Elephant in the Room

Every year my extended family gets together at Christmas and does a white elephant style gift exchange. We set a $5 limit, and try to actually bring things that people want. (As opposed to weird gag gifts.) Generally speaking people are good about insuring that there are things the littles will like, and the aunts/uncles are always well optioned...but there tends to be little geared toward my older guy cousins. I have taken upon myself to fill this need. One year, for example, I took a huge roll of duct tape.

This year I knit a version of the Knox Beanie in a variegated grey. Technically it was more than the limit...I normally charge about $20 for a beanie. Still, I figured if I didn't charge myself for labor it would be ok. The yarn itself cost right around $5.

I sat by my cousin Reb, who is 20, during the gift exchange. His turn was coming up. Several gifts had been opened: quilt books, bouncing balls, tools... Things were getting sketchy. There wasn't anything really stealable, and the chances of a gift he wanted were dropping...I pointed to the box I had wrapped and said, in a very obviously hinting way, I brought that one.

He ended up picking mine, and opened up the beanie. Which he immediately plopped on his head. Apparently he liked it enough to block anyone from stealing it by wearing it.

I'm glad he liked it!

Canadian Silliness

When I was home for Christmas, Mom and Dad took Sister and I up to Victoria for a brief jaunt. Funny how one forgets that Canada is a foreign country. It was so much like Washington, and yet so completely different. (Funny how you can travel a couple of hours and all of a sudden everyone pronounces their vowels in a quaint and exciting way.)

While there I walked past this amusing hat on sign post. It led me to wonder, was this an act of purposeful urban kniting grafitti...or did someone lose their actual hat and it was placed there for safekeeping?

I'll never know for sure.

And it'll probably bother me.

Forever.

Hypothetical Knitting

I have a friend, Printer, who has a screen printing business, and has done a LOT of t-shirts for me and the residence hall this year. I fear he tends to cut me a better deal than he ought to occasionally. So, because we are friends, and because he is so generous...I wanted to give him a Christmas present. The problem is, he is a bit of a tricky fellow to shop for. He doesn't have a television, he makes his own t-shirts, he doesn't collect anything, he doesn't have any real hobbies to speak of...I decided to knit something for him. The problem was determining what to knit that he would actually wear or want. So, we had the following telephone conversation:

Me: So, hypothetically, if someone were to knit something for you, would you wear it?
Him: It depends on what it is.
Me: Lets say it was hypothetically a beanie.
Him: Possibly. Would it look...crafty?
Me: Not necessarily.
Him: Yeah. I would probably wear it.
Me: Hypothetically, what color would it need to be.
Him: Something dark like black or grey.
Me: Ok.

A few nights later, we had another telephone conversation:

Him: What are you up to tonight?
Me: I'm knitting.
Him: Knitting knitting, or hypothetically knitting?
Me: Hypothetically knitting.
Him: How is it coming? Hypothetically.
Me: Hypothetically, I am really liking the pattern design I came up with.
Him: Cool.

I, hypothetically, finished the beanie and mailed it to my sister in Kentucky. (Printer also lives there, too...I put it in the same box as SNCFan's hat and scarf to save on postage.)

She delivered it to Printer before she came up to the parents' house for the holidays. Hypothetically he can wear it frequently this winter as Bowling Green is having an appallingly cold and icy December.

Apparently, he liked it, as in an unprecedented move, he actually took a picture of himself and sent it to me.

He is pondering deep hypotheses.

And it looks much better on him than it did on me.

The pattern was really easy. It is a variation on a standard 2X2 ribbed beanie that ended up in a sort of waffle pattern. It was a little less boring than a standard beanie without being fussy or girly. Heaven forbid we knit anything less than masculine! I will write it up soon and post it.

Raiding the Gift Stash

On Halloween, some of my staff members decided to dress up as lumberjacks. They had boots, they had plaid shirts, they had 5 o clock shadows...they even had elastic to make fake suspenders. What did they still need? The iconic lumberjack beanie! What did I have lots of in my gift stash? The iconic lumberjack beanie!



(That battle axe that Arty AD is holding was found in the residence hall's magic closet, dubbed Narnia. Seriously...it is like Mary Poppins' carpet bag...whenever we need something, anything, we go look in Narnia...and it is ALWAYS there! Now if I could only convince Narnia to function like a yarn shop...)

Commissions and Crunches

In addition to knitting projects for my own enjoyment, I completed several commission projects this semester as well.

