FO Friday: Lotus Hat (+family love)

My aunt was released to hospice care and had a couple good days. On Wednesday she was screaming at Kobe for missing a rebound. But by Thursday afternoon she was having trouble breathing and it looked like she was on her way out. I raced back to LA and spent two days with the family. Thankfully, I had the left over yarn from my Hottie Cozy in my purse and enough left for a neat hat. I had saved the pattern in my phone, so it was perfect.

My cousin was happy to model it for me. You can see my aunt's awesome friends and family in the kitchen. We were surrounded by so many amazing people. It turned out the hat looked way better on my cousin. So now it's hers. :)
My aunt passed away the next day with all her children, grandchildren, me & my sister (her great-nieces) and a couple old dear family friends all around her. It was beautiful and sad and amazing. I miss her dearly but I feel her presence every single day.

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?

FO Friday: Hat Fit For A Best Friend

Clay is one of my best friends. Not just like the title "Oh... he's my BFF". No, like when you talk about things a friend should be- Clay is one of the best.

He's also a little bit of a nerd. He likes rocks and movies about cavemen. He wants to learn to can his own fruits & veggies. His dream vacation for as long as I've known him was Iceland. Iceland. Who desperately wants to go to Iceland? Well- he got his wish last year when his partner booked a trip for them and I was so excited for him.

Another big dream of his was to go to a wilderness survival training. This year I decided that would be his birthday present. I researched several in the area and found one with good reviews that didn't seem to be a secret militia training ground or something. Basically, I printed the brochure and said "this is your birthday present" because there weren't gift certificates or anything and I wanted to be sure he'd want to do it and that he picked a date himself. He's going this weekend and is so excited it's ridiculous. 

But it's going to rain... possibly SNOW... yes... SNOW in Southern California this weekend. 

So, in order to give his (admittedly large) ears some protection, I made him a hat. It's nice, soft wool that will keep him warm even when wet. I made it a little longer than normal so it covers his whole ears instead of just the tops like the pattern calls for. 

Ha! Doesn't he look cute? It's an awesome pattern with some cool decreases. Every other knit ridge disappears about an inch from the center, then the others do until you have just a little star at the top. The variegated yarn makes it a little hard to see put here is Clay graciously letting me photograph the top of his head outside Chipotle.

For info on the yarn & link to the pattern as well as my notes- check out my Ravelry page.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Slouchy Hat

I never wear hats. Ever. I have a huge head, for one, so it's hard to find a hat that will A) fit & B) not look comically tiny once on. But the other day I went to the store and my hair looks like a rats nest and I wished I had one of those oh-so-in-style-right-now slouchy hats that I could hide my hair under. Wouldn't you know it? Some girl with curly hair walked by and had one on and she looked awesome. Sigh. Major hat envy.

So last night I decided to make one. The boys brought me some bulky wool yarn from their trip to Iceland. It was a really thoughtful gift but... um... it's BULKY. And it's got little flecks of different colors in it. And it's NOT merino so my slight wool allergy goes crazy feeling it scratch me. So no making anything that's going to touch my skin. Oh... but it'll make a good hat!

So while watching reruns of friends I made a Gumdrop Slouchy Hat. It's a SERIOUSLY easy pattern by Julie from Gleeful Things (cute blog. check it out.). I decided to go with a crochet pattern because I wanted to be able to finish quickly (in case I hated the way it looked) and have more control over the size. I still have a fear of adjusting knitting patterns. That wound up being good because I did make a few small mods to fit my monster head better.

Here's me:

Here's the hat from the back:

Eagle eyes will be able to spot the "seam" pointing about 1o'clock on my head. I don't think it's THAT noticable, but I might make sure to have it run down the bottom in the future. 

Over all I'm really pleased. I think it's a style I can pull off. I might be trying a few fancier designs soon.

Oh, and of course it's been Rav'd. 

Divinity in Hat Form

I'm so ADD when it comes to projects. I'm allllllmost finished with the Cool Mama blanket. Good thing, too, since mama went into labor yesterday. No baby yet but I gotta get this gift in the mail pronto.

So... I'm house-sitting and normally I'd bring a good selection of stash yarn with me since I'll be here a few days. However, this time I decided to be "responsible" and bring only what I needed to finish the Cool Mama plus the black wool I bought to make an Army-appropriate scarf for the soldier. (Totally still crying about the knit one that's been shelved. *whimper*)

Do I stick to the plan, though? Nooooooo..... I come across a pattern for the "Divine Hat" and decide I neeeeeed to make it nooooooooow. Why? It's like 100 degrees here. There's no way I need this. But the pattern is so gorgeous and oh! look! I happen to still have the remnant I was using to make the afghan squares in my car. So, with Cool Mama just waiting for a few more shells to complete her border, I bust out some linen colored acrylic and start working on a hat I don't need!



It's lovely though. Just to spite me the yarn decided to run out right when I was almost done. The pattern said I needed less than 3 oz of worsted weight yarn. So I figured my about-half-a-skien would be enough. It probably would be for someone with a normal-sized head. My head, however, is ginormous. HUGE. Plus I have big thick curly hair so that adds like 2 inches to the diameter. Boo. So now this is a WIP* when it was supposed to be a FO*.

Back to Mama... hope to finish her up, do some "blocking"/"killing" to fix a gauge issue and tell you all about her. Oh and get her in the mail along with Hot Mama. So nice to be getting things done.