The Colors of Christmas

There's nothing more satisfying, besides a cup of Starbucks coffee, than finishing a knitting project.
My little friend's hat is finally done and I can give it to his mom on Monday morning.
As you can see because of the color combination the hat has a Christmas look to it . It was the first thing I thought of as I was reflecting on this project.
Now, I know this hat is nowhere close to looking like the Thorpe hat with a fair isle design I had intended to knit, but honestly, I redesigned and unraveled the hat so many times I almost lost hope. Somewhere after the fourth or sixth frogging, I just went with whatever my fingers created and in the end prevailed.

The colors came out very bright in the picture... I have yet to figure out the setting on my camera that will make the color red look less bright orange. I'd like to thank my yard stick for stepping in as the hat model. :o)

I added a knitted band along the inside brim for comfort.
It seems that whenever I weave in loose ends I tend to make a small knot to secure them and in turn leaving a bumpy feeling against the forehead; I didn't want my little friend to get a headache while wearing his hat because of the knots; I want it to be a comfortable hat.

As I mentioned in a prior post, this hat was made for my little friend K.
K is a high-spirited little boy, oozing in creativity. I call him The Boy Genius...mainly because he is a high functioning autistic child that in more than one occasion has said the most profound things and left me in awe. He is one smart cookie.

Next project...

The Twisted Vine Neckwarmer by Grace McEwen

Choice

Today I broke the news to a group of first graders that we eat pigs and cows.

In the morning we were discussing a picture showing a pig eating apples and a rabbit eating a carrot, which somehow led to an explanation on why we raise farm animals.
It was a situation where one thing led to another, but the best
part was when one student asked me if hot dogs were made out of dogs.

You gotta love the innocence of a young inquiring mind.

Now I wonder...
how many will grow up and become vegetarians?

Saturday Night Movie(s)

While working on all of my projects (two), I've been watching movies from caknitter's movie archives (rubbermaid storage box).
Tonight's flick...
Two Can Play That Game with Vivica Fox and Mo'nique.
"Game recognizes game playah."
It's hilarious. Yes, women play games, but so do men.
Second movie...
Uncle Buck with John Candy and Macauly Culkin.
Favorite scene... when Uncle Buck (John Candy) attends Maizy's conference with the Principal and can't seem to focus on anything but the big wart on her chin.
I included an excerpt from that particular scene to share the humor of funny man John Candy. RIP.

"Buck Melanoma, Moley Russell's wart...not her wart, not her wart... I'm... I'm the wart, she's my tumor, my...my growth, my pimple. I'm Uncle Wart...just 'ol Buck Wart Russell, that's what they call me or Melanoma Head...they'll call me that...'Melanoma Head's coming',... I'm sor...Uncle...Maizy Russell's Uncle, I'm her Uncle... ."

Unfortunately, I have a very small mole on the side of my nose and students seem to spot it with their eagle eyes and are constantly asking me what it is. I tell them it's a mole and the doctor has to cut it off. Then, I proceed by demonstrating the procedure with my hand which leaves them with enough visual information and sound effects so to not ask again.

It's all very innocent... really. ;-)

WIP

The Lacy Scallops scarf kicks off caknitter's, 2009 Pink Scarf Knitting Extravaganza.
It was a request and I am happy to oblige. My goal is to make sure everyone around me wears a pink scarf as a show of support for breast cancer awareness.

My second wip is the hat for my high-spirited little friend and...
I just found out he is celebrating his birthday at Disneyland this weekend.
I wish I were a kid again.

I'm following Kristen Kapur's Thorpe Hat pattern and adding my own pseudo fair isle design.

My deadline: Sunday night.

Ho Hum

Soooooo, Donny Osmond will NOT be appearing on DWTS this season. Bummer!
I got really excited when I heard it on the Bonnie Hunt Show. I have to admit, I didn't see the entire show only a preview clip.
Oh well, maybe next season.
Okay...moving on!
I finished the cute preppy argyle hat, BUT I'm going to re-knit it soon because of the tightness around the middle, which resulted in a smaller size. The floating strands and my tugging at the yarn to avoid loose stitches made it too small even though I added extra stitches for this very reason.

Luckily, Crimson Purl had a link on her blog to a video teaching the two-stranded knitting technique for this particular issue.
Love it! A thousand thank you's Crimson Purl!
I tried it on my second fair isle hat and had pretty good results. Voila!Next up a hat for a little guy who loves to show his high-spirited creativity by wearing interesting headwear.

