, The Lion King, Sweeney Todd, Avenue Q, Wicked, A Chorus Line, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Miss Saigon, Ragtime, Sweet Charity, Spring Awakening, Mamma Mia!, Chicago, Hairspray, The Rocky Horror Show, Rent, and I know I’m forgetting some. There’s an astounding amount of young talent in this city, and as much as it’s nice to see travelling shows it’s also great to see something pulled together from people who live right here. I’d not have even known about the show, except that one of my co-workers told me and gave me a ticket for my birthday. <3

I have birthday booty.

Sims 2 FreeTime (the latest expansion pack), Gabriel García Márquez’s Love in the Time of Cholera, Irène Némirovsky’s Suite Française, Crazy Aunt Purl’s Drunk, Divorced, and Covered in Cat Hair, and a shiny new 500 GB external hard drive to replace the defective external I got for Christmas. I couldn’t get a direct exchange because the original model had been taken off the market, so Dad paid the difference between the original and the shiny new (and twice the size) one. It’s an Iomega with a Seagate drive, so I know it’ll be reliable.

Also! Look:

A hedgehog. A hedgehog! In crystal, from my mother. I love hedgehogs. He’s going to stay in his padded box for a couple of days, until I get one of those little wall case things (the kind with the glass doors) to put him in, along with a couple other tiny things I’ve kept in storage. I don’t want to risk damage, so I need somewhere safe from the spawns of hell cats.

I almost finished a Half-Pipe hat at work yesterday–all I need to do is get the plastic canvas in the brim and tack it down. The yarn’s Mirasol Sulka in a deep cocoa brown, and all I have is a photo of the beginning.

I’m looking at the basket of WIPs beside the sofa and wondering if I shouldn’t frog some of them. I do need and want to finish my Red Shale scarf, even if I haven’t worked on it in a couple of weeks, but there are other things in there that need to not exist anymore, I think. Better to have the reclaimed yarn in the stash than attached to something I don’t even want to look at.

Speaking of stash, I need to get another storage container, if only so I can use my coffee table again.

I did something last night that I haven’t had the chance to do in a while–I sat down and read a book cover to cover in one sitting. The book was Crazy Aunt Purl’s Drunk, Divorced, and Covered in Cat Hair. It was just what I needed to read, thanks to the navel-gazing mood I’ve been in for the past few weeks, due to my 29th birthday coming up, my job placement news, and any number of other things. I need to share a snippet:

“Maybe that’s what you do in this life, just pretend you’re okay. You tell yourself to stop thinking of every single way the night will go wrong and you put on clothes and arrange your face in a smile, and before long you feel a real smile replacing the fake one. You do things even though they scare you. Maybe before long, you end up being the comfortable-in-your-skin persona you’re pretending to be.

I hope so, anyway.”

I hope so, too.

I’m so used to negative self-talk that it’s difficult to believe it’s not hardwired into my genes. Working toward a positive self-images is like crawling out of a deep well, with no ladder and loose stones in the walls. Some of us, I think, tend to assign blame for negative self-images–we were tortured at school, we had mixed messages at home, we’re fat, we’re socially awkward, that’s just “how we are”–but when it comes down to it, thought patterns are just like other kinds of patterns–modifiable with some (or a ton) of effort, and sometimes the effort is worth it.

I have more confidence in the academic and technique-learning parts of my mind than I did eight months ago; sure, social situations still sometimes (read: often) send me into abject terror, where I try to think of a hundred different reasons why I shouldn’t do something instead of just one why I should, but maybe some of that will change in time, too. One think I’m sure of–nothing will change unless I make it change, even if it’s one step forward and two steps back. Journey of a thousand miles, and all, right?

Brainsplodes, plus knitting.

Note to self: studying can, indeed, hurt the brain. I’ve been concentrating so intently all morning that I now have a wicked tension headache–I got wrapped up in what I was doing and didn’t notice the time passing, therefore didn’t take regular mini-breaks. I’m taking a break now, though, to give the painkillers time to kick in, and I’m setting my kitchen timer to go off at regular intervals so I don’t forget again.

Good time to share some knitting, yes?

Pattern: Hannah from MagKnits
Yarn: 2 skeins of Mirasol Sulka in #210
Needles: 6.0 mm circs

Lookie, it’s Another Damned Hat. This is my second Hannah, and I knit this one to the average adult size specified in the pattern, because it’s for me. The yarn is pure pleasure to knit–cushy, soft, and silky. Being a loosely-spun bulky single-ply, It’s likely going to pill like a crazy pilling thing, but that’s what sweater (or hat) shavers are made for. It knit up in just a couple of hours, and the buttons I used are wooden and cute:

Little woodburned flowers. I have a load of them from a going-out-of-business sale at a huge local fabric store last summer.

