A Boob hat!

Original hat

My version of the boob hat

These funny little hats for nursing babies are all the rage.  I have a friend who is a doula.  She knows lots of nursing babies and their mothers.  I made this for her to give as a present.

There are many patterns out there.  The very first one I saw was crocheted.  After some days of research, I took the best bits of several patterns to come up with this knit version.  I am quite happy with it especially since there are no lines of decreases on the main color.   I think the patterns in crochet and garter stitch are too lumpy to represent skin.  The best features of my hat:  stockinette stitch and three colors.

Please consider me your source for all your Breast/Boob hat needs.  I can make them in your choice of colors in sizes from newborn to adult.

My spinning wheel is fully operational as of tonight.  A big thank you to my shy friend Mr. Fix-It.  I will have more to report about spinning soon.

My DS and his friends played music at Culture Stock downtown on Saturday evening.  A talented young lady was giving henna tattoos.  I have a henna tattoo on the top of my right hand that is a cross between a snowflake and a sunburst.  Just the thing for February.  Our friends Bill and Deb came out and we had a great time with them.  We even had our own sitting area with a couch.

I will be teaching a beginning knitting class on March 2 at 2 pm and another on March 5 at 5:30 pm at Culture Stock.  If you are local, and don’t know how to knit, I invite you to join us.  If you don’t want to learn to knit, you can come and check out their selection of used books and say hello to me.

DS is keeping us very busy.  This morning he was honored, along with all students who had a 4.0 GPA last semester, at a breakfast at school.  He has some school concerts coming up.  And this weekend he will be a waiter at the Lombardo Bistro at church.  I get the feeling that things are going to speed up from the next concert until his graduation on May 19.

Stay warm.  Battle cabin fever.  Enjoy the days growing longer.

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Seams to me

I have been truly enjoying knitting this week.  As I have finished more items, I have done more seaming recently.  I have averred that I do not like seaming, but I have to say I am very pleased with the two new ways I have learned to make invisible seams.  If one must seam, it should be invisible.  Cool.

I will be doing some knitting math as I convert a pattern to my stitch gauge via percentages.  I found a pattern for men’s fingerless mitts.  I will also be adjusting the length.  At least I have a jumping off point for something I want to make.  I don’t know at what point it becomes a completely different pattern. . .

FO’s

This has been the weekend for bicycles so I will also post a picture of the new to us vintage Schwinn Breeze we were given by Sharon Walker.  I have a yarn bombing project in mind.  It stays a secret until I’m finished.  ; )

UFO’s

Vintage Schwinn

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My crafting companion/secret addiction

baby bonnet, sun hat and blocked cherub filet crochet on vintage Pinabord doily stretcher

Here’s my confession.  I absolutely love the BBC series MI-5.  While I work diligently on finishing objects, I watch MI-5 or it’s earlier incarnation Spooks online.  There is daring in the plots.  I like the meatiness of the show.  I knit or crochet and watch.  I am up to season 2 episode 7.  I try to take it one episode a day because I will eventually run out.  Then I will have to look for more good TV.  Ah well.

I have finished two things today and have two more that are 90% done.  Then I still have the sleeves of the little blue sweater.   I blocked the cherub filet crochet rectangle.  Sometime I will tell the story of my vintage pinabord doily stretcher.  In the meantime, you can have a glimpse of it in this picture.

I have one new project on the hook, but I will have to consult an expert in crochet to decipher the next set of directions.  Sadly, I could only do the first two rounds independently.  It will be a good excuse to visit one of my two crochet friends–or both.

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Piling up the FO’s

It’s raining here.  This summer that is something to write home about and to include in one’s blog.  I would be delighted if tomorrow would be a rainy day.

For a week now I have been working on diverse projects.  I finished a winter baby girl bonnet that needed a three inch seam and ties.  That had been unfinished for months.  I also bought more cotton and finished a larger sun hat.  I finished one knit swi**er (that trademark thing.  Pretend you are on Wheel of Fortune) duster cover and have the “body” of a different style finished. I made three beaded book thongs.  I have only the sleeves to knit–and then the dread seams–for a blue size 9 mos. baby cardigan.  And lastly, I am kntting a bib.  I’m doing that in organic cotton, and it feels so soft.  Ooh la la.

Can you tell that I don’t like seaming?  I knit in the round whenever I can.  I am also a fan of the three-needle bind-off for shoulder  seams, which I do with two needles by pre-loading all the stitches on one needle before binding off.  Less juggling.  More beautiful result than a seam.

I am also finishing a snowflake doily for myself.  I made everyone in my family one of these in 2006 when I learned to do filet crochet.  Now I am doing the edging on one for myself.  I am pleased with how much more experienced and confident I am with that pattern.  I prefer crochet patterns that are charted, and this one is.  Crochet abbreviations make my head spin, but I’m getting better at that, too.

I’ll post a picture of a pile of FO’s next time.

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