The Hat

One of my favorite new artits, Ingrid Michaelson, has a great song, called The Hat. It starts out:

I knitted you a hat of blue and gold
To keep your ears warm from the Binghamton cold
It was my first one it was too small
It didn't fit you at all
But you wore it just the same

Many people may argue that I only like Ingrid because she has a song about knitting, but seriously, she is really wonderful. I also completely know the feeling of making a hat for someone and having it turn out a little ... off. I've been knitting for pay recently, trying to raise money for the Breast Cancer walk I am doing in November. Those things have been turning out really well, but I just finished a hat today that I think may not be wearable. Boo.

However, Tuesday night, I was lying in bed, and was suddenly struck with an incredible idea for a hat. I spent 20 minutes trying to convince myself that I would be able to start it in the morning, but I couldn't sleep. I got out of bed, cast on, and started knitting. Less than 48 hours later, I had made my first hat, completely from my own pattern.



Pattern : Lightening, mine
Needles: Size 8 circular
Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver, black and grey
Info: Cast on 84 stitches in black. 2x2 ribbing for 6 rows. Herringbone chart pattern, repeated 4 times. Divide stiches into 11 parts, knitting in black, knitting last 2 of each section together every other row.




This hat was made specifically for me, to fit my super small head. It fits me quite well, but thus far is much too small for anyone else. They would probably need at least one more chart repeat. I finished this hat at 9:40 on Thursday night, and had to go out to show it off. I had several people ask me to knit them one when I wore it out on Thursday.

I'm super proud of it! Charlotte and I are going to do a Red Herring knit-a-long, but I was quite nervous because I had never done stranded knitting. I decided this hat was the perfect opportunity to learn on what Charlotte said was a simple pattern. It turned out incredibly well. My stranding tension was pretty good, and even the inside of the hat looks nice (pictures later)!

That was my promised update, but more will be coming soon!

Okay, really

This weekend, I actually intend to get this blog going again, so keep your eyes open.

Until then .... enjoy.

I am a Pirate

My pirate name is:

Black Morgan Cash

Like anyone confronted with the harshness of robbery on the high seas, you can be pessimistic at times. You're musical, and you've got a certain style if not flair. You'll do just fine. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
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It's December ...

And I haven't posted in about 3 months now (oops). Most of the things I've been knitting were presents, and now ... now I can post about (some) of them!

The big news: I knit a sock.

Wow, right? I know that your first reaction, much like everyone else's, is: "A sock?" Yes. A. Sock.

And it's glorious.



I made it for my mom for Christmas. I was so worried that it wouldn't work, that it wouldn't fit, that, that ... But it fit. It's wonderful. I'm making the other one on my trip to India. I figure the 70 hours of travel will give me some time ...

And I made my dad a hat! It's a great hat, it's really wonderful. A top view:



And then they modeled together.



This is just a quick update for now, but I guarantee -- I promise that there will be more when I get back from India.

Happy holidays to you all!

Long Time No Post

But believe me, this has been a busy week.

I've gotten a job. I've gotten a car. And as of 15 minutes ago, I have a place to live. That I really wanted to live in. Really really wanted to live in.

So the three huge areas of my life fell into place in the past week. And just in time for the High Holy Days.

I started work this week, and I love it (weird, huh?). The people are super friendly (or at least good at pretending to be) and helpful (the woman training us seems almost infinitely patient even though this must be boring as hell for her). The environment is young, energetic, and casual, and people are really relaxed but serious. It's kind of like Stanford (okay, a LOT like Stanford) which is great.

I've finished some projects, am mailing some knitting tomorrow, but in the meantime, to placate the knitting gods, I took the "what kind of knitter are you" quiz. I don't really think it describes me, but I'll take it anyway. Take the quiz yourself if you dare, but if not, enjoy ...

What Kind of Knitter Are You?

You appear to be a Knitting Guru. You love knitting and do it all the time. While finishing a piece is the plan, you still love the process, and can't imagine a day going by without giving some time to your yarn. Packing for vacation involves leaving ample space for the stash and supplies. It can be hard to tell where the yarn ends and you begin.http://marniemaclean.com
Take this quiz!








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Reeeel Update

So I haven't written since I've been back from San Diego, but I had an incredible time. Other than learning the basics of surfing and spending time on the beach, I got to hang out with Kim and Nic for a whole week! I hadn't really spent much time with Nic before this, so it was great getting to know him. We went and saw a bunch of movies, and after one matinee, we decided we weren't hungry enough to warrant dinner, but we were hungry enough for Ghirardelli sundaes ...



Blue was not doing too well when I showed up -- he had a problem with one of his vertibrae and was in a lot of pain. He was supposed to be resting but kept moving up and down the stairs and wanting to go on walks and crying, poor thing. However, he was doing much better by the time I left.



Kim & I got matching pedicures. You can't see the color too well here, but it's a really vibrant kind of shiny red. Very nice.



We also made a three-course meal of fondue. We had a shopping adventure at Whole Foods (and Target, and a grocery store, and Home Depot) where we got some really quality ingredients for our meal.

It started out with an Asian fondue. We dipped fake meat and veggies in it, and then put in some more veggies and noodles and ate it like soup.



During this first course, I also made a friend: a small piece of bok choy. It had been stuck to my leg for quite a while without anyone noticing, but when Nic pointed out how much it must like me, I felt that it had exerted a photo-worthy effort to be my buddy.



The smoked cheese fondue was incredible. It was like ... heaven, in melted cheese form. We couldn't get the texture to be quite dippy exactly the way it's apparently supposed to be, but it was soooo good wound around bread.



And, last but not least, we had dark chocolate and kahula fondue. Kim and Nic had made the first two while I was napping, and so it was up to me to make the third. Kim & I decided it was good enough even before it had made it out to the table.



We had all manner of good fruits, along with little macaroons, marshmallows, and caramel covered popcorn. Yummmmmm.



It appears that my first attempt at making fondue was a success!



I had a great past few days, but now I'm hunkering down to get a few bits of my life together. More updates as things unfold!

Quick Update

I'm in San Diego, having an awesome time hanging out with Kim & Nic. And I went surfing! Twice! This makes me almost a pro (or at least, almost able to stand up half the time).