HeeBee Beret:
One of my Resident Assistants, HeeBee, really liked the berets that I had made for myself. She asked if I could make her one in purples and greys. Berets being nearly as fast as beanies, I agreed. I made it out of KnitPicks Imagination in Arabian Nights. She really liked it, and received a ton of compliments!

Flame Beret {Photo Pending}:
One of the people who really liked HeeBee's beret was her really good friend Flame. Flame asked if I would make her a beret as well. She picked a yarn that I had in the stash. It was a jewel tone variegated Hacho from Mirasol Peru. (The yarn has been discontinued...so I bought scads of it in various colors on clearance at Knit This Purl That...LOVE THIS YARN!!!) Flame is classically beautiful in an old Hollywood sort of way. She looked great in the beret.

Dr. and Mrs. Boss Socks:
As previously blogged, Dr. Boss commissioned a couple of pairs of socks. Things got a little hairy with both pairs because I was using a self striping yarn. I am a little uptight, and had determined that the stripes on both pairs had to match perfectly. It was a bit of a headache, but worth it in the end. Overall Mrs. Dr. Boss's socks were a breeze. Lovely football knitting. Lovely airplane knitting as well. Dr. Boss's socks, on the other hand, not as joyous.(Note to self: Man Socks take FOREVER. I thought I would never finish those boogers.) I was very concerned that I was going to run out of yarn. In the end both pairs turned out beautifully, and were appreciated by their recipients.


A Capella Beanie and Scarf {Photo Pending}:
Sister has a really good friend that I met when I was visiting out there. SNC was heading up to Chicago for a Straight No Chaser concert...I think it is about the 1000th she has gone to. Chicago = Cold. SNC knew I knit (how could she not, I was doing it constantly while I was there) and asked if I could make her a plum hat and scarf. I took a pattern that I have been developing (The Hypothetical Beanie) and converted it into a scarf pattern, and made the matching beanie. I really liked the way they turned out. Hopefully SNC did as well.

A Couple of the projects I made for others can only be called Crunches! They were last minute, looming deadline, oh no I totally need to get these done NOW!!!

Wedding Knitting {No Photo, Cause They Are Gifts}:
BFF's younger sister is getting married this next week. I had asked her months ago what her kitchen colors were so that I could knit her dishcloths. But...then I kept postponing making them. Fast forward to last week. One of my residents goes to church with BFF's parents in Houston, and had agreed to act as my own personal UPS truck. She was going to take BFF's Christmas presents home with her at the end of the semester...WHOOPS! I had less than a week to get the wedding dishcloths done! Ack! Luckily they are quick knits...I made up 2 Movie Theater Dishcloths I...finishing them the night before they had to leave town! That was cutting it a wee bit close. I hope she likes them!

Argyle Beanie:
Argyle, one of my fellow RDs, is spending part of the winter break in Washington, D.C. It gets quite cold there, and Argyle does NOT like being cold. We were standing in the main office discussing holiday plans, when he turned to me and asked me if I had any spare beanies in my gift stash, and if so how much they cost. I told him that I certainly did, and quoted him a price. He pulled out the cash and said he wanted a grey or black one. I took the cash and went back to my apartment, where to my horror I realized that the grey beanie I thought was in the stash had actually been used as an emergency birthday gift a month or so earlier. OH NO! I took money under false pretenses! Luckily for me, I had dark grey yarn languishing in my stash. I cast on a version of the Knox beanie on a Thursday afternoon, and finished it before bed that night. It was a close call though...

A Few Needles Short of a Commission

On Wednesday night, Perky asked me if I could make her another (Fort) Knox beanie. This time she wanted it in black.

I thought about it, for maybe a millisecond, and agreed. They are fairly quick knits, they make for good movie/social knitting, and I had plenty of good black wool in the stash. In an impetuous moment (so out of character for me...), I told her I would have it Sunday morning.

Then I got home.

I found the yarn.

I could not find the needles.

I went through my entire bag of needles.

Then I saw them. My 16" US size 6 circular needles.

They were attached to half of a rust (Fort) Knox beanie that I had cast on a couple of weeks ago.

I had two options:

1. I could move the rust beanie over to waste yarn and recover the needles.
2. I could finish the rust beanie, and then cast on the black one.

Option 1 was probably the smarter and more practical choice.

So of course I chose option 2! (I knew in my heart of hearts that once that rust beanie was on waste yarn, it would languish in the stash...never to be heard from again.)

Luckily I knit FAST!

I finished the rust beanie Thursday night at Preach and Psych's house.

I cast on the black one Friday night.

