Alaskan Cousteau

I already mentioned that I did very little knitting while on vacation, but I did start this hat while in our Seattle hotel and knit a row here and there while on the cruise itself.

Pattern: Jacques Cousteau Hat by Lalla Pohjanpalo
Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Merino Worsted - Buscando Azul
Needles: US 6 - 4.0 mm KnitPicks Harmony Circular
Completed:  June 8, 2010

I figured there should be a hat to match His Christmas Scarf and with one skein left in the same color I had more than enough yarn.

It's a very simple pattern, but I like the way the decreases curve at the top.  In fact, it's one of the first patterns that I added to my favorites shortly after joining Ravelry.  The original pattern was longer and intended to fold up over the ears, but I gave my husband the choice and he thought he'd like to try one that just snugged over without folding, so I kept it shorter (and fortunately guessed well enough on the approximate height of the decrease section!).

I think this is also one of the projects that makes me realize I might be a little burned out on sock knitting.  I still have socks on the needles and I'm still working on keeping up with the incoming sock kits, but I've been drawn to scarves and sweaters and hats and other things lately.  I think the weather is mostly to blame -- it's officially sandal season and I hate wearing socks when it's this warm.  Maybe it's just not as compelling to knit socks that I don't even want to try on right now.

Hoodie Update

The picture pretty much says it all -- the modified Hoodie is actually wearable! 

The hood part is just decoration since it's too small, but the body is still a bit baggy and the sleeves are still too long so it may have a future yet. It's not likely to get a lot of use during the hot and humid summer, but with any luck it will still fit when the weather turns cooler.

And although he may look a little somber in the first picture,  it's just because that was one of the rare moments where he was still enough to actually see the sweater.  Most of the pictures looked like this one and it's a little hard to see the sweater when it's moving so fast!  Go happy arms, go!

Alaska Souvenirs

I don't go out of my way to buy yarn everywhere I go, but when we were wandering through the tourist shops in Skagway and happened upon the Qiviut Boutique I did take a look.  I mean, it's a shop targeting tourists so it's not likely to be the cheapest, but there was a chance that the Qiviuk there would be a little less expensive than what finds it's way further south to things like Stitches Midwest, right?  Yeah, it seems that pure Qiviuk is rare enough that it's expensive pretty much everywhere.  But they did have two baskets full of a few colors of a blend that was discontinued and although I left them behind at first I did end up going back to the shop to bring a few home with me before we left.

15% Qiviuk, 80% Merino, 5% Mulberry Silk

Like any discount basket, it was full of odd colors that probably weren't the first to sell -- some pale lime green and sort of rosy peachy pinks, but there were a couple that were more neutral.  I hesitated between the pale grey and the natural and finally settled on the natural.  I didn't really want to try to mix and match colors when I wasn't sure what project I would use them for or what yardage I would need.

And different ball bands had different yardage info, so I'm not entirely sure exactly how much I have.  Some bands said 144.94, some said 217 yards, some had 217 yards and were crossed out or taped over with 144.94, and Ravelry claims 217 yards.  So I have somewhere between 434.82 and 651 yards, either of which seemed plenty for something light and soft, so I decided not to worry about it.

I have a feeling these might turn into some sort of loose scarf someday, but I'm not ready to get to that just yet.  For now the yarn itself is the souvenir.

Alaska

So last week there were blog posts, but I played a little trick and scheduled them in advance.  I was actually on an Alaskan cruise without an internet connection when those posts appeared!

Mendenhall Glacier near Juneau, AK

There was a lot of travel to get there, but I spent most of it sleeping on our flights since it wasn't an easy trip for me to pack for and I ended up staying up way too late packing before our 2.5 - 3 hour drive to the airport that started around 4 AM.  Then, of course, when we were actually on vacation there was so much to see and do and family to socialize with that I rarely touched my knitting until we were sitting in the airport for several hours before our return flight.

So no new knitting updates this time.  I'm still tired and not adjusted back to our native time zone yet (I'm guessing that getting home at 3:30 AM on Monday morning didn't help with the adjustment), but I'll try to get back in the swing of knitting photos and such soon.

Thrill of the Chase

Although I've had a couple of projects finished for about a month now, I haven't marked them as fully complete or showcased them here because they've been wallowing in a hidden corner awaiting a good soak and some blocking.  Like this cashmere scarf:

It's been finished and off the needles for a while now, but it's delicate cashmere and it's going to require some time to pin out all the points to block it properly, so it's been lost in the shuffle.  And so the only photo I have is from months ago when I was just starting it.

In the meantime I've been working on other things and trying to make my way through some of my stash.  I've been better about avoiding the more common yarns, on sale or not, but still occasionally sucked into the thrill of nabbing some yarn that's hard to get.  Which explains multiple posts about Wollmeise, but also this fellow:

Wexford Merino Silk - Orchard

A one of a kind colorway from Three Irish Girls from a Carpe Yarnem stocking at the Yarnista blog.  I haven't tried any Three Irish Girls yarn yet (purchase justification point #1) and I happened to be at a computer and fast enough to order one skein when the stocking happened (purchase justification point #2).  There are very few skeins and an announced time, so just being at a computer isn't enough, there's also the luck of being fast enough to check out with something before someone else gets it (I've failed on the second part during a different Carpe Yarnem stocking before).

Much like the Wollmeise situation, I tell myself that now that I have something from an update I no longer need to watch the updates or purchase from them when I happen to catch them.  Until I knit with the yarn I already bought from an update.  (Believe it or not, I have already managed to watch a couple of Wollmeise updates without buying anything while reminding myself of this!)

So I'm thinking this vibrant yarn needs to become a simple, squishy scarf to showcase my unique single skein.  It's summer and I might not jump on knitting a scarf right away, but that's what Mr. Orchard is earmarked for barring some other genius idea or suggestion.  Anyone?

Woolgirl Oz Sock Club - Yellow Brick Road

My Woolgirl Oz Club kit arrived last week, this time with a Yellow Brick Road theme.  Fortunately it arrived earlier than usual this time and that means it was delivered before the Memorial Day holiday weekend.

************ Spoilers from this point on! ************

The kit contents:

This time there are just larger bags, which is great for me -- a reusable Wizard of Oz shopping tote and a smaller reversible yellow brick road tote with chocolate brown handles and interior.  There's another small metal tin, a "Follow the Yellow Brick Road" pen, and three sticky note pads, including one to help announce a future optional kit for the Wicked Witch of the West with the phrase "Are you a good witch or a bad witch?".  The adorable picture in the lower right is actually a stack of cute note cards and matching envelopes.

The delicious yarn:

It's Yarn Daze Yucatan, a wonderfully soft and squishy DK weight in a blend of Merino and Cashmere; so soft!  And fortunately the yarn is a nice golden yellow that nicely matches expectations for the Yellow Brick Road, so no repeats of the Ruby Slippers kit disappointment.

I am personally entertained at how excited Tin Man looks about the yarn and pattern in this photo:

The pattern has a plain cuff and leg with a road running across the top of the foot from the heel gusset pick-ups to the toe.  At first glance I'm a little concerned about the fit -- a plain stockinette leg with 66 stitches instead of the usual 64 for fingering weight with this heavier yarn make it seem like it might be baggy around the leg and ankles.  It looks like a straight forward pattern otherwise, but because of the size concerns I might not cast on for these until I have time to try them on often as I'm working to fuss with the fit and adjust that part of the pattern, if necessary.

It's a lovely kit with temptingly soft yarn, so I'm looking forward to knitting some amazingly cushy socks!