Br-r-r-r

I'm normally not one to wait for natural light to take pictures. My photography skills are nothing to brag about, but the hat and scarf begged for just the right condition. I finally got around to blocking them Thursday night and realized that the crown could have been a little less full, but overall I'm pleased with the set and I'm sure Nicole will enjoy it.



I was going for an artsy shot, alas the wind was not cooperating. It's been bitterly cold all day and I'm sure it's even colder in Charlotte so I'm anxious to get this to her.

I also got out my dye pot for some dyeing experiments. Nothing major at this time given the breathing issues. I've purchased a lot of natural colored fingering weight skeins when the lys has been having sales with the sole purpose of dyeing them. This round I'm using Lanett Superwash 100% Merino. It's been a pain in the ass to wind them into hanks and I didn't tie them tight enough prior to putting them in the pot so I'll have a mess on my hands in the morning.


In the good news department, I'm knitting the left front of the Skyline Jacket. Tomorrow is a holiday for the state and I hope to have it finished by then. After that its' miles of garter stitch trim and finally another FO 2008. I'm picking out the next projects and for now I think I'll stick to cardigans with the flakey weather we have around here that may be the best option.

I still have some hats to make for the boys. The first one will be one for me. The Strudel by Woolly Wormhead. Vera has done several styles and the Strudel is my favorite. Even though I haven't made any of the hats, I highly recommend "Going Straight - A New Generation of Knitted Hats". The tutorials alone are worth the purchase price and it comes in three versions.

Re-Starts

A late "Happy New Year". The hat saga is finally over and I'm back to regular knitting. All were well received even though I did have to explain how to use some of them. I made a total of seven Hannah's including two for co-workers and 3 headbands. Somehow I still managed to be short one gift so I'll be working on remedying that situation.


Hannah
The Retro Redux Shrug from LaceStyles was a wonderful project to knit. I finished it in time for gift delivery. That process has been delayed by the fact that I forget to remove it from the machine after spinning it dry and by the time I remembered it had been agitating for a while. The laciness kept it from felting completely but it ended up being way too small so I've passed it on to my sister's friend. I asked my niece what color she wanted the new one to be and she likes the original color so I've already purchased the yarn for a new one.


I've never knitted much for people outside my immediate family. This includes my best friend. During the holidays she asked if I would knit her a hot pink scarf. I decided to knit a scarf and matching hat. I have enough left over to make some matching fingerless mitts but I'm nut sure what hand size to make so I'm going to pass on that for now. I used the Cable and Eyelet Rib Pattern from "The Harmony Guide to Knitting Patterns Volume Two". This is the original guide and not the recently re-issued versions. The pattern was easy to remember and fun to knit. I still have to block both of them before packing and sending them on their way.




The cold weather arrived and the only person left without a hat was me. I knitted another Odessa with gold beads. This hat is perfect. I wore it to work on a bad hair day and didn't get overheated. It is one of the most comfortable hats I've ever made. Big ups to Grumperina.


I've been away from the Skyline Jacket so long that when I picked it up and started again my row count was off. It's hard to tell where the mistake was so I've ripped back to where the first decreases began. I'm using the Ott Lite and plan to work on this until the sleeve is finished. That will take two or three evenings then I can get on with the business of putting it all together. The cold whether has left us once again and we are back to temps in the 60's and 70's. Maybe this time I'll get it finished before the next cold snap passes through.