Fibery Goodness

I give you Miss Dashwood:

This photo shows off the swirly pattern made by the crown decreases. Pretty cool, huh? Kim asked about the pattern. It isn't too bad. I'd never done a knitted or picot cast on, but the instructions were fairly easy. It was slow going, though, and it took me a long time to finish the brim. Also, I made the second to smallest size (the 3-6 months, I think) and I found an error in the pattern in the stitch count. It is nice that the author indicates what your stitch count should be after certain sections, but having one number on my needles and another on the pattern threw me for a minute. When I went back and counted and compared to the pattern, it turns out I was correct, thank goodness!!

If I ever make this hat again, I'll change a few things. For one, I'm not really happy with the buttons used to hold up the ear flaps when they aren't in use. Babies in the company of buttons make me a bit nervous. Likely, I'll omit the ear flaps completely if I knit this hat again. Second, I don't care for the ties. They are knit one, purl one on the right side, then purl one, knit one on the wrong side. I don't find the resulting fabric very substantial and will likely go with I-cord next time. The I-cord looks better and seems like it will hold up to use better than the ties on Miss Dashwood.

I used half a skein of Plymouth Encore for this hat, and I just couldn't stand having half a skein left (in a color I'm not likely to ever use again in the near future). This roll brim hat worked up in no time and solved my leftover yarn problem:

Here's the lovely Baby Doll modeling for me.

An envelope of fibery goodness arrived at my house yesterday. It's from Knitpicks. Included were 4 skeins of fingering weight dye it yourself wool. I am going to try to do some self striping yarns using directions from the Yarns to Dye For book. I also got two pairs of Bryspun needles to complete my set. Well, as complete a set as I can get from Knitpicks. I saw that Elan also has these needles in sizes 13 and 15. They also have Bryspun DPNs, but I think I'll just stick to the straights.

I have nothing on the needles right now, and that fact makes me a bit nervous. I don't know what I want to make. I'm not really up to tackle another tank top now. Some toe up socks for myself in cotton might be nice, but considering our schedule the next few weeks, I'd likely not finish a pair of socks. The Airy Scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts is enchanting. Hmmm....Maybe I should just do some packing, but where is the fun in that??

Tomorrow is our BIG DAY. We are finally able to get into our new house (barring any problems with the current folks moving out today). We spent a small fortune last night at Wal Mart buying cleaning supplies, a new mop, a couple of brooms (one for indoors, one for outdoors in the garage), etc. For once, I'm really looking forward to cleaning.

Monday, Daughter and I start pottery classes at the local art institute. I'm sort of wishing we hadn't signed up now. We had no idea we'd be buying a house and moving when we registered for the class. I know it will be fun, though, and it's too late to cancel now!! Daughter's art teacher from school is the instructor for this class. He is a wonderful artist and teacher. We should have a great time. We even get to use a potter's wheel.