Fan of Green Cables

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I am slowly-but-surely progressing on the braid & bobble hat:


Here's a closer shot, and I'm folding up the bottom edge to show how it's to be worn:

I couldn't figure out, when I first started knitting this, why there was a cable on the wrong side next to that big section of seed stitch. It's not apparent (at least not to me) in the pattern picture that one is to fold up that bottom edge when wearing the hat. I like that design feature, but at this point I'm still wondering if blocking will be sufficient to keep that edge folded up, or if I'll need to tack it down with yarn or thread. Time will tell....

I love knitting this hat and although I'm painfully slow, I'm getting faster, now that I can better predict the upcoming stitches and have the cables and crosses (mostly) memorized. I've finished three repeats thus far, with seven more to go before it will be sewn together and the crown knitting begins. At first, I could only get through 8 rows in an evening of television knitting. Now I can get through an entire 16-row repeat (whoo hoo) in one sitting.

And I'm now in love with cables, (hence the corny pun in this post's title), and predict there will be many more cable-y patterns in my future. I'm currently eyeing the lovely Cable & Garter Stitch Turtleneck by Vermont Fiber Designs, and need to buy the pattern and start thinking about yarn. All in good time.

I've been buying lots of patterns recently, including a bunch from Heartstrings FiberArts, and all three of The Girl From Auntie's cute patterns. Very inspiring.

I'm also encouraged that my Dumb-Donald/Lidsville hat has contracted somewhat back into shape, after drying, from this:

to this:
It's still bigger than it originally was, and therefore may now be too big for the niece's head. She'll be given the option to reject it, if it doesn't fit or she doesn't like it. And I always give my knitted-gift recipients at least one "real" gift, along with their knitted item, in case they don't like the knitwear that's been foisted upon them.

That blue glass head comes in handy for drying purposes. It fits inside my dryer on the drying rack, and the glass heats up and therefore helps the inside of the hat to dry as fast (or faster) than the outside. An unexpected bonus. Glad I bought the thing!

This should be a fun week:

Tonight my beach-living sister and her daughters are coming into town, and we'll be heading off to dinner with our parents.

Tomorrow, I believe we're going to the Metro Richmond Zoo, like last year's excursion. Should be fun -- I love the zoo. And the people who own and run it are so nice. Last year, they told us that they're putting in a train this year -- I hope it's up and running tomorrow!

Friday I'm driving west to stay with my Lynchburg-living sister and attend Saturday's Sedalia Spring Fiber Festival with her and perhaps her knitter-daughter, as well. Can't wait -- I love fiber festivals!

In the meantime, why is it that, now that I'm finally ready to make the switch from old Blogger to new Blogger, I no longer have an invitation to switch? Isn't that always the way?

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Happy Easter!

Winter's Last Hurrah

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As birds tend to their new families:


And azaleas get ready to bloom:


We had an early spring snowstorm:



...which is about as much snow as we got all winter.

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Richmond, We Have a Problem....

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Remember this F.O. from the other day?


Remember my mentioning that I was going to wet block it because I thought the crown seemed a little wonky?

Today I finished weaving in the ends and gave it a good Eucalan soak, and the hat has grown.

A lot.

there's a blue glass wig form underneath there, somewhere
(you can see the nose pokin' out a little, on the left)
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Of course, before I fret, I should consider whether my 10-year-old niece recipient might gain invaluable street cred while wearing this monstrosity:

Yo, yo, yo! Wazzup, homefrog?

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Or perhaps she'd like to emulate Dumb Donald:



But she's too young to remember or appreciate Lidsville:

Sid & Marty Krofft would be so proud of my accomplishment
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Right now I've got the thing drying, upside-down, on a rack in my dryer. Fingers crossed....

Oh, and I found a dropped stitch.

Could this be another hat destined for charity?

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Movie Magic

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A totally off-topic post, which is a blogger's prerogative.

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Y'all know HBO is filming the John Adams miniseries here in the Richmond area? Its all-star cast includes Paul Giamatti as John Adams, Laura Linney as Abigail Adams, David Morse as George Washington, and Tom Wilkinson as Benjamin Franklin.
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My sister-in-law's brother, (aka my brother's brother-in-law), (whatever you call him, he's actually no blood or legal relation to me, but I think of him as my brother-in-law, anyway), has been working on it as an extra, and sent me a few camera-phone pictures, which I thought were fun enough to share here.

He has no lines, is not allowed to talk to the stars or approach them for autographs, and says the hours are grueling but has had a lot of fun.

One day they had him costumed as an upper-class, moneyed gentleman:


And another day he was a "rogue":


He says he prefers the tri-cornered hat.

This "Philadelphia 1776" set was built on a farm out in Mechanicsville:


The cobblestones are real. The buildings are just walls. The trees are fake. (And notice the green screen in the background.)

Here's another view of the green screen:



There is another set built on a farm in Goochland around the prisons out there.

Here's the make-up tent:



And here are a bunch of extras "taking ten":


Redcoats get hungry too:


He tells me:

In our instructions they specifically said not to ask for autographs. The [stars] walk away from the scene pretty quickly after a shoot so you are not really that close or in a position to get them.

I remember seeing Paul Giamotti looking very intense pacing back and forth mumbling to himself just before shooting a scene. I know I wouldn't dare interrupt his train of thought. I couldn't wear my glasses when we were shooting so I didn't realize that David Morse was playing George Washington.

