Something to Give

I am a selfish knitter in that I still knit a lot of things for myself.  I know what I like, I can try things on as I go, and I know which mistakes will bother me and which aren't worth worrying about, which means it's usually pretty easy for me to knit for me.

I do really enjoy knitting for other people, too, but it's more of a gamble.  Other people won't always tell me if they don't really like something or if it doesn't quite fit and maybe don't understand that I'd rather try to fix it for them or replace it than see a hand knit item go unused.  Some people are more matchy or finicky dressers than I am, too.

So when Halos of Hope put out a request for hat donations for chemo patients in advance of Stitches Midwest 2010 on the Ravelry boards, it sounded like a great opportunity to knit something fun and bright that someone somewhere would like (and presumably choose for themselves from a stash of donated hats).

I decided to try out some cheerfully bright sock yarn that I bought at Stitches Midwest 2009.

The happiness of the Ixia colorway

Stitches Midwest 2010: Yarn Purchases

I'm just not quite with it yet this week, so I don't really have new project photos to share or stories rattling around in my head.  But since we were focused while we were still at Stitches, I do have photos of some purchases.  For today, I'll just let them do their own talking.

Fiddlehead Mittens kit - Greens

dipped infinity scarf kit -Blues

We were at Stitches

There was some unintentional blog silence while Xandermommy and I were at Stitches again this year. We just got caught up in things and actually spent very little time in our room other than when we were sleeping. We were on the go a lot and rarely near a computer and didn't even spend a lot of time knitting!

We did end up with a nice room at the end of the hall that was very quiet, which was definitely nice, and we ended up with views like this:

Saturday night

Sunday Morning

Although most of our view was more like this:

Still with a view of Ikea

And after our daily visit to the market on Saturday, the view inside the room was a bit like this:

Combined Stitches Midwest 2010 score!

Not quite the pile we had last year, but certainly nothing to sneeze at.  We were well within budget the first couple of days, even if we might not have quite ended that way when we packed up and headed for home.  We both found things we were specifically looking for and plenty of things that jumped out at us when we saw them.

And it was nice to get home around 5 PM this year, since we both had to roll out of bed and get to work this morning.  Back to the normal schedule that doesn't revolve around constant exposure to knitters and yarn.

Woolgirl Oz Sock Club - Poppy Fields

A devastating mishap at the dyer's studio delayed this Woolgirl Oz Club kit, but I was lucky enough to have my kit arrive last week.  Slightly late was apparently a fortunate stroke of luck since other people are still waiting for theirs.

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

The kit contents:

I was really happy to see a box style bag with a zipper!  It's a tight fit for the full 400 yard skein of sport weight yarn, but it's so much more useful than the smaller, open style bags with no closures.  This project bag is going to see a lot of use.

There's also a matching "shopper clutch" (according to the included item list) that holds a notepad and pen with additional pockets and a button with elastic loop to hold it closed.  It doesn't really fit in the box bag, but it will fit easily in my usual knitting bag and should make it easier to keep track of notes and keep them tidy.

I actually very much appreciate the larger items and don't miss the little theme trinkets this time.  The only small addition in this kit was a poppy on a small clip, which could be a cute hair accessory.

And then there's the bright and cheery Miss Babs yarn with stitch marker:

Love the color and the stitch marker is as cute as always.

The pattern is toe up and described as a "Choose Your Own Adventure" with options for working the leaves and poppies when and where you want them.  It seemed interesting and obviously appropriate for the theme and I cast on right away.  But so far my experience has been more of a choose your own frustration.  I think I'm going to have to rip out my first toe and the few pattern rows that I've worked and completely start over, but more on that another day.

Just a few more kits before 2010 is over and my kit subscription ends, so I'm doing my best to keep up.

What, this hat?

Cuteness!

Many thanks to her daddy for sending cute pictures of her modeling her new hat!

Short-lived Mystery Project

Last week I had a mystery project in progress, but since it only took a couple of nights of knitting to complete, it didn't really stay a mystery for long.

Pattern: Ruffled Baby Hat by Russell Lehrer
Yarn: Plymouth Yarn Baby Bunny - Goldie with Redrail trim
Needles: US 7 - 4.5 mm, US 9 - 5.5 mm, US 10 - 6.0 mm
Completed: July 29, 2010

Sariebeth's husband mentioned that their little one needed a hat that was cooler for summer and knit of something other than wool.  I happened to have some appropriate yarn in my stash and a quick Ravelry search turned up the pattern, so I was off and knitting.  

This particular yarn is so amazingly soft that I didn’t bother trying to block it and I hoped it wouldn't make the hat too floppy to be useful.  I've had issues with guessing at baby head sizes in the past, so I was also hoping it would actually fit.  I'm told that it did fit her and that they thought it was adorable.  Yay!

Although I nicknamed it Sunshine Hat in Ravelry, it's rained every day since I gave it to them, so maybe it should be named Rain Dancer Hat instead!  (Our area really needed rain, though, so definitely no complaints from me.)

And now I'm back to trying to wrap up some larger projects.  Hopefully I'll have more to share about at least one of those soon, too.