Happy V-day part 2

I finished watching Little Black Book, but haven't finished my hat.
In honor of Carly Simon's appearance in the movie here is a musical treat.

Happy Valentine's Day

One of the blogs I frequent often is Tiennie Knits.I enjoy browsing through her hand-knit creations, mainly because they are so cute and they serve a purpose; socks, hats, scarves, headbands...they keep her kids and their friends warm while playing outdoors. Recently Tiennie shared a cute hat pattern she appropriately named The Olivia Hat after her daughter's best friend. The hat was a request from the bff.
It's an argyle knit cap with a preppy look to it.Please excuse the blurry picture, my camera was focused on the background. More pictures coming soon.

I started the hat last night, but I'm hoping to have it done by tonight while watching Little Black Book. I know this may not be the most appropriate movie for this holiday, which is meant as a celebration of friendship and lovers. And, I'm aware the choice of movie seems a little cynical, especially when the message at the end is ...omission is betrayal... but I need a good comedy/tear jerker/happy-ending movie tonight. Bob the flatulent dog provides the laughs.
Carly Simon's appearance and music throughout the movie is a major bonus.
Need I say more?

Happy Valentine's Day! :-)

Fair Isle Anyone?

This is what I've been doing the past few days.
I've been wanting a cute fair isle knit cap for a while now.
While clicking away on the computer in search of a cute cap,
I spotted one on Ralph Lauren's website...on sale!
But, I was certain I could knit one up in no time.

This was the inspiration... cute, right?

Then came the design sketches...before and after the completed product.
I was full of inspiration after I finished the knit cap - trying to perfect it - trying to come up with new designs and color combinations.

The final product.

I wish I knew the trick to knitting with more than one strand of yarn. My knitting tends to bubble up, maybe because I tighten when I'm not supposed to and find random loose stitches when I switch strands. It's not consistent. It's frustrating. Live and learn.

Weather

This afternoon, I emailed my friend in Evanston. I was letting him know that according to My Yahoo Weather Forecast it was going to be a scorching 55 degrees in Chicago today!
I thought he'd get a chuckle out of it, especially since it was 57 degrees here and I was freezing my butt off!
He promptly wrote back and informed me that he was walking around with his winter jacket/coat unbuttoned/open. He's such a rebel!

I'm calling it...

Winter White Picnic

Commemorating The 50 States

In 1999, before the millennium, before Y2k, The US Mint introduced a series of new Washington quarter dollars.
Since the very beginning, I was diligent in my endeavor to collect all 50 state quarters.
I frequented many Starbucks in hopes of receiving the most current coin available with my change. Of course, some would call that an addiction to Starbucks coffee, I call it suffrage...I say, you gotta do, what you gotta do. In fact, I credit Starbucks with helping me complete the first six years of my coin collection.

Towards the end something happened... I dropped the ball.

2008 has come and gone and I'm missing 5 coins!
Luckily, I found Hawaii a few days ago...thanks Walmart!
If any of my friends are reading this post, do you by any chance have Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Oklahoma, or Alaska in your spare change?
If not, I think I may have to make a Starbucks visit soon.

Petals On Flowers

The headwrap is complete just in time for some cool weather, forecast for this Thursday.
I decided to post a picture of Whitney from The City wearing her darling headwrap as a comparison snapshot.
Adorable.

I was uncertain on the number of flowers to add on... I started with two... extra on the side.

I added a third. Does it look bulky?

Whether two or three flowers it came out pretty cute. The headwrap knitted up fast and wasn't complicated at all. Using Vanna's Choice yarn in grape, I cast on 96 sts using US 9 circular needles, ribbed edge, k1, p1, for 4 rows, stockinette stitch for 12 rows or however many you would like for your desired width, ending with a ribbed edge again, k1, p1, for 4 rows and bo.
I tried different methods and combinations for the crochet flowers, which in the end left me with several to choose from for another cute headwrap.

Happy knitting.

Warm Headwear

Is this not the cutest headband you've ever seen?
I first spotted this adorable headwear on an episode of The City.
California Whitney was sporting one on the day the girls broke the news to Allie aka skinny-as-a-toothpick model, that her bf had kissed another girl on boys' night. Sigh, more boy problems.
The one thing I enjoy the most about this show and GG is the fashion and every Monday night I get my fill.

I'm going to knit a similar headband. So far, I have the band completed, but the flowers are a bit more challenging. I'm not sure if the flower is knitted or crochet in one long piece or if individual flowers in varied sizes were stacked and sewn together. Hmm, time to experiment.
Pictures coming soon.

The picture above is courtesy of my Anthropologie mailer.