The boy in the yellow hat

This picture represents a huge sigh of relief, not only does the Knotty But Nice hat fit Mike, it looks a whole heck of a lot better on him than it did on me.  Thankfully now I can change the picture on my Ravelry project page as well so it no longer shows me grinning like a buffoon, wearing a hat that clashes with my hair!

Due to some minor laziness (and slight drunkenness) I haven't really done too much knitting the last few days.  I had to postpone work on the Kai-Mei sock because I couldn't find any little stitch markers.  Of course they were exactly where I thought they were, but because they are so tiny it took me two days to actually see them.  Note to self: get glasses fixed!  I did try and get on with them last night but the instructions were too confusing for a Sunday evening, maybe they'll make sense tonight?  In the mean time I've just been plugging away at the Cap Sleeved Top, I've just started decreasing for the arm holes and it's going quite quickly so I'm hopeful this will be done quite soon... except I may have accidentally (just don't ask me to justify my use of the word accidental - I can't) purchased a Playstation 3 at the weekend.  It hasn't arrived yet so I'm going to have to spend the next couple of days knitting like the furies because I suspect I won't be getting much done for a while.  I'm actually tempted to see if I can find out which games have the longest loading times so that I can get a couple of rows done every time I die!  A lot of my old PS2 games were brilliant for that, in fact you could have a small meal between the levels of certain games.  For persistant multi taskers like myself there are not problems but opportunities.

Knotty But Nice

Another night of telly and knitting yesterday saw me finishing the cable section of the Knotty But Nice hat and cruise through the 7 rows of ribbing. I got home from work tonight and started to decrease for the crown. An hour and a half later and I am done. I'm so proud of this hat, it just looks all cool and complicated. Clearly this is not a hat for myself though, anything this shade of yellow should not be allowed anywhere near my hair! Hopefully I'll see the intended recipient in the next few days and I can get a pic of them wearing it. I'm really hoping it fits him though, the cable pattern in the middle really pulls in so the centre of the hat is a lot snugger than the brim and the crown. If I make this again I will absolutely use a larger size needle for the charted part.

Normally as I finish a project I would be deciding what to cast on next, but after yesterday's little look at my UFO pile I really should be concentating on those. Of course knowing this I have all of a sudden come down with a dreadful case of startitis...must resist! Luckily the lastest issue of Knitty has arrived without bringing much for me to covet. I have added these socks to my queue, but I'm not so in love with them that they can't wait. Phew. So for the rest of the night I think I shall try and fix the shoulders on the Slouchy Cover Up and start the foot of the Kai Mei sock accompanied once again by the Brothers Winchester and the odd chocolate digestive. Yum!

Inventory

After another heavy weekend (which incidentally began on Wednesday this week) of drinking, dancing, shouting and getting very wet on theme park rides, I decided that yesterday would be a sofa, DVD and knitting day. Apart from a quick trip to the post box I managed not to leave the house at all and I had a lovely day. I popped Series 1 of Supernatural in the DVD player and tried not to let my inappropriate thoughts about Dean Winchester get in the way of my knitting! Work continues apace of the Knotty But Nice hat, I'm about 3/4 of the way through the cable chart now so the end is definitely in sight. As planned I have also transferred the Cap Sleeved Top on to some of those spangly new Knit Pro Spectra tips instead of the straight Knit Lites it was on. I am so glad I did. I don't know if was because the Knit Lites are a bit 'swingy' due to the size of the ends or just because I haven't used straights for ages, but I was finding it difficult to knit more than one row without stopping. Of course that wouldn't be a problem if I was happy to wait until 2030 for a little cardigan, but even I might be growing a little impatient by then. The Knit Pro Spectra's are a little grippy and slow for someone who generally favours metal needles, but they are pointier than a lot of plastic needles and they are soooo pretty. Overall, I likes them!

Also yesterday, during the course of my general pottering about I made an enormous mistake. I got out one of the boxes with my stash in because I thought there might be a rogue DPN in there. There was (hurrah!) but what there also was was a whole load of UFO's which I had forgotten about (boo!). I did attempt to cover them up again with stash, but no I had to take a photo and now I have to face up to all of these half finished projects and try to make a plan for actually finishing them.


