The new mother of invention... Guilt

Guilt is a funny thing. I was supposed to turn in my chemo caps last Wednesday. I had knit 8 of them, and on Tuesday had them bagged up and ready to turn in, along with 3 or 4 unused balls of yarn.

Wednesday, I was in bed until 6:30pm with a migraine. I fired off an e-mail to the hat collector, and she said this was OK, she would get the hats Thursday or Friday. On Thursday, she e-mailed me that she would pick them up Monday.

I felt awful, that I had thrown off her donation schedule... so I knit 5 more hats. I didn't intend to, but I had lots of knitting time thanks to Sandman's practice track meet on Thursday and final track meet on Saturday. I had yarn and needles, but wasn't in the mood for a pattern, so I improvised with seed stitch, and crown patterning, and diamonds, and finally seed stitch plus ribbing plus a mushroomy-top.

I have a couple cute one-offs that need more tinkering, but my final hat design is quite nice, even in acrylic. I did two prototypes before working out my math and techniques in the blue cap pictured here. I tried the hats on me, on Sandman's pre-teen head, and on Khi's melon head, and the result was quite charming on everyone. I have designed a cap!

Instead of having just eight hats and several balls of yarn, I have 13 hats and one ball of yarn that was just too unbearably ugly to knit. You can see its less ugly sibling in the photo to the left - the Sage Butter Ombre was knit-able, but Autumn Print was just too hideously rust and brown and gold. I grew up in the seventies; I refuse to relive them in bad yarn.

A little this, a little that

I've been knitting this and that. Several washcloths, some mitered, one lacy. I knit a wonderful licorice ombre cloth with a skull design for the Sandman, who asked for something for the downstairs bathroom. I used Pisgah Peaches & Cream for the first time, and really liked it. At $1.47/ball at W-Mart, it's much softer than the stuff I get at Michael's or JoAnne's.

I used a stashed ball of Knit Picks Main Line for a wonderful teal blue bib for a baby shower at the office. I started a hat, but didn't think it would be that

useful for a boy born in May. Quacking Up! is super cute, and the pattern designer, Elaine Fitzpatrick, has a bunch of fun bib/cloth designs. There is a great monkey that I will have to do next. I may have worked through my beige (monkey-colored) cotton, but I think I have a ball of orange! Orange monkey would be good. Maybe yellow?

A couple more chemo caps are off the needles. Robin's Egg was simple but very pretty, even in acrylic. I tired a new hat pattern for my third ball of Fixation - Wavy Cable Lace. It's very pretty, and a very comfy hat. I have one more ball of white Fixation, which I'm planning to use for a Mobius cap.

If I can get it knit this week, I will dye all four Fixation hats this weekend. I know where my old fabric dyes are - I just hope they are still good after fifteen years!

Piece o' Pi

I finished the first of 4 Pi Topper caps that I will knit with Fixation and then dye, because the nubby texture just cries for color.

I used size 3 needles, but I will try 4s for the next cap, as this one is very dense - not a bad thing, but a smidge more drape and size will be a better thing.

I'll probably do one cap in seed stitch, and perhaps use another 6-row pattern for the third and fourth. Using a 6-row pattern makes this hat super easy, as the increases occur after 3, 6, 12, and 24 rounds.

Long time no blog

Was it the post-Olympics let down? Maybe... or maybe just nothin' fun enough to blog about!

I did finish the Merino Lace socks. They are nice and long and lacy, and I love the color.

I've knit two chemo caps, with very acrylic yarn. I'm not a yarn snob for general wear, but I'm not really happy with these hats. They are cute, but I just don't think they will be comfy caps for bald heads. It's tempting to stow the acrylic - for scarves perhaps - and just buy a ha' dozen balls of Esprit and knit Pi caps for the cancer patients, so I know the hats will be 100% wearable.

While I consider breaking my yarn diet for a good cause, I will knit up the extra ball of deep purple cotton left over from my first chemo cap, for my former boss. I didn't snap a picture of that hat, which is fine because it was huge. He wore it anyway, almost every day during his chemo - he just turned up the ribbing and a good inch or two of hat. Thank goodness it was a reversible pattern! He looked very Jacques Cousteau, actually.

Sandman is modeling my new hats, as I am hoping his hairy preteen head equals one bald adult head. I told him I wouldn't show his face, but I couldn't resist including his baby blues.

Because I missed it, I have picked up my Percy shawl again and added a couple rows tonight. It's so very lovely. I truly have no idea how big it will be. The cobweb lace looks like nothing, but I know it's going to block into something spectacular.

Finally, I dropped off Abigail at her forever home tonight. A nice couple met her at the Meet & Greet last Saturday and fell in love. I think she will keep her name, because she totally looks like an Abigail and the new family liked it because it wasn't a typical dog name. She will have roommates to play with and there were already toys and new kennel waiting for her. Good luck, goofy girl!

We have entered into a nopuppy zone - new pups arrive Friday, but I will not be bringing any home for a while. My boys need some lovin', although Harley looks plenty happy.