Yarn Along: Nipple-y Hat

Joining Ginny again!

I just finished reading Rachael Herron's group of essays, A Life in Stitches. I. Loved. It. Rachael is funny, smart, lovely and her stories are inspiring and heartbreaking. I was so into it that as she spoke of different knits she's made, I ran to Ravelry to stalk her project page and see for myself what she made. When she talked about wrapping her arm around her ailing mother I sobbed uncontrollably. It was beautiful.

Now that hat.... It might look done and, yes, technically it is since I've bound off. The yarn is "Orange" by Pierrot Yarns in the Pink/Beige colorway. I didn't actually pick the color. This came in a surprise value pack I bought a couple years ago. I'm really hating the beige in there. 

Plus.... there's this:

The beige with the pink i-cord... am I the only one who thinks that looks a little nipple-y? No likey. So I'm thinking I'm going to try over-dying with Kool-Aid. I've never actually done this, so if anyone has any tips, I'd be very happy!

What are you working on this week?

Yarn Along: Vite Cowl

Yarning Along with Ginny

I fell in love with Vite Cowl but, of course, I'm on a stash down and didn't have any super bulky yarn, so I had to improvise. I'm holding THREE skeins of Knit Picks City Tweed DK together. The yarn is soft but not too fluffy. Holding it three together makes for a nice squishy cowl so I'm really happy. I also felt pretty awesome bringing home size 13 needles. I even found 14 inch ones because the 10 inchers seemed out of proportion and those kind of things bother me. This led to an interesting conversation with my father.

Dad: "What on earth?!"
Me: "They're very large knitting needles."
Dad: "For knitting very large things?"
Me: "Well.... for knitting with very thick yarn. Or... you know... to prepare myself for the zombie apocalypse."
Dad: "Oh. Are they silver?"
Me: "You're thinking of vampires."
Dad: "I thought vampires were a wooden stake through the heart."
Me: "They are... but also silver bullets. I think zombies you just cut off the head or something."
Dad: "Cut off the head? Wouldn't they just be headless zombies chasing you around anyway?"
Me: "Hmmm... maybe."
Dad: "Well maybe they won't chase you because you knitted them a very warm hat with your gigantic vampire killing needles."
Me: "Yes. Of course."

The First Book Of Modern Knitting has nothing to do with the cowl nor zombies. I really love the Azalea Design and plan to make a baby blanket out of it. It's one of those projects I plan to hold on to for my sister's first... or maybe my first... or in this particular case I might also be willing to give it up as a baptism present should anyone pick me to be a godmother. In any case, I keep reading through it, loving all the designs and contemplating my stash to see if there's something I can use to make it now or if I'll treat myself post-stash down to the perfect yarn for it. We shall see.

What's on your needles today?

FO Friday: Another Hippo

Last Wednesday I showed you a WIP. Unlike a few other ones, this one actually got finished!

Behold, The Creepy Hippo Hat of Love

The eyes look a little weird and bugged out, but I'm hoping it looks cute ON the baby. :) I finished it last week but still haven't managed to get to the post office and mail it off. Momma's studying for the BAR, so it's not likely I'll see her to give it in person anytime soon. But maybe the small surprise to warm her little one's head might give her a happy break from torts and... um... sidebars? Sorry... all my lawyering knowledge has been gleaned from How I Met Your Mother and the OJ Simpson murder trial.

It has, of course, been Rav'd.

The Secret Revealed... Sadly

So yesterday I told you I was working on a secret project and couldn't say why. Here's the story:

Two of my best friends have been trying to adopt for a while. They are moving in July because S is finishing his residency and will have a permanent position in Oregon. They got a call last Thursday that there was a baby up for adoption. My friends were one of four possible placements. The head of the agency was really pushing for my friends, but ultimately it was up to the County to decide.

Well... this morning the County decided that because they are moving the baby should be placed with another couple. It's sad, but we have to believe that it just wasn't meant to be.