We had no speaking lines; other than clapping and yelling in one scene, we were pretty much scenery. We did have to act like we were talking to each other in some scenes. The friends I met there had digital cameras and they have some great shots. I can't wait to see those.

Welcome to Tinseltown, Virginia!

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Inspiration

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Inspired by a recent book purchase:


I interrupted my other hat-in-progress to knit this one:

Specs:

• Yarn:
• *A: Brown Sheep Burley Spun in Pinetree (#BS68) - 100% wool
  *B: Rowan Big Wool in "Flirty" (#38) - 100% wool
  
• Gauge: 2.5 stitches per inch
• Needles: U.S. size 13 (9 mm) Denise circular & Brittany Birch 7½" DPNs
• Inspiration: Valery**, from Hip Knit Hats***
  
• Size: ~20" circumference
• Recipient: Niece with upcoming birthday, whose favorite color is green
  
• Modifications: **significant, in that I used the book's pattern mainly as inspiration. The original pattern instructs to knit it from the top (crown) down. I prefer to knit hats from the bottom up, which is how I knit this one. And so, my pattern is as follows:
  

1. Cast-on 50 stitches of yarn B and join in the round.
   
2. Purl 6 rounds, then K 1 round.
   
3. Switch to A and K 5 rounds.
   
4. Switch to B, K 1 round and P 6 rounds.
5. Repeat steps 3 & 4 once more.
6. Switch to A, knit 4 rounds.
7. Decrease & finish according to Super Simple Hat Calculator

***Note: This book has lots of errata. If you own it, make sure you print the corrections pdf before you start a pattern from it. Also, there's a freebie extra pattern on the errata website, as a consolation for putting up with all the mistakes.

I still love this book, for all the fun and inspiring patterns within it. I may not follow each pattern to the letter, but will no doubt get some great ideas from it.

I think I'm going to wet-block this hat, because the crown seems a little wonky to me. My first attempt at the crown was even worse, so I had to rip and re-knit. I'm happier with the second attempt, but not completely. Here's hoping a good soak will resolve the wonkiness.

Speaking of inspiring knitting books, another great one I recently acquired for a (relative) song, (compared to the triple-digit going rate this book gets on ebay), is this classic:


When I grow up, I want to knit one of her patterns. For now, I'll just flip through the book, try and learn something, and remain inspired.

For more Alice Starmore inspiration, check out Laurie's Oregon Vest. She even played an evil April Fool's joke on her readers, yesterday. But all is well.

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Patsy's Yarn Sale

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Two very dangerous words, when used in the same sentence: Yarn Sale. Especially when one has recently spent an obscene amount on sale yarns.

But, when a spinner and fellow Tuesday Night Knitter has a yarn sale, with lots of pretty hand-painted handspun, you go shopping!

Here is some of her bounty:




Here, our hostess Patsy discusses a pattern's yarn requirements with shopper and fellow TNK'er Susan:


You may recall Patsy showing us a recently finished, beautiful handknit sweater one Tuesday knit night this February:

*Believe it or not, she's selling it! Verrrry tempting....

After we shopped and ate a little birthday cake, (Happy April Fool's Birthday, Patsy!), she gave us a little spinning demonstration on her Majacraft wheel:

Looks like fun!

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As we were leaving, we were met with the arrival of two other guests, looking for handouts:

mid-chomp of breadcrumb
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Fear not, I did not leave empty-handed. I scored these two cute patterns:

And some of Patsy's pretty hand-painted handspun Australian wool top:

Extreme close-up

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Okay, that's it! I'm not buying any more yarn!

(At least not today.)

Tomorrow, I'll have a finished object to show.

Right now, I'm going to continue watching Planet Earth. A fabulous series -- don't miss it.

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A good problem to have.

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That good problem being: on such a beautiful day, how should I spend my time?

Knitting?

Or gardening?


I did both.

:-)

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An Embarassment of Riches

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Embarassment is right. As I alluded to yesterday, I found an incredible yarn sale last week, and I hit it hard.

While blog-surfing, I happened upon a blog announcing that Knit Happens was having a huge sale at their online store. Lots of great yarns, most of which were at least 50% off, and all were going fast. I spent more than I've ever spent at one time on yarn, and would probably have spent more if things hadn't been selling so fast. (A blessing in disguise!)

Anyway, I promised some folks in my knitting group that I'd share what I'd purchased, so here goes:

Clockwise, from top left:

1. Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Chunky in teal (#10) - 4 balls, sage (#11) - 2 balls, and pink (#4) - 2 balls. No plans yet for these yarns, although the pink may become a baby hat.
2. Muench "Touch Me" in fuschia (#08) - 6 balls, green (#04) - 5 balls, and purple (#38) - 6 balls. All earmarked for gifts of "Vintage Velvet" scarves (from Scarf Style).
3. Jade Sapphire Mongolian Cashmere, 2 hanks each in "Deep Denim" (#44) - 6-ply, "Amethyst Haze" (#17) - 8-ply, and "Lilac" (#31) - 8-ply. No plans yet, except to fondle.
4. Kaalund "Relish" in "Sapphire" - 2 hanks. No plans, but probably a hat.
   
5. Rowan Big Wool in "Flirty" (green, #38) - 3 balls. One ball not pictured because it's already in use. (I'll share pictures of that project when finished - maybe this weekend.) No plans for other two balls.

For anyone like me who likes to see more detail in their yarn photographs, here are a few additional shots from different angles. Click pictures to make bigger:




Okay, it's time to go fondle some yarn! Later!

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