1. Kai-Meis. Not sure why I stopped work on these, given that they are further along than the socks I have been working on lately perhaps I should concentrate on these instead?

2. Slouchy Cover Up. Embarrasingly this has been 99% done for well over a year now. I made a total balls up of the shoulder seaming so I kind of hid this and pretended it didn't exist. All I need to do is unpick the dodgy seem, do it again properly and then pick up some stitches for the neck and then bam, FO! This is going to have to be a priority.

3. Sloppy Joe. Not a priority. Much as I love this and want it, I'm not really going to need it until winter. It went to one side because the ribbing is a total pain in the arse and I needed the needle tips for something else.

4. Brights 2. I have no idea why I stopped working on this. It will be a really useful summer cover up so I will try and get on woth this as soon as the Cap Sleeved Top is done.

5. Alpaca socks. I have lost count of the amount of times I have lost the book with the pattern for these in! I currently know exactly where it is, but these are really a winter garment so they are going to the bottom of the pile. I'll be keeping an eye on that book though!

I think that's it, I guess it doesn't look too bad now I've laid it all out... does it?!

Hello my pretties!

Yay, they've arrived! These are my KnitPro Spectras which I have been so eagerly awaiting. I haven't actually tried them yet because I have been working on the Knotty But Nice since they arrived, but they are so very pretty just in the packet together so I don't really care. Tomorrow I will switch the Cap Sleeved Top off the straights I have been using and onto these and then I'll report back on how I like them.

Phew!

I finally managed to stop procrastinating this evening and fished the Knotty But Nice hat out of the naughty corner. As expected it took me about 5 minutes to unknit back to the beginning of the row and I obviously haven't made whatever error it was again so I shall never know what it was. Why, oh why did I not just do that weeks ago? I think I'll skip the psychoanalysis though and just be pleased I've finally done it. Progress continues to be quite slow with this hat, I'm having to concentrate really hard on the chart and getting the cables right, but I'm really enjoying seeing the pattern form. Cables are great! I love how they look so impressive, but are really easy to make. Ok, well less talky, more knitty and I may have half a chance of finishing this before the height of summer!

Plans. Not for sleepy people.

Yesterday evening was going to be knitting night. I had it all planned out, I had three projects all lined up and I was going to rotate between the three of them. I knew if I tried to stick to just one I’d give up quite quickly and get nothing done (I’ll go into that in a mo) so I put them all within arm’s reach. Then I sat down with the TV on, looking forward to watching Wonders of the Solar System (I am a total space geek) whilst making a nice dent in my knitting.... and promptly fell asleep. Guess I’ll have to try again tonight. Monday night is Glee night and that show is so damned perky I’m sure there is no way I’ll fall asleep this time. My main objective for tonight is to try and sort out the mess on the Knotty But Nice hat, which has been sitting in the naughty corner for quite some time now. I am well aware that even if I fix the problem and get loads done it is still very near the end of woolly hat season, but I am determined not to have this hanging around until Autumn. However, should I get frustrated with it again I have two other projects waiting in the wings.

This is the beginnings of the Cap Sleeved Top from Rowan Studio 11 that I mentioned in my last post. It nearly didn’t get started because I couldn’t find any 5mm needles but then I remembered that the Knit Lites I got for my birthday last year were 5mms. Obviously for novelty value I immediately sat myself down in a darkened room to knit with my super duper illuminated needles. Two things then dawned on me (aside from the fact that I may be mental). One, this top is stockinette. I can knit stockinette with my eyes closed, thus rendering light up needles a wee bit pointless. And two, these needles make my hands hurt. I think at most I have managed three rows in a, well, row before having to stop and move on to my third project, a nice easy sock, to give my hands a rest. This state of affairs is ok for the time being, but I have made a very exciting purchase which should remedy the situation as soon as it arrives. So I shall finish up today with a little plea to the Royal Mail to please bring me my Knit Pro Spectra set swiftly before I actually explode with anticipation!