I finished the black one Saturday night.

I even wove in the ends!

Innovation on the Fly

I had some yarn left over from Jester's latest beret. Since it was Cascade 220, and therefore feltable, I thought about using it to crank out a couple of coffee cup cozies.

It was very pretty yarn, with various colored plies twisted together.

I got ready to cast on my coffee cup cozy, and then my mind wandered...

...what would happen if I cast on an oversized coffee cup cozy and made it into a hat?

And thus the Java Beanie was born.

Because the stitch pattern I use on the coffee cup cozies is an offset rib, it made the decreases on this hat, well, a wee bit interesting. I actually did quite a bit of tinking and frogging as I worked on it.

Also, that very pretty yarn didn't exactly show up the actual pattern at all.

Still, it is a nice hat. And it fits well. I may try again with a solid yarn and see if I can refine the decrease process a bit. The other option would be to *gasp* try a top down hat.

Cupertino

The adult services librarian at the other branch recently accepted a job as a branch manager in another library system.

He is a nice guy, and we will miss him.

So I expressed my good wishes and fond farewell in my usual way...

I knit him a hat.

Since he is a classy/put together/fashion conscious sort of guy, I knew that his hat needed to be more sleek than rugged. So, for the Cupertino, I used a silk/merino blend in a finer gauge, and a wider rib pattern that would have the non-rolling advantage of a rib, but the smoother finish of stockinette.

Since I am planning on being out of town when they are throwing his good bye shindig, I delivered the hat this weekend. (And then made him model it!)

I really like the way the pattern came out...and since I wrote it down, I think I'll do some testing on it to make sure the end result wasn't a fluke.

An Easter of Conflicted Emotions

This Easter weekend was a little on the strange side for me. It was full of ups and downs.

The downer was Saturday. I went to Brother's house Friday night, and stayed through Saturday afternoon so that I could say good-bye to my cousin, Medic. He is a Navy Corpsman, and the Marine unit he is assigned to ships out to Afghanistan in less than a month. He stopped at Brother's house on his drive up to WA from SoCal for his last leave. It was great to get to see him, it is always great to see him...but it was very depressing as well. I don't want to think about him over there...

The upper was the rest of Saturday and Easter, which I got to spend with the best baby ever...NEPHEW!!! While "baby-sitting" on Saturday, I discovered that he really enjoys the Disney sing-a-long version of Flying Purple People Eater. On Sunday, I got to watch him spin around on my living room floor in order to get a better view of the television. (Apparently he is a fan of medieval costume dramas...just like his Auntie!) Any time with Nephew is time well spent.

On the knitting scene (since this is a knitting blog)...I borrowed Matador's head after evening worship on Sunday...I needed a man model for the fatigue (Fort) Knox beanie. Also: the heel got turned on the second Gotham sock, Tilney's sleeves were placed on waste yarn and I have started down the body, I designed/finished a beanie as a going away present for a coworker, and the beta testing was completed on the Australis scarf pattern.

Free Pattern: (Fort) Knox Beanie

The (Fort) Knox Beanie was designed on the fly for a good friend to wear on her morning walks. The color she requested, combined with the faux cables, reminded me of gold bullion…hence the pattern name. The pattern is simple, versatile, and suitable for both men and women.



(Fort) Knox Beanie

Finished Size: approx. 22” circumference (one size fits most adult heads)

Approximately110 yds of worsted weight yarn [I used Cascade Yarns 220; 100% wool; Color 7828 for Perky, Color 9459 for Fatigue. 1 skein yields 2 beanies]
1 - US size 6 circular needle, 16” long
1 – additional US size 6 circular needle, 16” long or set of US size 6 double pointed needles

Gauge: 22 stitches = 4 inches in garter stitch

Special Abbreviation:
C2- Cross two (this is achieved by knitting into the second stitch on the left hand needle, then the first, and sliding both stitches off together.)

Cast on 96 stitches
Join for working in the round, being careful not to twist cast on stitches. Place a marker for the start of round.

Round 1-6: (K2, P2) repeat to end of round
Round 7: (C2, P2, K2, P2) repeat to end of round
Round 8-10: (K2, P2) repeat to end of round
Round 11: (K2, P2, C2, P2) repeat to end of round
Round 12-14: (K2, P2) repeat to end of round
Repeat Rounds 7-14 until beanie measures approx. 7” from cast on. End with a Round 8.