So... the secret project. I try to make baby blankets whenever someone really close to me is having a baby. I've know what I would make for these friends for a while, and even bought the yarn for it. But it didn't seem like it was happening anytime soon, so I hadn't started. Last Thursday, with the agency saying my friend were their first choice, I went ahead and started, hoping I'd have enough time to finish the blanket by the time the transition process was over & my friends had the baby in their home.

Here are some of the squares I finished:

I like the little elephant motif because my friends' house if FULL of elephants. I've actually made about 5 more so far. It's been a good exercise in keeping my tension correct while working with two colors. I definitely need some more work on that. I'm tempted to throw this in the "hibernating" pile, but I think I'll slowly keep working on the squares. They take about 2 hours a piece even though they're tiny because I'm so bad at colorwork. At least I have time now to undo ones that aren't perfect and I don't feel so pressured. 

Because I have a friend at the adoption agency I know that the baby ended up with a very nice couple who are actually similar in a lot of ways to my friends. I know he's with the parents he was meant to be with and that my friends will eventually be able to bring home a baby that they are meant to have.

Yarn Along: Secret Project

Joining Ginny for her Yarn Along

I have a secret project going. It's one of those "Oh my gosh! I didn't think this would be needed so quickly!" kind of gifts. I wish I could say what it was and who it's for and why I'm so excited I could burst, but I can't. 

Thankfully, I had already purchased the yarn in anticipation of one day maybe needing to make this particular gift for someone very special. 

We find out tomorrow if this gift is actually needed. Stay tuned for possibly very exciting news.

FO Friday: Chadwick the Catholic Caterpillar

Last Thrusday Rebecca Danger (of Knitted Monster fame) posted that her newest pattern was available.

Now, I've had The Big Book of Knitted Monsters for a while and haven't made jack squat from it. So why, when I saw this little caterpillar, did I HAVE TO make him in one weekend? I don't know. Something about him called to me. So I grabbed whatever Knit Picks Shine Worsted I could find and I went to town on my dpns.

It hurt. I knit super tight on dpns for some reason (perhaps my intense fear of laddering at the joins) and this did NOT make for happy fingers come Sunday night. But you know what? I cast on sometime Friday and, despite having a very busy weekend, that little caterpillar was stuffed & finished before the Super Bowl.

And I love him.

He's really not so little. Minus his antenae he's over 15 inches tall and about 9 inches around. But he's cute, right? I posed him on a bookshelf, because Rebecca calls him "the Shakespearean Caterpillar" and so I thought he'd be literary. But as it turns out the books behind him are rather Catholic (ok... save a couple Latino Lit and Six Sigma for Managers). Thus, my Chadwick is Catholic. 

I made him with no intended recipient in mind... but one may have come into being. It's all confidential and may not happen... but there is much hope and much prayer.... and much knitting. Hopefully I'll have fun news to share next week.

Yarn Along: Hippo Hat & Gonna Be A Movie Read

LOOK! I'm posting early for Ginny's Yarn Along!

I'm making a hat for my little friend G. She turned one year old today, so I'm a little late, but I'll call it a Valentine gift. :) Designing as I go, but I hope it looks like a hippo face. I don't know what's wrong with me lately, but I had to redo this hat 3 times before I got a size that I liked. Frustrating.

I ordered The Knitting Circle after I read that Katherine Heigl is going to be in the HBO movie. I don't always love her movie choices, but I do love Katherine. I'm LOVING this book. It's speaking to me in ways I didn't expect and making me think about my knitting and mourning in new ways. While reading it I realized after Mom died I started crocheting LIKE MAD and then taught myself to knit and haven't stopped. Now it's a really weird day if I don't knit or crochet for at least a little while... and often it's for hours at a time. 

Meanwhile, the support the people in the knitting circle give each other is reminding me a lot of my "home" Ravelry group. The Organized Knitting Club may only meet online, but we've bonded really well. It's a pretty awesome group and it's been so great getting to know them while also using my stash and feeling more productive. YAY!