Custom Order Progress Update! Three Very Ambitious Hats!

I feel so lucky to be working on this custom order. You know, having quoted such a low price (all my fault) has really taken a lot of the pressure off. Which is strange, because this is some of the most intricate knitting I’ve done it a while. Wanna see? I wanna share!! (the last one may be my favorite!♥)

** Fancy Cables for a 3 Year Old **

 

This toddler-sized cabled hat was…ridiculous, but in the best way possible! Every section has a new cable to look at, which as a knitter is always a bonus for me. The yarn may be 100% acrylic, but a little guy is going to be wearing it, so my guilt is minimal. Also, despite the rumors, after it is washed – it really is much softer. Plus, I’m only charging $5.00 a hat. 🙂

 

** RIBS AND CABLES TO GROW IN TO **

This is probably the least interesting of all the hats I’ve been making. Following the same idea I followed with the Honeycomb Hat, I picked a rib stitch and a cable stitch and let my needles fly. I even used the same decrease. There is an odd sense of satisfaction with creating something all on your own, although I am sure some other knitter has already done it. Either way, it is another hat off my needles.

** THE BABY HAT I WOULD MAKE FOR MY (IMAGINARY) BABY **

There are a million reasons that I am in love with this patchwork knitted hat. I love the color changes. I love that all eight panels are different. I love the little fluff at the top of that hat that you get with a simple running stitch. More than anything I love how this hat told my knitting story.

You start with the garter stitch, the first thing you learn as a knitter. Moving on to stockinette and then seed stitch. These were my go to’s for probably my first whole year of knitting (I had a limited imagination, as well as very limited time to learn). The next panel is actually the wrong side of twisted ribbing, the first thing I every really messed up as a knitter. The whole hat was inside out and I didn’t notice! So I went back and learn the basic rib stitch to allow my confidence to grow back. After getting a handle on how knits and purls changed texture I added the basket weave stitch to my go-to dishcloth pattern. With my confidence reignited I went back to the twisted rib stitch, this time correctly! To finish it off was learning the basic cable – and it’s all history after that.

I will fully admit that this hat made me cry a little. Goofy, I know. I just imagined myself pregnant, knitting a hat like this to bring Trevor and I’s baby home in. I don’t know if that will ever happen (although I am a bit of a pessimist where this is concerned), but a hat that shows knitting progression just felt like life progressing. The thought that our lives will progress without a child can quite literally take my breath away. However, I will gladly take giving it to someone else, letting them bring home a baby in a hat made with unconditional love.

End of diatribe.

Well that’s it for me friends and neighbors, although I may have blown my blogging load and it’s only Monday! How about you, where are you getting your knitting/blogging inspiration this week?

Sorry for Going AWOL!

 * * Quick Reminder * * 

You have until Wednesday the 21st (my hubby’s birthday ;)) till 11:59am to enter the GIVEAWAY! Click →HERE← to enter!

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 * * I Have Been Negligent! * *

Oh friends and neighbors, I am so sorry for dropping a giveaway in your laps and then disappearing for days – this is the first time I have ever done that. You know, if there wasn’t a natural disaster occurring that is 🙂

I would love to give you a really good excuse like 1) I worked 60 hours last week or 2) I have almost 40 orders for ruffle scarves or 3) I was at the Mid-Ohio Fiber Fair and lost in a great euphoria of fiber and yarn or 4) I was crazy busy getting ready to get Trevor ready for work, which starts tomorrow.

But honestly it was a bit of laziness. I should have been able to keep up with reading all your wonderful posts and promoting the giveaway every day but I was just so burnt out that I felt kind of foggy all the time. I like to put a piece of myself in my posts, and all my pieces were just a little too tired to do it justice. For that I feel a bit guilty – okay, a lot guilty. Hopefully this week will slow down enough that I can give all of you the attention your blogs deserve and make a post that won’t bore you to tears.

It’ll be a busy week! The giveaway ends Wednesday at 11:59 and Thursday a post announcing the winner and listing all the wonderful shops and small business will be listed for your viewing pleasure. I am so excited to see how it turns out and who I am going to get to make a care package for! After that it on to more ruffle scarves!

Cannot wait to catch up with every single last one of you, I’ve missed you through my haze of ruffles! 🙂

Welcome Distractions

As anyone who has been made redundant, or has lived with someone who has lost their job you’ll understand that it can make someone quite jittery. As good as a mood as I’ve been it, it has been a bit hard to keep my focus on just one thing – my mind is a tad jumpy these days. I am combating all this with a few simple (or lots of not so simple, depending on how you look at it) things to keep my mind busy.