Decrease as Follows, switching to two circulars or double points when necessary:
Round 1: (K2, P2, K2, P2tog) repeat to end of round
Round 2: (K2, P2, K2, P1) repeat to end of round
Round 3: (K2, P2, K2tog, P1) repeat to end of round
Round 4: (K2, P2, K1, P1) repeat to end of round
Round 5: (K2, P2tog, K1, P1) repeat to end of round
Round 6: (K2, P1, K1, P1) repeat to end of round
Round 7: (K2tog, P1, K1, P1) repeat to end of round
Round 8: (K1, P1) repeat to end of round
Round 9: (K2tog, P2 tog) repeat to end of round
Repeat decrease rounds 8 and 9 until there are 6 stitches left on the needles.
Cut yarn, leaving a 6” tail. Thread tail through the live stitches and pull tight.

Weave in ends, wear with pride.

Spoken For

I was working at an after hours event at the library Friday night. Ya-Ya, Boss Lady, and I found ourselves with some down time. We were all sitting in the back taking our breaks and eating. Naturally, I pulled out some knitting. I happened to have the fatigue (Fort)Knox beanie in my purse.

Ya-Ya, my enthusiastic co-worker, has been on a roll since the Get Knittin' program she came to. She has made several afghans, more purses, and recently started in-the-round hat projects. She was intrigued by the crossed stitches/faux cables I was doing. I demonstrated how to do them, and told her I would write up the pattern for her. (I have...I will post it on Wednesday or Thursday...)

While we were engrossed in our knit-chit-chat, Boss Lady looked over. She really liked the color of the (Fort) Knox beanie. I pulled out my i-phone and showed her the blog entry with Perky's picture so she could see what the finished product would look like. Then I went back to my knitting, and she went back to her cheeseburger. A few minutes passed. Boss Lady commented again on how much she liked the beanie. I laughed and said I had been planning on selling it on my Etsy Site (coming soon...I promise!). I told her what I had charged Perky for her version, and said if she wanted it she could have it.

The break ended. We went back to work. I didn't think anymore about it.

I went in to work at the Other Branch this morning. It was Boss Lady's day up there as well. I popped my head into her office to say hello, and let her know I was there to cover lapsit storytime. She asked if I had finished the beanie yet. I said, yes. She said, great. Bring it to work tomorrow, and I will bring you the money.

Go Figure! I guess she was serious about buying it.

So there goes another one of my meant-to-be-etsy items...

...but never fear, I cast on a replacement on my lunch break!

Bad Guesstimator

Apparently I am VERY bad about guesstimating head sizes.

I took the on-the-fly Nordic style beanie to Brother's house with me. The one I was sure would be way too big for Nephew...and while it is a little roomy, it actually fit him!

So, guess who has yet another hat from his Auntie?

Knox

There is a very nice lady at my church, Perky, who likes to walk in the mornings.

When she walks her ears get cold.

A properly knit cap could solve this issue, so she commissioned me to make one. She wanted, in her words, a "sunshine yellow" toque. (She is married to a Canadian. She says toque, I say beanie...to-may-to, to-mah-to.)

The dilemma here was in the definition of "sunshine yellow". Yellows cover a broad range...so, I asked her to go through her son's crayon box, find a crayon that was the yellow she wanted, and tell me the color name. (I have a gazillion crayola crayons...out of childhood habit, I buy a new box of 64 or 96 every fall...) However, it seems her son's crayons were not Crayolas. She solved this by sending the actual crayon to bible study, care of her husband, the Canadian.

I took the crayon to the yarn shop, and literally passed it in front of every Cascade 220 yellow till I found a perfect match. (It was a good thing I had the crayon, because the color was a little greenier than I had imagined.)

The beanie itself is being called the (Fort) Knox, as in Fort Knox where all the gold is kept. (Partially because the color reminded me of gold bullion...partially because I was serendipitously watching Goldfinger while I knit it.) I carried the "bullion" theme into the stitch pattern by working elongated cables into the ribbing, like little bricks! I am actually very pleased with the design, and think that I will write it up...I can see it looking very manly in a fatigue green...

I delivered the beanie on Sunday. Perky was astonished that I got the beanie finished as quickly as I did. She gladly plopped it on her head, despite having Sunday morning pretty hair, and posed for a picture.

Now when she walks in the morning, people will definitely see her coming! And hopefully her ears will be warm.

Brother Birthday Blarney

An Entry In Three Parts:

I. Today is Brother's birthday. He is THIRTY!!! So, in honor of his aged-ness, I took the day off and drove up to see him, Sis-In-Law, Nephew, and my parents. One interesting thing about Brother's birthday being St. Patrick's Day is that the photos we take always turn out so beautifully...the whole color-coordinated greens thing...

