Oh, hello, two weeks that went by without a blog post. I’ve been ever so busy, in the best possible way!
I realized Christmas is coming. And so soon! So I went bats for hats.
I knit two gorgeous hats:
These are the Lowbrow Hat pattern. The lace pattern might look special, but is ever-so-easy to knit. I felt like a genius when I quickly memorized the lace pattern and didn’t mess it up at all. The blue hat is Plucky Primo Aran in Outta My Hair; the green is Tosh Chunky in Thoreau. (I think this is the IDEAL pattern for a lonely skein of Tosh Chunky, if one happens to have one languishing.)
I also knit a hat dud.
Purl Soho’s Chunky Cabled Hat, knit up in some heathen stash acrylic yarn. This might have turned out better had I ponied up the bucks for the gorgeous-looking Super Soft Merino, which undoubtedly has better drape. As it is I looked like Marge Simpson. I’m considering: trying to shrink the hat in the washing machine, adding a pompom (go bit or go home amirite), or giving it to one of my more-stylish younger sisters who seem to wear everything fabulously. I will not be frogging back or futzing with it in any way that requires real effort.
I made a Super Tote, too! I don’t have much to say about this pattern that others haven’t already said; that Noodlehead knows how to write a pattern. I will say that if you choose Essex Linen for your exterior gusset, DO choose to interface it. I did not, and the gusset is a little floppy for my taste.
I went to a Victoria Findlay Wolfe lecture hosted by my guild last Friday. (I wrote a little writeup of the lecture over at my guild’s blog.) You guys? I think Victoria Findlay Wolfe is a genius. Her lecture was luminous and inspiring; her quilts even more so. I’m still working out what to think about what she had to say (there’s always more fabric! cut it up and use it; never make the same quilt twice, try something new every time; make the quilt you said you would never make; if it’s not working cut it up; challenge yourself by using the fabric you think you hate) but I know that 100% of what she said is true.
I also worked hard at soaking up every last bit of fall sunshine before we fall into the cycle of 6 hours of grey daylight every day all five months of winter.
Oh, and I finished a little quilt top. No big deal.
Yes, this is the first of the two twin quilts I’m making for my friends living in Phoenix (so I’m calling them the Phoenix Twins). I started the second one today and I can tell it’s going to go very quickly. I’ve worked all the drama out of my system on the first one. I’m quite pleased with how this top turned out.
I’ve had a couple of questions about how I made the center blocks for this quilt. I took a few process photos today and will post a little behind-the-scenes tomorrow. You don’t need a tutorial, for goodness’ sake. They are just improv-pieced on a paper foundation (and I owe a lot to Rachel’s Ziggy Strings tutorial for helping me get here). Check back to see how it’s done!
