Hats, Hats, & Other Fun Stuff!

I have been knitting, I really, really have! I haven't lost my knitting mojo - I've lost my blogging mojo and my sock mojo, but not knitting mojo. After feeling really conflicted about the socks I still feel somewhat obligated to knit but at the same time I'm not sure I want to knit them, I decided to take a break from socks. My friend Val hosts a charitable Ladies Open House at her home every December and all proceeds go to our local shelter for abused women and their children. Val has asked me to knit for this event on numerous occasions and I've always felt that I had too much other knitting on my plate to commit. This year I decided in the end of October that I would commit and knit for her event. I knit some hats. I tried to get four to Val's event, but only ended up with three. I made a fourth hat that went to a different charitable event that I'll explain in a moment. First, some shots of the lovely Lola modeling hats!
First, the Fana Cap. All of the hats are knit from Cascade Dolce. It is a very lovely yarn to knit with and continues my love affair with Cascade yarns! This hat was fun and fast to knit! I made the size Large, but in the future I would add a couple more rows to make it a little longer. The size around was great, just a little short.


Next the Ullared Hat. This time I made the size Extra Large. I wasn't making these hats for anyone specific, which I have to admit was really, really freeing, so it didn't matter that this hat turned out HUGE! I love the pattern, but now I know - knit a smaller size!
I think the crown on this hat is pretty cool!
Next - the Lusekofte Cap with the optional X design. This one worked out perfect! It was the right size around, and it was long enough too. I didn't put the tassel on the top that the pattern calls for, I'm not a big tassel person myself. I thought the color combo on this was really pretty too!


Next - the Danish Earflap Cap. Now, this was the one that didn't get finished in time for Val's event. The first three were there all all but the giant hat sold, so two out of three ain't bad and the one that didn't sell can be there next year and if it doesn't sell then I'll just donate it to the shelter. This hat ended up being a donation to a different charity event my friend Cara hosts for the 4 A's - Alaskan AIDS Assistance Association. She has hosted this very nice event in her home for a number of years and she has a silent auction as part of it. So, this hat found a home that way.
This was a fun and very clever hat to knit! I will make another of these I think in the future. I didn't attach the cords for the end of the flaps - turns out I'm not a fan of tassels or cords.
The crown detail on this is also really cool! I made another hat before Christmas - an Aran Watch Cap for my sister's boyfriend. This was more of a hurried Christmas gift. I thought my Christmas knitting was done when I finished the Bella's Mittens for Katie, but it wasn't. I also ended up making a Bella-esque headband, with the same cable design as the mittens, for Katie for Christmas that very nicely used up the left over yarn from the mittens. Then I had this hat for my sister's boyfriend that I'm still waiting for her to send me a photo of. I'll put up the photo once I get it. And there is another knitted gift that I started that had no hope of being done in time for Christmas, or New Year's, that I thought was going to go really fast but I don't know what I was thinking! Oh well, best laid plans! All of the hat patterns are from the book Hats On! by Charlene Schurch. I love this book! It is fantastic! I want to knit more of the hats in it, and repeat some of the favorites.

I also did some other crafting - tie-dye to be specific. On the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend I tie-dyed 14 shirts for Christmas gifts for children in my family located on two continents.
They turned out pretty good - I was happier with some more than others, but the beauty of tie-dye is that you never really know what you're going to get!
I actually tried to do a very specific design on these two. They are for a pair of sisters who get very excited about matching shirts. My attempt at a flower pattern. Not perfect, but I think the flowers can be seen, and while they match, they are not identical - just like their recipients!

Halloween 2009

Okay - so I LOVE Halloween! I know it has taken me forever to post the photos, but it is true that Halloween I think is just an awfully fun holiday! This year for Halloween, I dressed up as my favorite superhero, Wonder Woman. This first photo is me at school in my costume for the costume day - which was actually 28th of October. In case you are wondering - no the costume didn't come with the long johns, those were optional. I do work in a public high school and I do live in Alaska.


Here is Halloween proper. Winston was Superdog. He was amazing! I tried to get Dave to dress up as the "Man of Steel", but he wasn't going to have any part of that! He was having trouble embracing the fun of Halloween. But, at least he agreed to hand out candy while Winston, my sister, my nephews, and I went trick or treating.


Why Wonder Woman? Besides that she is just AWESOME and she has an invisible plane?! Well, as a child of the 70's I watched the TV Series Wonder Woman starring the great Lynda Carter. Turns out the Lynda Carter and I have the same birthday. So, my seven year old self thinks, "I have the same birthday as Wonder Woman!". As a child I was Wonder Woman for Halloween for like three years running. This costume may appear again in future Halloweens... only time will tell.

What a SuperDog!