Limp Lettuce

A few weeks ago, I posted about the ridiculously expensive hat I saw at a boutique. Though I've been swamped with midterms and sickness (diagnosis: an acute sinus infection) I couldn't resist playing around with this pattern.

I picked up two skeins of Paton's Classic Merino when AC Moore had their 33% off yarn sale.


Although the original hat most likely had a crocheted brim, I've been playing around with lacy, scallopy patterns.


This first attempt was less than successful, though. I like the look, and I'm definitely going to continue with this approach, but the brim didn't look floppy enough, and the scallops were too big. I took it off the needles and stuck it on my head.


Yeah, it kind of looks like I'm wearing tight, wilting lettuce. Not the look I was going for. Undaunted, though, I'm going to frog and start again this evening.

As for the waterbottle sling, it's done, though it needs to be blocked. This weekend, I'll be able to take pictures of it with the intended recipient. :D

Shoes and Sickness

I got new shoes!

They're Keen Venice H2s in Light Green Yellow. Completely animal friendly and completely awesome. They should be great for the summer. Not exactly knitting content, but there's been a bit of a paucity of that around here lately. I've been sick with the Cold From Hell^TM that just might be bronchitis, so saith the pharmacist. Unfortunately, I have no doctor to confirm this, as my insurance company won't let me see anyone out of state. It's as good as not having insurance. Also, it's that excruciating time in the semester where midterms abound. So much to do, so much stress, absolutely no time to spend days in bed, which is what I'd really like to do.

I admit, though, I haven't been entirely devoid of knitting in the past few weeks. I made another hat for myself out of the Mountain Colors Mountain Goat.


I'm telling you, I've got this pattern down. Just look at the crown shaping. It thrills me in a way that only a knitter could appreciate.


D would never choose this yarn for herself (too bright), but now that she's seen it, she wants one, too. I have a skein and a half left, and I can bang these hats out in two evenings, so I'll make another one for her and maybe a scarflette for me. We shall see. I'd like to get started on my sweater, but I need new needles. The Denise cables are just too darn sticky and I have to work to slide stitches along. I'm going to invest in some Addi Turbos, which I've heard wonderful things about. Until then, that's on hold.

The waterbottle sling is coming along. The body is completely done, as such:


I'm actually quite a bit further along in the strap. The picture's about a week old, and I have a the pocket and about 15 inches of strap done. (By the way, whose bright idea was it to do 50+ inches of strap on size two needles? This is taking forever!) If I don't get distracted (or sicker or, heavens forbid, study), I should have it done for the end of next week when D arrives. :)

And lastly, I present you with the photographic evidence of the most energy I've had all week. The shoes have simply made me that excited.


Hiiiiiiiiiiiiyah!

Flying Fingers!

It's amazing how much time I can waste when I get on the computer and start reading blogs.

The people and atmosphere of a yarn store greatly affect the appeal of yarn for me. On Sunday, a bunch of the ladies from my knitting group and I took a field trip to Flying Fingers. It is by far the nicest yarn store I've been to, and consequently, I wanted everything.


Look at how neat and bright everything is!


We were all very happy knitters.

The owners and everyone who worked there was so friendly and helpful. I wandered around for a good long while with my patterns and notebook. I'm a very precise when it comes to buying yarn. I look for my choices and do the math to figure out how many skeins I'll need for a particular project and how much those skeins will cost me.

My patternbook came in the mail on Friday. For my sweater, I decided to go with Mission Falls 1824 Wool in Damson, color 24. It's this rich and deep eggplant purple that can't really be captured on camera. It's amazingly soft, a superwash, and I'm told that it wears like iron.

Those are just a couple of the thirteen balls I bought.

I also picked up two skeins of Manos in Lava Multi, #105 for a hat for D and two skeins of Mountain Colors' Mountain Goat in Juniper for a scarf for me. The purple needles were a gift from the lovely owner, Elise.


My only small regret is that I bought and had all my yarn wound before a few of us stopped in this little boutique down the street. There was this adorable knit hat. I didn't have any yarn budget left to run back to the yarn shop and buy the yarn to recreate it, and I certainly didn't have the funds to buy the hat itself (it cost $80!), but I had Efrat snap a couple surreptitious pictures for me in the store so I could make it at a later date.


Bottom line: If you're ever in the area of Irvington, NY, stop into Flying Fingers. If you can make it to NYC, they'll even come pick you up in their Yarn Bus.


How freakin cool is that?