Brother has always been very supportive of, though sometimes bewildered by, my knitting proclivity. He has made some of the more clever comments about the process in general. Also, as an artist, he makes interesting observations about finished projects. He notices things that others don't.

And, no. I did not knit anything for Brother for his birthday. Not that he wouldn't have appreciated something, he will just appreciate what I did get him more.

II. In other birthday news, Gino's birthday was on Monday. Facebook didn't alert me to the fact that his birthday was on Monday until Saturday morning. (Shame on you, Facebook!) This put me in a bit of a bind time-wise. Gino definitely deserved a handknit, yet I had my Master's Portfolio and finals to finish over the weekend. Still...I muscled through...with some frantic morning break knitting, and lunch break ends weaving...and was able to complete an Oakland A's fan color beanie for him. (I was trying to name it, but the only player I know is Jose Canseco...who, as an Angel's fan, I have always referred to as Jose Can-stink-O...) I sent the beanie, his birthday card, and my camera to the other library with Ya-Ya. She delivered the goods and snagged a photo. When I called to sing to him, he seemed very pleased. (...I hope to see him WEARING it at games once the season starts...assuming I get invited after my Can-Stink-O comment!)

III. Also, in honor of St. Patrick's Day, I have decided to only knit in green today! I brought my still unfinished Rivendell sock to Brother's house. I also packed some lovely wool from KnitPicks in a shade called "Pesto" that I plan on using in my next sweater. (I am making "Skinny Empire" out of Custom Knits by the inimitable Wendy Bernard...only my version is called "Tilney." ) And, because you can never have too much knitting, I also packed a green beanie!

Project Knitter

Confession: I am slightly obsessed with Project Runway.

Aside from some of the whack-a-doo challenges, and the amusing interpersonal drama...I find that the show inspires me to be more creative with my knitting.

Last week, as I was was watching episode 7, I decided to multitask and straighten up my stash. While tidying (petting) I came across the little tiny leftover lumps of yarn from Lovely's wrist warmers.

"This is really nice yarn," I thought to myself. "It is a shame there isn't enough of either color to really do anything with."

And then the power of Project Runway took over. It was as though a light bulb had turned on above my head. (I may have even checked for one floating there like a pentecostal tongue of fire.)I could make something if I used both of them together!

And thus, a Scandanavian-esque hat was born. I didn't use a pattern, and actually improvised the stitch pattern as I went. I also used every last stinking inch of the yarn.

There was only one problem. Since there hadn't been much yarn to begin with, the hat ended up being very small. Clearly, it was a child's hat...but for what size of child? I thought it would be too big for Nephew, and it was too small for Spaz and Whiz. So, I carted it to worship this morning and started plunking it on kids' heads till I found one it fit. And even then, it was a little bit small. (Thank you Ark and Fish for being helpful!) So, I figured the hat fit a toddler...a one or two year old. [Update: I took it to Brother's house, and was pleasantly surprised to find it actually did fit Nephew!]

I really like the design, so I'm going to make an adult out of some periwinkle and white llama I also found in the stash.

(Also, I do realize that I am posting on a Monday about a show that airs on Thursday. This is because I don't have regular television, and so have to wait for the episode to be posted online before I can watch it.)

Jaunty Jester

Last month when I was in Florida, Jester braved the elements to take me to a yarn shop. In addition to her own display of courage, her Then Boy demonstrated copious amounts of trust by allowing us to borrow his SUV.

I felt a large debt of gratitude to them both...and whenever I feel thankful, I express my thanks through handknits.

While we were in Knit 'n Knibble, Jester saw a beautiful alpaca/llama/silk/every-expensive-fiber-you-can-imagine blend beanie. It was knit in a spiral openwork pattern. She loved it. She wanted it. She couldn't make or afford it.

I looked at the beanie very closely. Imagine my surprise when I realized that it was basically a worsted weight Envy Hat...pretty much identical to the ones I made for friends, coworkers, and cousins. I told her that I would make one for her, and that I probably had stash yarn that would work. Later that day I also told Then Boy I would make him a basic beanie if he just let me know what color he wanted.