I’ve started another Leaf Lace shawl, this time for the shop and in Fiddlesticks Zephyr.

The colour’s accurate–it really is that vibrant. The shell pink I’d originally chosen would have blended into the pale green walls too much. I’m using a pair of bamboo straight needles at the moment, and I think I may have to get a bamboo circ to put it on when it gets big enough–most of my circs are KP Options, which I adore, but I think I may prefer the grip of bamboo for such a fine yarn.

Oops–the blog’s second anniversary was yesterday. I planned to have a couple of little guessing games with yarn as prizes, but… okay, I admit it. I forgot, and by the time I remembered I didn’t have time to get it together. I also haven’t had time to write up the pattern for that little green thing I showed off a few days ago and will therefore miss the submission deadline. So, I suppose I shall be releasing said green thing here in a couple of weeks.

My birthday’s this coming Friday. Wanna see my treat to myself?

Fleece Artist Italian Silk, in Polar Sea. Aren’t the colours stunning? It’s thicker than fingering weight but lighter than DK, and with 328 yards to a skein there’s plenty for a pretty scarf. The yarn’s so lovely it’ll make even a simple pattern look gorgeous. I’ve been tossing around pattern ideas, and so far am thinking Ziggy with it (since it’s lacy but not too open) or perhaps something from Ocean Breezes: Knitted Scarves Inspired by the Sea.

The head seems to have recovered, so it’s back to the books I go.

A cloud, a silver lining, and an FO.

I have both good news and bad news. Bad news first: the city hospital neither wants nor needs technicians at this time, and that includes OJT students. I’d hoped to stay here in Moncton, but that’s not going to happen. Instead, I’m heading back to where I came from, to a town I hate. I’m going to try to not focus on that part, though.

What I am going to focus on is the fabulous news: I have a confirmed full-time OJT placement at the regional hospital. That’s the environment I hoped for most–hospital pharmacy, rather than retail or administration. I’ve worked for it, and (thanks, in part, to the wonderful things my teachers have said to me one-on-one in the past couple of days) I’m starting to feel like I deserve it. I’m in a much better state of mental health than I was seven months ago.

Life is good. I have a ridiculous amount of studying and assignments to do this weekend (and I owe e-mails to tons of people, too), but life is good.

***

And now, I present Tasselled Hat #2. I knit it on the bus this week.

Pattern: Basic Hat with rolled brim from The Knitter’s Handy Book of Patterns
Yarn: 1 skein of Manos del Uruguay in #118 (Mulled Wine)
Needles: 5.0 mm bamboo 16″ circs

The red one was for the shop, but this one’s for me. I knit it just a little shorter so it didn’t come down over my eyebrows, and I used two rows of seed stich instead of three rows of 1×1 rib after the rolled brim. The yarn’s gorgeous, as expected, in both look and feel. It’s not cold enough to need a hat today, and it likely won’t be tomorrow, either, but that’s not going to stop me from wearing it.

… Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go ogle Knit Picks’ new laceweight pretties.

FO — Tasselled Hat

Pattern: Basic Hat with rolled brim and braided tassel from The Knitter’s Handy Book of Patterns
Yarn: 1 skein of Manos del Uruguay in #115
Needles: 5.0 mm bamboo 16″ circ & 5.0 mm DPNs

Shop sample! I decided to kill two birds with one stone and show off a new-to-the-shop book with a new-to-the-shop yarn at the same time. The finished hat is obviously a little big on my styrofoam head, but fits my average-sized actual head quite nicely.

I thoroughly enjoyed working with the Manos. The label advises 14-18 sts over 4 inches; I knit it quite comfortably (and quickly) at 20 sts, and the fabric is dense without being stiff. It’s bizarre… I’ve used the same yarn once before (for a pink beret), but I noticed a significant difference in the new wool vs the pink skein I bought last summer–the new one was softer, smoother, and even had a bit of a sheen. I went looking for the other skein of Manos (in an attractive plum-based colourway called Mulled Wine) that I’d bought at the same time as the pink one, and the fiber looks and feels much more like the newer red skein than the older pink one. Maybe the pink one was a little flawed.

Rich reds are notorious for bleeding, but the water I’d soaked the hat in was still perfectly clear when I took it out. The stitches softened up a little in the wash, but didn’t fuzz or lose definition, and gauge stayed the same–always a good thing, because my efforts are a bit half-assed when it comes to swatching and I rarely, if ever, wash them to see if or how they change.

Pi approves of the project, but thinks it smells funny.

Oh. I didn’t finish that Easter gift I spoke of in my last post. I did, however, finish this:

Something small and green that needs to be kept under wraps for the time being.

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