by Sixer

What’s That?

A Hat?* 

Finally a Finished Object! (an FO, in craft speak). This hat only took two days to knit up, and  I probably could have done it in one if I were super crazy (I’m not, I’ve always been just plain batty). I finished it Wednesday and have been wearing it everyday since then. This basically means “around the house” – I don’t get out much. But I did get to stroll down to the park in it, and I wore it over to a friend’s house. All her siblings (from the five year old up, Surprisingly enough, to the fourteen-year old boy) thought it was a “cool hat” and were duly allowed to try it on (okay, well, not the fourteen year old).

Stat Time:

Pattern: 1930s Beret
Yarn: Wool of Andes Bulky in Pewter – I used One-and-a-bit-of-a-second skein
Mods: Added an owl from Kate Davis’ awesome sweater, since that’s what the yarn was originally meant for. I also cast on 63 stitches and worked from the brim up, increasing to 108 about nine rows before starting the decreases. In the picture the hat is pinned with a brooch, but I have since added bobby pins to dramatize the fold. If When I knit this again I will go up another size in needles for the hat so it will be more “floppy,” as right now the yarn tends to perk up on its own. I also haven’t blocked it yet though.

Finishing something was such a great feeling that I started working on my knee socks. The ones I started  waaaaay back. Yes, I’m still on the first one. Yes, I knit slow. But I’ve started the calf increases so I can’t be that far from the finish. One of the other projects I vowed to undertake this summer was sewing. I started on a skirt before going on The Road Trip, but lack of interfacing for the waist band lead to it being set aside. I now have interfacing, not to mention more fabric, so hopefully it will be finished before the week is out. It’s Butterick 6550, view E if your interested. It has pockets, which all my currents skirts are in desperate need of, and incorporates a fun front pleat. The pattern is from my mom’s collection, but I may end up stealing it permanently.
I’m also half way through Simplicity 2364 in a gorgeous blue cotton knit. Halfway for a second time, since, in a tragic example of beginner’s bliss, I began the shirt in the same un-stretchy cotton I’m using for my skirt. This time around I can actually put the shirt on without dislocating a shoulder. All it needs is the sleeves and some fitting (which I’ll probably mess up, but hopefully in an educational way).

That’s all for finishing, or almost all. My siblings and I, in another vain attempt to up our waning geekiness, are trying to play D&D and I’m in charge of making the dungeons, so this afternoon I’ll be calculating the worth of various gems and magical items.

Emeralds of Owlish Wisdom: + 3 to all craft related experience rolls.

* “What’s that? A hat? A crazy, funk, junky hat. Overslept, hair unsightly, tryin’ to look like Kiera Knightly. We’ve been there, we’ve done that, we see right through your funky hat.” And if you’re sniggering because you know where this quote comes from, HA! You are no more innocent than I.