Has me doing more than looking for the best eye cream. I’m finding I have a lot more time for knitting, too! Well, the early part and the staying off Facebook part. As I am sure you know, school has started and parents everywhere, me included, are up at the buttcrack of dawn to get the children on the bus. And then we do other stuff, like clean. And knit. I’ve finished 4 hats since the last one I posted. Go me!

This one went to Country, who was not it’s original intended recipient, but it was declared too girly for a man, and she liked it.

This one went to That One’s dad, for a “wear it in good health” type gift.

This one is going to That One’s sister, and now the whole fam will have hats.

And this one is That One’s.

Now I have moved on to finishing the pink Clapotis, and then…..who knows! I’ll admit that I am a wee bit tired of hats. At least for a bit.

Ok, so the weirdest yarn ever has been worked up. Due to a spell check error on That One’s voice recognition software, it has been dubbed The Insatiable Hat. Which is indeed an interesting name for a hat made of little balls on a long string. Here it is:

The yarn is interesting to work up. Basically you knit 2 stitches, and then hold the next ball in place and then knit two more stitches and so on. It’s not difficult once you get the rhythm of the yarn. The ending is a little tricky on a hat, and heaven help you if you drop stitches, which I had when I was finishing, three of them, and didn’t realize it until I was smoothing it to decide which side was the inside and which the out.

Now you know what I did with my afternoon: knitting and a movie, specifically The Secret of Roan Inish. Did you think I was off writing lipozene reviews??

You can all stop holding your collective breath now. I know you were. I finally decided that all work and no play was a very boring way to live and so, today I played a bit. I blew bubbles with my kids and I finally put the buttons on the BSJ. Just as I figured, it was a lot more fun that surgical treatment for hemorrhoids. Not that I’ve had that, but I’ve heard it kinda sucks. So. There ya go.

Here’s my sweater and hat:

And the wee hat:

And a close-up of the “falling leaves”. Hey, what else was I supposed to do with the leftover buttons?

So, here is another hat. As you can see, it’s small on me and would probably fit a child ages 5-8. I was making it with a person in mind, but some balls of sock yarn are shorter than others, and I ran out of yarn. That’s ok, I know a little gal that age who could wear a hat like this, and might be needing a present or two.

You might also notice I have the whitest face in North America. I could say that was a trick of the flash on my camera, but why lie about a thing like that? At least I am not worried about age spot removal. Well, on my face. I worked out in the garden shop three days last week, and what popped up on my arms is fairly scary. Sigh.

So, I finished the Clapotis, and it should be in the hands of it’s intended recipient any day now. I have to say that after I took the advice of my twitter friends and removed the stitch markers, it was a pure pleasure to knit. I also have to say that although I rarely knit the same pattern twice, I am probably going to make an exception in this case, because I want one for myself. I thought I was too short to pull off wearing one of these, but after I tried this one on, I think I could rock it.

Here it is, thrown over the back of a kitchen chair, because I am not a competent enough photographer to take a picture of my own back, and no one else was home when I was ready to get the shot.

One of the things I love most about this wrap is that, while it looks like nothing more than one of those elongated diamonds while you are knitting it, once you throw it over your shoulders, it drapes just amazingly. I guess it’s due to the diagonals of the dropped stitches or something, but…..it’s lovely to me.

O, so, yes I finished it in time, see?

This is the Pinwheel Sweater from elann.com. It is knit and crocheted from Brown Sheep Cotton Fine in color 230 Victorian Pink. I’d been wanting to knit this pattern for quite awhile, and if you recall, I started it last summer, and stopped a bit over halfway through the body, when I lost my knitting mojo.

Now, I do have a couple of pattern notes to share. If you look at the photos in the link, you will notice that they never show you the front of the “sweater”. I’ve put sweater in quotes there, because it is not really a sweater. It’s actually more of a bolero, as you can see in this frontal shot.

That worked out fine for me, since I really wanted to wear it to a formal event, and a sweater just would not have been quite the right thing. But I also wanted to warn you, in case a sweater is what you really need. Also, if you dance and spin, it will slip off your shoulder. But then it is really easy to let it slip off the other arm and throw it on a chair, so that worked out, too.

The back worked up pretty much like the pattern showed.

Here is the sweater laid out all nice and round:

And a close-up of the lace border:

And a gratuitous shot, just so I can comment about how nicely the yarn washed up and smoothed out. The stitches evened out nicely, which was quite a feat, considering I knit the whole thing on 16 inch rounds.

As I noted before, be careful on the lace. Mine is crocheted according to the written directions for the body lace. Those instructions do not match the chart. My lace is therefore a bit frillier than the lace on the pattern model, but that’s okay, because I am a frilly sort of gal. I figure that and good skin care products ought to keep me looking 18 forever, right?

I also finished the project I said I wasn’t ready to talk much about last week.

Since it is now completed and most likely in the hands of it’s recipient, I can share a few details now. I made it as a prayer shawl, and the pattern is from Sally Melville’s Book 2: The Purl Stitch. It was not a difficult knit, thought it did take a few repeats before the pattern became intuitive. After that, it was a pretty meditative exercise for me. And surprise! I saved a ball band, so I can tell you that it is made from three balls of James C. Brett Marble in colorway MT5.

Here is a closeup so you can see the color and texture a bit better:

The next project I am racing to finish is the pinwheel sweater. I need it finished, washed and blocked by the 20th. I’m on the body border now, with two sleeves and their borders to go. Wish me luck!! There are no Kauai vacation rentals depending on it, but I do want to wear it that night if I can finish it.

So, while some of you were busy at work, admiring your esthetically pleasing office furniture, I’ve been knitting, just like I said I was going to do. And I have finished a couple of things, just like I said I was going to do.

This is DaBaby in her new hat. It’s made from some leftover purple stuff (ahem, sorry) and Berocco Lullaby in colorway 4304. Now, Lullaby is beautiful, and it is soft. It is also not good for knitting with dry hands because it is grabby, and it’s also real easy to spear it with your needles on accident. And I have 19 more balls of it to use up somehow. Hmmmm.