Prototype Retrofit

I'm quite pleased with myself. I had several other knits that called my name, but I was incredibly disciplined and managed to complete a two-hat commission. I don't normally make copies of my hats, but on occasion I'll do a commission for a friend.

The blue footed booby hat on the right is a prototype. After I made it, I had decided that the hat needed a white brim, so I made another hat for the pattern photograph. But this left me with an extra hat. It's identical to the final product except that the brim isn't white.

I thought I'd retrofit the prototype with a white brim. It seemed like a reasonably easy fix, but turned out to take quite a bit of time. (Doesn't everything...)

Putting the hat back together turned out to be much easier than taking it all apart. Though, the end result was exactly what I hoped for.

Of course I'm a perfectionist, so even when one stitch was a bit off, I'd take everything apart to fix the error. It took until 10pm to weave in all the ends of both hats. But what a good feeling that is! And I'm really proud of how both hats came out.

Sneaky Socks

I wanted to prove that I've been knitting something other than a sweater, but most of what I've been working on is secret at the moment. This particular pair of socks is made out of Madelinetosh Sock in the Duchess color way, which I talked about earlier. I won't be releasing it in October like I thought I would, but the pattern is pretty snazzy. Not that you can see that in the picture. I'm sneaky like that.

Whirlwind Trip

I made a quick trip up to Davis on Tuesday and came back Wednesday. The DAM Haus was having its last show after 22 years of being a venue. The show was rad and I got to talk to a bunch of people that I hadn't seen in awhile. I also chose not to carry my camera around and record everything. Rather, I just enjoyed myself.

I walked around the arboretum with Justin for a bit of the afternoon while waiting for the show. We bought a sandwich and ate it there. I love looking for turtles. Although there were fewer this time because non-native turtles were being trapped (and I assume moved somewhere else).

There's never a dull moment with Justin.

We also stopped by the thrift store where I found a hat for an Anne of Green Gables shoot I eventually want to do. It cost $1. I'm glad I held out.... I had found hats for $40, but it seemed silly to pay that much for a prop. Justin also treated me to a bag made from an old sari, which were found at Found.

Living On The Edge

I ended up ripping out the sweater up to the pockets and reknit it with the correct number of stitches. I also put in the pockets, which had it's own set of issues. But they are in, and it is good.

The question now is, will I have enough yarn for a hood and both sleeves?

Who knows. It seems that I like to live on the edge when it comes to sweaters.

Scooter's Favorite Game

Scooter has a new favorite game.

It's called, "Find The Treat In The Grass." It involves me throwing a treat into the lawn. Then he snuffles around until he finds it.

Scooter then runs back as fast as he can and waits for another treat.

He isn't very patient though. If I take more than a few seconds he lectures me a bit. The faster I throw, the less he barks.

If I take my eye off the treat pot to, let's say, focus my camera, he creeps closer. And if I really don't keep an eye on him, he sticks his face in the treat pot and gobbles down as many treats as he can before he gets yelled at. He's quite sneaky.

Berry Creek Falls

Yesterday I went on an 11 mile hike at Big Basin, Berry Creek Falls.

We saw 5 falls, four of those being water falls.

The fifth one belonged to my Mum. She and Natalie decided to do a jumping picture. My Mum doesn't usually like being in pictures, but she was game for clicking her heels in front of the camera. What we could never have predicted is that the bridge railing would give out. (Or that I would manage to take the picture as the railing fell) Note the position of her right hand. It had been cupping the railing.

Mum ended up being fine, but she didn't feel like doing anymore jumping pictures after that.

Stop, Sweatertime

The other night I was enjoying a beer and knitting my Émilien sweater. I got to the last row, did the fancy "decrease x number of stitches evenly" bit and somehow ended up with 50 extra stitches. I checked my math, had my Dad check my math, and still had extra stitches. Weird. So I counted my total number of stitches and found out that I am an idiot.

When I worked on the pocket modification, where you increase stitches and put them on some sort of stitch holder, I managed to knit those stitches too... somehow. Note how the fabric is smooth above the orange yarn and puckered underneath. A tell-tale sign that there was a rapid increase. (Also a tell-tale sign that I'm dumb) I was thinking that rows seemed to be taking longer and that there was less room on my circular needles. The good news is that I won't have to buy extra skeins of yarn like I thought.

Has anyone else had any "Why am I dumb" moments lately?