Since we’ve already determined that my head is not massive, I needed a better-fitting hat. I really enjoyed the ginormous hat I made, so I set out to make another one that actually did fit me. It was pretty fun, and I finished in two days. I added a pom-pom (I’ve had a maker for years, and the video linked here showed me how to use it) and braided the sides, instead of doing an i-cord. I also carried the colors up the side, instead of changing and breaking colors throughout.

I think that the next time I make this hat, I won’t make the earflaps so large. Other than that, I love the way it came out!

Which is a pity, since this hat that I knit is pretty much giant-sized. I think I must not have been paying attention when I made it. I was hanging out with a friend and we were laughing at her cat and enjoying the day. Maybe that’s why I managed to cast on an exra 20 stitches without noticing. Anyway, this hat is pretty cool, despite the fact that it could cover the national debt. I was going to give it to my older nephew, whose head is rather…large, but he’s a little sensitive about his massive cabeza, so I’ll figure out something else to do with it.

It looks okay from this angle

And then you see how much there is to this hat

Although this hat was far too large for me, I learned a couple of nifty lessons whilst making it. 1) I learned how to do an i-cord. As usual, I found a youtube tutorial that explained things to me. 2) I learned a cool way to change colors. It’s called the overcast method, and I think goodness that I found it!

I got off to a good start with the Baby Chalice Blanket for my friend, and made pretty steady progress in the weeks leading up to her baby shower. Then a crazy, act-of-god-type thing happened that derailed me for a bit, and meant that I didn’t finish the blanket until approximately two hours before the shower!! Luckily, it came out okay (Figure A), but obviously I wasn’t going to give it to my friend unblocked. I wrapped it, and let her cuddle it at the baby shower, before whisking it away with me to be blocked and prettified.

Figure A - Unblocked and bunched

Then, I was so proud of myself for having finished and blocked it that I basically sat on it for weeks. Then, when I was ready to send it, I caught the cold from hell, and I was laid up for the better part of two weeks. I actually wanted to knit then, but was so gross that the thought of knitting anything was disgusting to me; I didn’t want for me or anybody else to come into contact with my sickness germs, and I knew that no amount of washing would ever make me feel good about anything I’d knit during this time. So then I was feeling better and finally sent the blanket to be blocked, which took longer than I was given to expect (I am not the only procrastiknitter I know).

Figure B - Blocked, but on a desk & wrapping paper

Finally, it was all done (Figure B), but I’d started a pair of booties at the meeting of my knitting group, and decided to throw them in the box, as well. So of course, there was nothing to do but to finish the booties and then block them (Figure C). Then I got delayed by the storm from hell, but I finally, FINALLY mailed the package out today. I thought that I was going to be in time for the baby’s due date, but it turns out that Baby A’s sense of time is very much like my own, and he is actually several days overdue. Ooops! It looks like my blanket is going to be arriving pretty much the same time he does, since my friend was induced today.

Figure C

I have finished more objects this month (3) than I have in some entire calendar seasons. Yes, that is sad. If you count the things I’ve finished since December, then the number goes up to 5. That’s some major productivity, if I do say so myself. And I’m nearly done with the second baby blanket that I’m working on and I have to knit Satanski some stuff before his birthday in two weeks, so…yeah, I’m totally on a roll. I’ll do posts on the things that I’ve finished lately, and show my progress with the current blanket.

I’ve inspired myself so much that I am going to try to finish all of my remaining UFOs before the end of 2010. Ambitious, I know. We’ll see how that goes.

I don’t visit knitting blogs a lot, unless I’m looking at a post related to a specific item or technique. Today, though, I was looking through Ravelry profiles and decided to visit the knitblog maintained by a friend from college because I was fascinated by the post’s title: A Scarf for Haiti. And that’s how I learned about HeartsforHaiti, an Etsy store where craftsters donate all of the items, and all proceeds (minus Etsy and Paypal fees) go to Doctors Without Borders. What a great idea!

A friend of mine had emailed me this morning to suggest that we get together this weekend and knit a spiral scarf, and I always work better with a specific goal/recipient in mind, so now I can make this scarf and donate it to this shop. Also, now I can buy something nice for myself and know that I’m supporting a good cause while doing it. Win all around!

I’m making the best of an annoying situation with my Clematis yarn. This picture is from my flash-less phone, and therefore sucks, but here is what the blanket is looking like these days:

Clearly, there are multiple hues at work here. Boo! Hiss!

I am working on two baby blankets right now, for friends who are going to be welcoming their first children in 2010.  For reasons I can no longer remember, I decided to go with Madeline Tosh Worsted yarn. I bought it from Webs. I used the colorways Fjord and Clematis. The Fjord came right away and the colors of the 4 skeins I received were pretty similar.  The Clematis skeins were backordered, and arrived after three and a half weeks. When I did get them, they weren’t at all consistent, and two of the skeins look nearly navy or black, while the other two are nicely variegated. This is an annoying but not impossible set of circumstances to fix. Still, I am shaking my fist at the losers at Webs who gave me four non-matching skeins of yarn. I understand that they’re hand-dyed, but I’m pretty sure that they’re matched by humans, and whoever put this order together probably could have done a better job at making sure my four skeins matched.

Fjord. Awesome.

Clematis. Less awesome.