The Year of the Hat

I hope you had a lovely Christmas. I know I did. It has been surprisingly sunny here in Tacoma for the past week or so, and I have been soaking it up.

And I'm not the only one.

 

 

Predictably, all of my knitting enthusiasm has left me, even as I try to remain motivated to finish WIPs that have been on the needles for quite some time. One of such projects that I did, thankfully, finish was my Molly hat. I cast it on on New Years Day and something in me refused to let this thing drag on into another year.

 

I like the end product well enough.While I am definitely a product-, not process-, oriented knitter, this was a struggle. As most people noted with this hat, there are two separate repeats to keep track of, the waffle stitch and the cable, that aren't written out together in the pattern. I wrote the pattern out in a Word document for myself as many suggested, but I still struggled to keep track of the rows. The 1x1 rib over 120 stitches really tried my patience. It's a great-looking hat, but for me it was a combination of fiddly and boring that lead me to not even pick it up for half the year, and when I did it was only out of a sense of duty to finish it.

 

 

The yarn is Universal Deluxe Worsted that I picked up at my LYS in Ohio. I've seen people suggest this as a cheap workhorse alternative now that Cascade 220 is nearing $10 a skein. I bought it mostly because I liked the mustard yellow color. I find it to be pretty scratchy, moreso than 220. It also had some knots and a few thin spots. All in all, I was not terribly impressed with it.  

 

I'm looking forward to the New Year and the new projects it will bring! What are your plans for 2015?



My schedule's clearing up

I recently gave notice at my job. The commute is almost two hours one way. For much of the time, I've had a vague sense of unhappiness with the job. When I interviewed at the company, they told me there were opportunities for me that I later learned were no longer viable. So the gnawing displeasure dawned on me a few weeks ago as I realized that I was becoming trapped in a dead-end job that required a ridiculously long commute. The only good thing I can say about it is that I generally get a lot of knitting done, but I would prefer to do that knitting at home with my family. However, at Christmas, this clandestine knitting time can be extremely valuable. Case in point, this Reversible Biking Hat I am making.

 

 

It's pretty slow going, as it is on size 3 needles. The yarn is Frontier Fiber Mill  Sport weight 100% Alpaca in Slate. The yarn is beautiful and soft. I find that Alpaca always sheds and makes my eyes and nose itch while knitting, but the finished product always makes the discomfort worth it. I purchased this yarn a few years ago at A Wool Gatherine in Yellow Springs, OH. I've worked on it on the train for one day and since A's at work today I can safely work on it at home. The pattern is easy to memorize, simple but interesting. I think the lacework will prevent the hat from being too warm, which is a problem I'm not entirely used to yet. Our recent move from Midwest to Pacific North West still has me overdressing on a regular basis.

 

 

 

I've also been working on the Molly hat, in an attempt to get some WIP's off the needles. The utter ennui I feel toward the hat only underscores why it has been languishing on my needles since the first of the year. I love the look of the hat but the process of knitting it is just too fussy.

 

In any case, I've began to dream of what I will knit at the end of my two weeks when my schedule clears up. Not having the additional 4 hours in transit to and from work may actually feel like I'm a productive human being again.  

 

 



'Tis the Season

Yesterday, after I came home from work, I had a lovely surprise awaiting me: my Black Friday Knit Picks purchases had arrived at last!

So today I have set about casting on my remaining Christmas projects. This morning I am toddling along on the first of a pair of fingerless mitts (Manly Mitts) intended for my mom. Usually she is the recipient of hand-knit socks, but I knit her the Hedgerow Socks for her birthday, so I wanted to get a little more creative with the gifts this time around. I decided on some black Capra for the mitts, as she tends to only like neutral colors and blue. The yarn has a great hand and stitch definition. I had been wanting to use it for a gift for my mom for some time, but I hadn't ordered from Knit Picks much since the security breach. I'm really glad I did buy it for this project. It is beautiful yarn. 

All I have left is to wrap up knitting a hat and cast on for a pair of DK-weight socks and my Christmas knits will be in the bag!