Salunga Beret

My mother-in-law requested a red hat to wear at Christmas. I wanted to use fingering weight yarn so it could be worn indoors if she wanted. I spent some time wandering around Ravelry until I found a pattern I liked, and pulled a barely-used skein I had in the stash.

The knitting went smoothly, but I had problems with the bind off. I used a different set of instructions for the tubular bind off than I've used before, and it ended up way too tight. I couldn't get it to easily frog, and I was in a bit of a temper after working at it awhile. I ended up with this:

That hat messed with the wrong girl. 

The next day, I did a bind off using these instructions, and everything went just fine.

Perhaps I am easily amused, but I love seeing the difference in lace before and after blocking. This hat called for blocking over a dinner plate, and it added the helpful instruction to weave a piece of waste yard between the ribbing and the main body of the hat. Once it was on the plate, I pulled on the waste yarn to cinch it a bit, which meant that it dried without the ribbing being all stretched out.

It's cute on my head, but it's more stunning in its blocking form.

I think I'll recommend Karen occasionally carry it around on a plate and show it off that way. I'm sure she'll see the reason in the request.

Salunga Beret (mine ravelled here),

knit in Knitpicks Stroll Tonal, Gypsy colorway

Hospital Socks

It's been a rough couple of weeks. A close family member had serious surgery that went pear-shaped. She's now in in-patient rehab, and we're not sure what her recovery is going to look like. The day before she moved from the hospital to rehab, one of my bffs went into the hospital with an abdominal abscess we have named Absalom the Destroyer. He's a bastard, and she's still waiting (four days later) to learn what the hospital is planning to do to deal with him.

I tried to work on a sweater, but it's not enjoyable. I haven't been able to figure out why I'm not enjoying it, but I hope it has something to do with the needle. I might try to switch to a longer cable. (I'm grasping at straws. Let's pretend that's not true.) The sweater has potential, but I'm having a heck of a time helping it to fulfill it.

Dalekanium Cardigan (ravelled here),

knit in Mineville Wool Project DK Merino

Of course, I had backup yarn 'cause this ain't my first rodeo. I was amused to see how well the sock-in-progress matched my friend's hospital gown.

Hospital Teacups (ravelled here),

knit in Knitpicks' Felici, Teacup colorway

My hope is that both of my loved ones will recuperate quickly and fully, and the clearest memory we'll have of this difficult time is a pair of lovely, striped socks.

So say we all.