Hillbilly Not Witch

This is not working out as I had envisioned. It has no style yet. No panache. Says "corncob pipe" rather than...magic. The hat is knit and felted. That part is OK. The spider is OK. The structure sux. I have tried fabric stiffener. No luck, but everything else around me is stiff, sticky and stained white. That product does WONDERS with cat hair.

I have also bought felt to make a supportive lining. What a pain. Felt, plus a stiff wire is almost enough for the brim. Felt alone works for the cone.

Third and final solution.....I got a cheap witches hat at a discount store. Put my hat over the cheap on. The brim is supported. I still need a felt lining in the cone. I will stretch the brim and overcast it to the wired rim of the inner hat. Not elegant, but I won't be wearing this all that much. Finally, I wore the hat inside when I bought it. Easiest way to carry the packages. My husband saw me entering the house in the witches hat and got vaguely disturbed. He said it looks too appropriate for his taste.

Madam Sprout with Spider

Well I'm plenty late with this. I am working on a black conical hat, to wear at work at the end of October. I've got black robes that I made seversl years ago, also for a work-related party. Anyway, once I started on the hat, it occured to me that THIS would be a fitting vehicle for a Barbara G. Walker spider. The photo at left shows the half-finished hat with half a spider. I am knitting pretty true to the pattern, which is unusual for me.

Update- The hat is finished the knitting stage and actually looks pretty good. I spent two sessions hand felting this in a bowl of hot water with detergent. It is DEFINITELY felted. Somehow, the hat did not stiffen up as expected. I have sewn a heavy-gauge wire into the rim- no use. I am experimenting with fabric stiffener......to no avail. Next trick is to make a black felt liner to support the knit. I'm not crazy about it, but if it works, it works. More photos to follow.

R2D2 Beanie

This was fun and easy to knit. I'm pleased with the result and happy to send it to it's recipient. I am also happy to crop my face out of the photo. I am utterly grumbly and not likng the way I photograph. Foo. Besides, I look a lot like Yoda at the moment. Pbpptht.

Wonderful pattern from Carissa Knits.

Not Zoidberg

I had 3 skeins of scarlet cotton in stash. Also, husband has been viewing new episodes of Futurama continuously. I need a costume for a work party in October.

This ain't it.

Brandywine Pattern for Haiti

That's half a shawl there. I'm making it in the pink that won't go away. For some odd reason, I keep ending up with that shade of pink/salmon/papaya. I have a sweater that I bought in that shade. I had a stash of it in my yarn suitcase that has follwed me through 3 different states! I knit up the entire supply and gave it as a gift. No sooner than I mail the package, than I buy laceweight yarn on sale and look what color I see when it arrives!!!! Totally unconscious on my part. Two skeins of laceweight- knitting purgatory for me. I have discovered that I do NOT ike knitting laceweight yarn at all. In order to preserve my sanity, I have doubled this stuff up and it is STILL laceweight. Even doubled, it is finer than fingering weight yarn. The actual project is the Brandywine Shawl by Romi. I chose it after a couple of weeks of dithering. Proceeds from the pattern ($5.00 of the $6.50 price) go to Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres for Haiti Relief. Perfect choice. Amazingly, as of July 4, 2010, $13,000 has been sent from the sale of this pattern.

Braggart's Cap

At left is my most recent finished object. It was inspired by, and made for my friend Michael.
This particular project scared me no end. Note that the figure on the far left is a PEACE symbol. Knitting one of those was a real piece of work, at least in my imagination. To explain...Micheal, friend from high school, is a writer and has his own blog, Flaming Love Peace Blog. A project for him has been in my head for about a year. I found the Peace Sign Chart of Barbara G Walkers Book and knew that this was THE ONE. The cable next to it is also from the book. Michael chose the color, being partial to jewel tones. Of course, I was happy to have justification for a yarn order. Yarn used was worsted weight wool no more than 2 skeins at 110 yards each.
The fun part: Michael is a Morris Dancer. He is a member of the well known troupe, Ramsey's Braggarts. Miracle of miracles, the hat came out in one of Ramsey's colors.
More fun: Someone saw the hat and said it looked like Crop Circles. I've been wanting to knit a crop circle design for a long time and now I've got a method. to do so. My UFO list has REAL UFO's on it, now!

For Pascal, meet Dusty

Just checking in on the blog "Art in the Wind" (see link at left). It looks like my cat has a blog! Well, a twin at least. Here's a photo of Dusty in her native habitat, our yard. Like Pascal, she has been known to mangle some wool when available.
On the knitting front- my current projects are in the slogging stage and I'm bored. Yesterday I started swatching Daleks and the TARDIS and other Doctor Who subjects. I want to do a stole/wrap project in laceweight yarn. That floral thing is not happening. Therefore- Daleks.