Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Innocuous Knitting Post

Ok, time for some fluffy knitting/crochet-related posting. On Friday, Rich & I attended Stitch n' Stitches, an event organized by the fabulous Allison (she of Supercrafty! fame) at the UCLA vs. Stanford hockey game. It was a really good game, with UCLA winning in overtime, and Richard enjoyed himself, even if his inner Trojan was crying. It was a fun night out, and we got to see Peggy, Faith, Julia, Teresa, Allison and her son Evan, who is absolutely adorable. Allison let me hold Evan for a while and it felt really nice. It was the first time I'd held a baby since Eliza, and it felt wonderful.

In the above photo, I'm working on a crocheted hat, the Stitch Diva Gatsby Cloche. I decided that since it's about 40 degrees up in Tahoe, a hat would probably be a useful thing to have. So I broke out the RYC Cashsoft that Mel & Grant gave me for my birthday and got to work. It's soft, but not too warm. It may work better as a springtime in LA hat than a winter in Tahoe hat.

So, in an attempt to have a warmer head, I started Calorimetry. I had seen Peggy's super cute version on Friday, and decided to use a skein of 1824 Wool that Allison had included in my Stitch n' Stiches gift bag. Unfortuneatly, I guess my gauge was off and it ended up too big. I have a big head (no, seriously, I took a millinery class, and my 24" head is a whopper), but my Calorimetry looks like it's supersized. I can still make it work, but I'm not sure I want to. Eh, live and learn. It took about a day, so I'm not too broken up about it.

I also made a knit hat for Richard, just a simple 2x2 ribbed hat in varying stripes of brown and green, but I have yet to get a photo of him in it. I'm also sort of working on my first sock, but I'm just not very motivated. I just don't wear socks, unless it's really cold. I live in LA -- it's cold for maybe 2-3 months, and even that's pushing it. So I may need to find another instant gratification project. Any suggestions?

No knitting could be cuter than this.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your Gatsby is fabulous, I'm glad the yarn found good use! :)

Not sure your Calorimetry issue is your gauge, I've read some complaints on the Knitty board that it tends to come out big.

I feel your pain on the instant gratification projects. I too love making socks and hate wearing them. Ditto hats.

If you're looking for another cute hat though check out MagKnits Feb 06 issue - the Odessa is really cute and fast. Since you knit tight you might even get away with making it in some Malabrigo, now that would be warm and yummy for Tahoe.

Wish we could be there with you guys - huge hugs!

Allison said...

I'm so glad you had fun on Friday and enjoyed the yarn and the goodie bag (you got one of only 3 skeins of MF I put in there!)

I third the issue on the Calorimetry hugeness. I read on the craftster boards that people were casting on about 80-90 instead of the 120. I made one out of Noro Kureyon and c/o 80. It ended up near perfect. It fits quite well around my head. However, I would just decrease the number of short rows and repeats (to about 13 instead of 17 as I recall) to make it a bit narrower on the top. A good excuse to make another one!

Ellen said...

My Calorimetry had the same problem.
I wore it around my face, buttoned under my chin, and it was great for the 10 degree weather I was in this week. I also used it as a neck warmer too.
For instant gratification, I recommend some felted bowls. Check out my blog for the details.