Snakes on a Hat!

lake
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So here is the book I've been talking about, along with some of the Debbie Bliss Chunky Merino I bought to knit post-it marked hats with. I love every hat in this book. I will knit them all. I will be like Alyssa, and vow to knit 10 hats in one month, or something like that. (Isn't it kind of crazy how I reference Alyssa in all my blog updates; it's just because she's the best knitter I know.) In unrelated news, I have been sending Samuel Jackson Snakes on a Plane phone calls to everyone I know. Go ahead, do it, you know you want to. I think that they should come out with a Samuel Jackson alarm clock so when it goes off he says "Get your ass out of bed & get ready for school!" That would get my kids going in the morning.

Bday Box

Bday Box
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Happy Birthday to my August Birthday Swap Pal Mindy in downstate Illinois! Her birthday was yesterday and I sent her, two skeins of Lorna's laces sock yarn in Cranberry, two skeins of Elizabeth Lavold hemp in an aqua color, w/ 4 little matching buttons, a couple of bars of sweet smelling soap and a box of the best English Toffee ever, handmade at Cora Lee Candies in Glenview, IL. Seriously, if you like English Toffee, order some of this for yourself, then thank me in the comment section later!

Hip Knit Hat #1

Hip Knit Hat #1
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I think I've mentioned before, I looooove knitting hats because they're instant gratification! I mean, I'm no Alyssa, I'm a slow knitter, so to knit a hat like this and have a finished object 2 hours later, well it makes me happy. I bought the yarn at Elann, $3.98 per ball thank you very much, and it took 2 balls, one cream, one eucalyptus, to knit this hat. It's the first knit hat listed in Hip Knit Hats & I've got about 8 more post-its in that book marking pages and I ordered about 10 more balls of this yarn, Debbie Bliss chunky merino from Elann. This is my first pompom attempt, which is why it's so lame and uneven. I had knit this hat for my husband, but then he said it wasn't his color, so I stuck a pompom on it for inexplicable reasons. Maybe I'll knit him this instead. Out of something itchy. Ha!

Cara

Cara
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For those of you who don't have a six year old at home, let me just say that they are brutally honest. As in "Mom your chest looks kind of wrinkley" honest. So I started knitting this Cara bag from Knit Rowan, it was the free pattern in March I think. I ordered the yarn, Rowan Holiday, in the color shown in the picture, Sand I think. But they should have called the color, old nylons, because this yarn looks exactly like old nylons. In fact when I started knitting with it, I thought to myself, wow, I wonder if I took all those old nylons that I haven't worn for about eight years, and cut them into strips, maybe I could make some of this yarn. And my six year old said "Mom, I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but that yarn is an ugly color." I think the saving grace will be the beautiful lining fabric I bought at Repro Depot.

Booga Bag before felting

Booga Bag begore felting
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Booga Bag before felting: huge & unwieldy. Booga Bag after felting: so cuuuuute! I wonder if I knit one the size of a suitcase, after felting would it be a nice tote size? I may just have to give it a try.

Booga Bag after felting

Booga Bag after felting
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Booga Bag, washed it 3 times in a pillow case, isn't it cute?

Ponytail hat from KnitGrrl

Ponytail hat from KnitGrrl
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So this is the Ponytail Hat from Knitgrrl, knit in Muench Tessin, the color they used in the book. I cast on for this last Wednesday at Group, finished it Sunday, would have been sooner if I didn't have to finish that One Skein Wonder so I could have the size 8 needle out of it (for explanation, see below.) My oldest daughter is modelling because she has the most impressive ponytail; originally I thought I would knit one for each of my kids, but I just received the book Hip Knit Hats from Amazon & I have post it notes on about 10 hats, so I think I'll try some of those. I love knitting hats because I'm an Instant Gratification kind of girl.

One Skein Wonder

One Skein Wonder
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Hey, is that actually a FO on my blog? Believe it or not I've got 3 to post and it's kind of funny, the only reason I finished this, Glampyre's One Skein Wonder, is that I needed the size 8 circular needle out of it to finish a hat. So anyway, this came out way smaller than I expected, which is why my 9 year old is wearing it. I knit it in Colinette Skye, color Kingfisher & I swear I only had 8 inches of yarn leftover, which is why I was afraid to finish it in the first place, because I was afraid of running out!

Stitches Midwest Score

Stitches Midwest Score
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Ok, so here's my Stitches Midwest Score. From left to right, top to bottom, I've got 2 Skeins of Brooks Farm Four Play (Color 70), not sure what I'm going to knit with this, perhaps t-twist like Alyssa suggested, Cascade Silk from Tess Designer Yarns, the color is Lime Splash, and I bought the Victorian Leaf shawl pattern from them, 1 skein of Harmony from Brooks Farm (Color 17) I'll knit something for my husband with this, 3 Skeins of Noro Kureyon in Color 131, I might make another Booga bag with it, 1 skein of Socks that Rock in Rooster Rock medium weight, 1 Skein of Sea Silk, have no idea what color it is, it's purples, soft reds, and golds and I already ordered the one skein shawl pattern from Lettuce Knit, from Dzined a skein of sport weight wool & hemp (I bought a mobius pattern from her), 3 skeins of Bambu in color Lucy in the Sky and their Summer Breeze pattern, and 3 skeins of Tonalita in Color 2354.

August Bday Swap, unwrapped

August Bday Swap, wrapped
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And here it all is, unwrapped in all its glory! I'm thinking about knitting Knucks from the new Knitty with the Inca Marl, haven't quite decided on the rest. We had "Group" tonight, everyone is all atwitter over Stitches Midwest this Friday.

August Bday Swap, wrapped

August Bday Swap, wrapped
Originally uploaded by lizflor@sbcglobal.net.

Hooray for my August Birthday Swap pal, Jo from Boston. Check out all the fabulousness she sent me: lots of fibery goodness, my favorite is the "Neopolitan" yarn, she really paid attention when I said I loved pink & brown together! Also Inca Marl, so soft & warm, & in two colors and some soft kid in soft grey. Not to mention 2 kinds of yummy looking cookies, Necco Wafers (a New England treat, who knew?) and some lavender soap. Thank you birthday pal, you are the best!