CrafTBQ

Just some links for me. Turning comments off because this is for my benefit plus I’ve been getting hit with a lot of spam.

The Aardvark Project

(email photos to art at zucky dot com)

Hats that avoid the eyebrows

It’s been a thousand years since I’ve updated, I know. Er - whoops?

I have been busy with knitting, however. The SnB in my hometown is still going on and I manage to make it over there once or twice a month. This creates a nice mix of knitting projects because I enjoy having “TV knitting” when I’m over there, and it’s a solid two hours of work that I can count on. Then when I’m at home I can work on things that require a little more attention from me.

I also have a cameraphone, which makes taking and uploading pictures a much faster and easier process. I’m also trying out a new online album for much the same reason, so let’s see how this goes. Picture #1 is the ribbed hat that I was working on:

From Crafting Pics

Picture #2 is a wee sock that I did just to see if I could make a sock at all. The pattern is from Sensational Knitted Socks [ETA: My bad. It’s Cool Socks Warm Feet] and it’s a regular sock pattern, only smaller. So I got to practice all the necessary techniques without having to worry that I was throwing away hours of my time if I screwed up:

From Crafting Pics

I’m now working on a sock-sized sock with that exact same pattern. I had to frog it last night when I was not only displeased with the ribbing, but noticed that I’d dropped a stitch and knit right over it a few rows back. So I’m starting over and I’m just on the ribbing right now, but I remain confident that I can succeed!

I also ponder the concept of using a lifeline while working on a sock. We’ll see.

I decided to frog the hat I’ve been working on because I just did not feel confident about the ribbing being strong enough to stay on my, or anyone’s head.

I recast with the same number of stitches but switched to 5s for the ribbing and 6s for the body of the hat.  I’m still not sure it’ll fit on my head but I do believe it’ll fit on someone’s now. 

It’s not quite done yet, but there’s an outside chance I’ll have it done by the end of this weekend.  (And of course by saying so I have guaranteed that will not happen.)

I’ve finished my first BGAL project. Rather, I have my first BGAL project which is finished. It is not the first BGAL project that I started.  I have pictures of it that I will post here and to BGAL once I get them on my computer.

Finally, this week saw the very first SnB in my hometown. I dare not say much for fear I will make it vanish, but suffice it to say that within minutes of meeting we were snarking on the snotty owner of one of the local yarn stores, so I knew I was amongst my people.

This past weekend I made significant progress on the hat. I sat and knit for hours while listening to the DVD commentary on Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.  (The one with the kids, who are a-freaking-dorable.)  So I’d say I’ve got… four inches? Five? More? Somewhere around there.  It looks like a thing, and that’s what counts.

I tested it on my head and it fits in the sense of my head can go into the space, not so sure it fits in the sense of being able to stay on my head once it’s there.  But my hair is very slippy and tends to throw hats like a horse bucking a particularly annoying rider.  So if it doesn’t stay on this might not be a fault of the hat design per se.  (Though it does make me ponder possibly adding elastic to the band after the fact. Hmm.)

The latest Knitty is up.  There’s a couple of patterns I could see myself trying, especially Fetching, because I like cables and it seems a quick knit, and Halfdome, which I suspect would look good on Older Brother.

My LYS sent mixed news in their latest letter. The original owners are moving, which makes me yipey about the continued future of the store. However the new owners just added a buttload of sit-n-knit groups, one of which is scheduled for a time I could theoretically go to.  I’m so tempted to go this week but I don’t know if the schedule will allow. Perhaps I’ll play it by ear.

I cast on last night for a hat to match the ribbed scarf. I’m using the third ball of yarn that I bought, with an anticipation that I may need to dip into a fourth. If so I’m going to switch to another color.

Pattern-wise I’m basing it off of the ribbed brim variation in Last Minute Knitted Gifts, but I’m doing a 2×2 rib instead of 1×1, again to match the scarf.  I’ve never done an adult hat before, let alone made adjustments to a pattern for one, so we’ll see how it goes.

Oh, and I had to change the count to adjust for the different yarn and subsequent gague.  But, you know, other than that exactly like the pattern in the book.

To be honest this is one of the things that I like about knitting. It’s similar to cooking in that I like having some general guidelines, but tweaking them as needed.  That the tweaking often involves math is merely a geeky side benefit.

Granted we’ll see if the hat fits and/or stays on my head once I’m done, but if not that’s what gifts or ripping is for.

So project wise on the needles now are the hat, which is good brainless knitting, and my BGAL project which is good for when I have a brain and wish to sit and knit.