Sunday Productivity and a Hat for Me

The past few Sundays have been lazy. I haven’t felt too guilty about it, but some weekends it’s nice to get something accomplished. Yesterday I managed to get things done around the apartment, but we never ventured out, which is kind of silly considering it was nice yesterday and today was super cold. But sometimes things just work out that way.

A smallish chunk of time was spent at work today making up hours ahead of time for volunteer meetings I have this week. One would think working on your day off would be rough, but not so much because I find my job fun most days. Which doesn’t mean Monday will be easy, because it never is, but at least I can relax this week when it comes to making up time.

I called my brother to wish him a happy birthday. I’ve officially had a little brother for 32 years. Time flies.

I went to Stitch n’ Bitch tonight. I took a bit of a hiatus for a few months because I wasn’t knitting at all, but I’m getting my groove back. Our location rotates, so tonight we were at Hastings Hardback Cafe which is kind of my go-to location for everything because I like their coffee and I’m comfortable there. And wouldn’t you know it…I finished a project.

I’d originally set out to knit this one for my nephew, but honestly? I think I really like it for myself. I don’t wear hats well, but I think this one looks kind of cute and it’s comfy on my head. So he’ll get the next one I do, which I went ahead and cast on for this evening. I’d better prepare myself…8 1/2 inches of 2 by 2 ribbing is coming.

I’m finishing off the night with some blogging and movies, including The Dark Crystal and Zoolander, though I probably won’t finish Zoolander because I’m getting sleepy. But I’ve seen it about 22 times, so no biggie.

You might be wondering why I’m blogging all of a sudden after going for months with nothing. I have no answer. I go with what I’m feeling and for some reason, I was in the mood to blog tonight. I even have a few scheduled for the next couple days…so yay again for Sunday productivity!

A.

Knitting Furiously

So I’m not really furious when I knit. In fact, I’ve been pretty even keeled lately, if not just slightly depressed due to winter weather and snow and cold, but that’s nothing new. As for any sort of anger or rage, that’s been pretty non-existent for a few months now. I get annoyed by things, but I made some good decisions at the end of last year and I’m kind of reaping those benefits.

“Knitting furiously” really just means that I’ve been knitting a lot. I hadn’t picked up my needles in a long time, and then all of a sudden it was like I couldn’t get enough. I think part of it is that I realized how much stash I had and I have a yarn hop coming up and in my mind, I can make a dent in my stash big enough to warrant buying new yarn.

I’m pretty sure that’s not going to happen. In fact, my hop list doesn’t include any yarn. Instead, my focus will be notions, needles, and patterns. But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to try to get that stash down.

I offered a few of the finished objects up on Facebook to those who wanted them. Others I knit with specific people in mind, namely my nieces and nephews, one of which I will meet for the first time this coming summer. Because I’ve been in a “hat” mood, I figured that would be the easiest thing to kick out.

Slouchy hats for young ones.

The slouchy hats above were super easy to knit and made for good knitting while gaming. I didn’t really have to think about them. The other hat I made was a little more challenging as I actually had to count, but it still wasn’t bad. I knit it up mostly during a knit-in-public night with friends where I consumed way too much coffee and ended up pulling an all-nighter.

Felber says it looks like a little raspberry.

Sadly, I can’t find the pattern I used. My phone apparently spazzed when I tried to add it to my Ravelry queue and now it’s not there. So if anyone knows where this pattern is, please let me know so I can give credit where it’s due and add it to my own Ravelry projects list. At any rate, this one is going to my newest niece. I’m just hoping it fits on her little baby head.

I’m currently working on a hat for my other nephew. I have two patterns I’m looking at, and I’m trying to decide which one seems more “him.” I might end up just letting him choose and pass along the other hat to someone who wants it.

Other finished projects include:

Slouchy hat claimed by my friend L (modeled by the Felber himself). This will probably be a gaming accessory, which is awesome. I ran out of the striped yarn so had to improvise and Frankenstein this one together.

Pain in the butt socks that I only just got lucky enough to have enough yarn for. They’re meant for a young girl, so they’re going to daughter of my friend, Terry.

Double bump dishcloths going to Erica who was quick on the claim. Not going to lie…I love these colors. I’d had the yarn forever and have no idea where i got it or where to get more.

Scarf claimed by my brother-in-law. This was an easy pattern mostly…one row the whole way…but I did get tripped up and there’s a small spot that’s kind of a hot mess. I warned that perfectionists need not apply, but I think R will rock this no matter what.

I’ve been listening to a knitting podcast to keep me motivated. The ACTually KNITting Podcast is my current cast of choice, though I’m almost caught up, so I’ll be checking out something new soon . I’m really enjoying this podcast. The woman who does it, Michelle, is friendly and has a good radio voice. Listening to her is relaxing and interesting.

The only downside to all this knitting? My hands have been hurting a bit, and since I use them all day for work as well, I will have to take the occasional break just to let them sit and do nothing. Which fellow knitters know is really not that easy.

A.