Tuesday, September 15, 2009

No one signed up for my knitting class, which really doesn't surprise me. I'm only slightly bummed. The owner told me hardly anyone signed up for anything, which doesn't bode well for her business, so I hope things pick up for her in the winter. She said we can try the knitting class again in the next session, but I think I'll wait 'til after the new year instead of in the holiday season.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

knitting morning

Actually, it started last night when I finished my Sub Rosa hat that I mentioned I'd be knitting in my last post. I need buttons for it still, which I think I'll get today (provided Joann's has any I like).

This morning, childless, I looked up the start of the Mystery Colorwork KAL that Melissa at KP is hosting. I've always wanted to do a Mystery KAL, but never seem to find out about them until too late! I was very excited to learn about this one a few weeks ago, especially since I can just use stash yarn for it.

I ended up making the sensible choice, though it feels a bit of a cop out, and chose only two colors (Bark and Petal). The original pattern calls for 15 colors, but Melissa kindly provided alternatives to this using 2, 10, or 11 colors - or anything in-between that your imagination could come up with. I have had these two skeins of yarn in my stash For.Ev.Er, so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to turn them into something.

What excites me most about this Mystery KAL is we don't even know what we're knitting. Melissa described it as a useful item that isn't worn, there is a steek involved, and a small amount of fabric sewing at the end.

When seeing the first bit of the pattern this morning, my immediate thought was a mug cozy. But as I started knitting in the round and saw the circumference, I decided it's not that. My next thought was a toilet paper cozy, but that was just a wild (and likely wrong) guess. My new guess is a potholder/trivet. We'll see if I'm right!

So I put Roman Holiday on this morning and got all of the set up rows done. Unfortunately our printer took a shitter a couple days ago (we've bought a replacement, but it hasn't been hooked up yet), so I've got to wait until the new one is set up before I can print out my colorwork chart!

I finished just as my soccer game was starting (great timing!) and have been working on my Emerald Isle Cardigan, which is great soccer-watching knitting. And now half-time is over so it's time to go!

Friday, September 11, 2009

cancelled!

The crochet class I signed up for was canceled yesterday afternoon because not enough folks signed up. I was bummed, but understood.

What I did not understand was the 'tude the lady on the phone gave me when I politely declined her offer to be rescheduled for another class and asked for a refund instead. And even more 'tude when I requested the refund receipt be mailed to me because I didn't know when I'd be able to pick it up. She wasn't rude, there was just some attitude in her voice about it. I explained that I only get my work schedule a week in advance, therefore it's impossible for me to reschedule at this time.

Now because of that encounter, I'm unsure if I'll sign up for the class again, which is sort of a bummer because I really wanted to take it.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

hats!

I am on an unintentional hat kick. How many hats does a person need? Apparently a whole basketful. I think I needed some quick projects because everything else I've been working on have been seemingly never-ending projects.

The culprits (aka the hats):

1. For William, the Dougie Dog Hat. I bought the yarn a few months ago for the whole set - hat, scarf, and sweater, but didn't feel like doing it until now (haven't started the scarf or sweater yet because HATS!).

2. For me, the Unoriginal Hat, which is, I think, THE quickest hat to ever knit up. As I said in my notes for this project on Ravelry, the yarn only cost me $1.46 too. Woo! I have enough yarn to make another one too for a gift.

3. Also for me, the Andean Chullo hat from KP. I wanted this when it was a kit, but didn't love the colors it came with. It's available as just a pattern purchase now, so I got it and did the hat in all browns because all of the new Palette colors KP came out with this fall were far too tempting. I'm done with the hat, just have to do the icord trim and tassels. It's ADORABLE.

4. For William, a Pumpkin Hat for the fall. I followed that pattern but used some of DiscKnit's modifications to make it look more pumpkiny. This hat was made from leftovers from William's blanket. I am also going to make newborn versions (1 or 2 depending on how much yarn I have!) for any babies born on Halloween in the birthing center at the hospital mom works at. I'm pretty sure this is the cutest hat ever created.

5. For me, I am nearly finished with the Tempest Beret, which I bought the yarn for almost immediately after getting this issue of Knitscene. I thought I'd give a different style hat a try.

6. After I'm through with the beret, I am going to CO one of several Banana Republic-style knock off hats that are on Ravelry. I prefer one pattern knit in a bulky, but I have worsted for this particular hat, but there is a different pattern for worsted too, so I'll just have to experiment a bit with this one, je pense. Oh, hat also for me (see??).

7. For me, with some Paton's SWS I have, I'll be doing the Herringbone Hat because that giant pompom is almost too adorable to resist.

8. And finally, when my yarn arrives, I will knit the Sub Rosa hat. I have the worsted yarn, which was going to be a different hat, but I realized when I printed the pattern that I didn't buy enough yarn, d'oh! So, since I wanted to knit this hat more, I decided to buy a skein of bulky weight to coordinate with my worsted and do this hat instead. I felt I had to take advantage of KP's lace sale anyway - I only bought three skeins, two of which are gift scarves! - so threw in the bulky weight skein also. And yes, this hat will be for me.

Cripes, it better be cold this winter (haha kidding. It better not be as freaking cold as it was last winter or I may die a little). I think I'm eager to have so many new hats this year though because I can wear them to work (like, while I'm working), so I'll have lots of super cute variety. Plus, I don't leave the house without a hat in the winter anyway. This took care of some much-needed stash-busting anyway.