Now a month has past, and Jester is home on Spring Break. I had finished Then Boy's beanie last week while watching a movie that required my close attention. Lacking any other brainless projects to work on, I churned out a twin version of Sk8's beanie from the same yarn. Super fast. Super easy. I gave it to Jester Sunday morning at church. I also took a bag full of various burgundy, purple, and magenta yarns to church so that she could pick out what she wanted for her hat. I knit that whole thing up during the Academy Awards. I gave her her Envy Hat this afternoon when she and I took Whiz out for frozen yogurt.

Hats finished! Debt of Gratitude paid in full! On to the next project!

And the Oscar GoesTo...

What did I do during the Academy Awards?

(Besides throw pillows at the television when the program ran longer than the DVR...?)

I knit an entire Envy Beanie for Jester!

Pictures will be posted after I deliver it on Friday.

But Excuse Me, You Are Wearing My Hat!

I was working at the reference desk the other day, and a lady walked by in a lovely scarlet beanie. It was beautiful, stylish, intricately cabled...and awfully familiar.

I looked at it.

I looked again.

I was positive.

"Excuse me" I said. "That is a lovely hat. I have one just like it!"

"That's impossible!" she replied, and looked at me like I was crazy. "I made this hat. You can't possibly have the same one."

"You got the pattern out of the 2007 Holiday Interweave magazine, right? The Koolhaas hat that the Brooklyn Tweed guy based on the architecture of the Seattle Public Library, right? I made the same hat...just in navy. Tricky pattern. You did a nice job!"

She looked stunned. I could understand why. It is fairly rare that I run into someone with the same handknit...unless of course I made it for them...

In honor of the occasion, I went home and put on my hat.

Merry Christmas Gift Parade!

Here are all of the projects that I haven't been able to blog about over the past several weeks. Some of them will be featured in individual entries over the next few days...but for right now, a picture parade:



Sister and her felted catnip mice



Mom and her Scarf that Goes with Everything



Sis-In-Law and her knitted earrings



Dad, Brother, and Nephew in their Generational Beanies



Nephew's Manly Sweater (which looked so tiny when I knit it...but huge when I held it up to him!)



Ontie with her version of the "Blood and Shadows" scarf

The parade of pictures will continue as I get photos from the Christmas commissions I took on as well...

Gifts Given

I have, against my own better judgment, allowed a bit of a gift IOU queue to build up.

This is less than ideal for two reasons:

1. I hate giving IOU's instead of an actual gift...it makes me feel flaky.

2. With the holidays swiftly approaching I have lots of projects to finish NOW...I don't need to still be playing catch up with a retroactive gift list!

But...Frabjous day, calloo callay...I was able to almost catch myself up last week! (I would be completely caught up, except Psych still hasn't told me what she actually wants for her birthday...hint hint...not so subtle suggestion...TELL ME!)

First I finished Wiz's Whiz Bang Beanie. I know that I don't give Wiz nearly as much blog-attention as I give to his siblings, Spaz and Angel...but he is an AMAZING kid. He is genius smart, good natured, athletic, super polite, and (my favorite) a voracious reader. For his birthday I gave him a choice: hat or scarf. He chose hat, and asked for bright blue and red. I used a wool acrylic blend (all the warmth, none of the itch), but can't find the ball band so I don't know what brand/color it was. I made a simple 2X2 ribbed beanie, 80 stitches cast onto US8 needles. (I had to look at my Harry Potter knitting book to get an idea of juvenile head circumference, since I generally do adults or babies not in between.) I think he liked it.

I gave it to him Sunday morning. Knowing that a picture had to be taken for the blog, he wore it with a color coordinated sweatshirt to worship services Sunday night. We had a mini photo shoot in the back of the building, and he chose his favorite one for here!

Next up was Lady's scarf. She recently acquired a new coat that is a dark orchid color. She wanted a "fancy" scarf to match it, but one that would go with her other clothes as well. She specifically mentioned forest green. I know she wears a lot of jewel tones, so I chose a variegated wool that had the orchid, some royal purple, forest green, and turquoise mixed with a wee bit of black. (I think the black in the colorway offered a nice contrast and added some elegance. It kept the variegation from appearing rainbow-y.) My original intent was to use some sort of chevron pattern, or a mitred square. However, after casting on and knitting an inch or so I noticed that the pattern was totally obstructed by the color patterning. (Why put in all the work if it wasn't even going to show up?) So, instead I went with the lacy scarf pattern from Drunk, Divorced, and Covered in Cat Hair. The lace travels on the bias, and is enhanced by the color changes rather than obscured. I think it is marvelous.

This one was delivered tonight...and yet another church building photo shoot ensued. Now I can truly embark on my holiday knitting tomorrow with a clear conscience!