˜From My iPod to My Ears˜

Ken Follett – Pilliars of the Earth

The xx – Coexist

Glen Gould – The Complete Goldberg Variations

• In audiobook world I am listening to Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth. I always wanted to read this book, but the epic tome is over 1,400 pages long and more than a little daunting. When I found the audiobook at the library I was delighted to see that the narrator was well-known and well-respected, so I snatched it up. Twenty-nine, yes 29 CDs later he was all queued up for my listening pleasure – which so far it has been.
• The xx are my go to band for pumping me up. I know all the words to every song, both on xx and Coexist. Sometimes you need to sing out loud – in some cases very loud – to relieve unwanted stress. I just try to be careful that I am not causing anyone else any stress with my singing! *Blushing*
• The Complete Goldberg Variations on Bach by Glenn Gould is another one of those things that I just couldn’t live without knowing it exists. Spanning several decades (1955-1981) the recordings are fantastic, you can hear Gould talking in the background (which doesn’t take me out of the moment) and the music is divine. I can do anything with this playing in the background – if anything it helps me concentrate. I am so glad I grew up with a next door neighbor that played in the symphony, I’m a total classical music whore! (Yup, try to reconcile that statement in your mind 😉

˜On My Bedside Table˜

Platform. Get Noticed in a Noisy World.

Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls

A Game of Thrones

If you thought I was monogamous with my knitting, you should see how many books I balance at any given time!

• Platform: How to Get Noticed in a Noisy World by Michael Hyatt was recommended to me when I first opened my Etsy shop ( I dearly wish I could remember the blogger). Non fiction that reads like a college text-book, it outlines the best ways to start a business – and more importantly how to be successful in this endeavor. Mine is highlighted, bookmarked, written in, post-it-ed and anything else you can imagine. I like going back and rereading certain sections when I feel it is necessary.
• Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris is also non-fiction, but of the short (and mind-blowingly hysterical) essay style. This is great to read before bed when you know you won’t be able to log serious reading time. Just read an essay, wipe the tears from your eyes from laughing too hard and turn out the light.
• A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin is something I never expected to get into. I was at a baby shower for a friend of mine (she’s on her fourth baby by the way) and she ranted and raved about how good these books are. So I figured if someone with four kids had time to read, and enjoy, these books then I should give it a go. So far it is actually quite enjoyable – I just hope it keeps it up, once I start a series it is a OCD thing that I have to finish it. This means if it sucks, I suck it up. So….fingers crossed!

˜On My Knitting Needles˜

So many projects, so many different gauges and techniques needed – I love variety. If I had to knit just one thing at a time my poor head would explode, I need the option to change routes when A) my hand is sore B) I simply cannot do another cable or color change or C) I want to watch a movie at the same time.

Men’s Cabled Beanie

Length-Wise Scarf

Another OSU Buckeye Hat

Roman Pillar Baby Blanket

The Fault in Our Stars

• Men’s Cabled Beanie – This one is great because every row is different, no repeats on this baby. I tend to gravitate to this pattern when I need a solid distraction from the world. Just me, my needles and my counting.
• Roman Pillar Baby Blanket – This is a 6 row repeat that I just can’t seem to finish – it’s like I develop ADD the moment I pick up the needles. Luckily, there is only 7 more inches to go. I just need to push through.
• Length Wise Linen Stitch Scarf – Nice and neat, easy to repeat. I like working on this sucker when I am watching TV or find my mind is a little distracted. It is also great to work on in the car when going to see my mother and father-in-law.
• The Fault in Our Stars Scarf – I have no idea what I was thinking when I casted on seventy (70) stitches in the round for this scarf. All I know is that Gloria and I loved the idea, wanted it made and so shall it be. I just have no clue how long it is going to take, knitting endlessly in the round can be really tedious.
• Another OSU Buckeye Hat – You guessed it, a family member asked me to make them (for free…grr…) the hat I have on my Etsy shop site. Since I have no backbone – and I was in a spectacular mood this week, I relented. I am just hoping for good word of mouth at this point.

˜In Which I List Everything Else I Do to Keep From Pulling My Hair Out˜

• Learning to spin.
• Working – Have I ever mentioned my job? Eh, it’s not really worth mentioning.
• Playing Animal Crossing: New Leaf – OCD porn I tell you! Collect things, cross them off lists….amazing. Plus, Gloria loves it so when I play too much or too long I just send it to her house.
• Cleaning the house.
• Organizing my workroom.
• Cooking all sorts of new things, within our budget of course.
• Long walks.
• Taking/Editing loads of photographs.
• Gardening and drying fresh herbs.
• And of course…Making Lists.

I think that may be all I have to start this Monday morning with a bang. I sincerely hope I haven’t bored you into a coma. It feels good to write, to share – cathartic is the wrong word but the best I can come up with at the moment.

So, friends and neighbors, what do you do to keep yourselves busy? I love new ideas!