Iz Zen...Iz Superhydrophobic...Iz a hat

Well, it's probably not superhydrophobic. Being lace and all. And wool.

I bring you...

The Lotus Hat


Pattern: Lotus Hat
Designer: Uptown Purl
Yarn: my handspun, worsted weight/worsted style, natural color merino
Fiber purchased at Great Lakes Fiber Festival, 2009
Needles: US8

I overheard Mike discussing my spinning with his sister - "she spins a lot, but I don't think she ever uses the yarn". Um, maybe I should do something about that.

On the needles now, the Ashland Bay merino/silk fingering/sport weight 2-ply for a Bird's Nest Smoke Ring. It's in time out right now, having just discovered that I repeated rows 23 and 24 twice in a row. And this after frogging about 15 rows at knitting group last week.

Mike's in Singapore (again) and I'm taking advantage of his absence to spin up some naturally dark brown BFL into (hopefully) a fingering weight 2-ply to make him a hat for Christmas. You know, I haven't knit him anything since the 3 lb. sweater in grad school? I'm just itching to frog that sucker and make sweaters for the whole family from the yarn. Of course, then we would be immediately transferred to northern Ontario and I would regret frogging his very warmest sweater.

The house is in chaos right now - I'm having everything but the bedrooms and bathrooms painted. My first time hiring a painter for an inside job! Boy, they work a lot faster than I do. Can't wait to get it all put back together and see what it looks like with furniture and pictures on the walls. Right now - chaos surrounding a Nomadic Desert, with a side helping of Latte.

Must go make a cup of tea.
Ta!

It doesn't itch!

I bring you - the Eastlake sweater.

Pattern: Eastlake
Designer: Norah Gaughan
Yarn: Da Vie Zenith
Needles: US 6 & 8

Notes: check Berroco for errata, there are several. I would also recommend working the front first, not the back. The back instructs you to work even to so many inches - in my case, this was about 4 rows fewer than the number required to finish the lace chart on the front. And you sort of want the purl welts on the front and back to match up, you know?

I wore the sweater to work today for the first time. I love it! So soft and squishy, no itchies at all, which is rare for me with wool. The elbow-length sleeves worked very well for the fall weather, and I got several compliments on it.

We're having a cool wet fall here, no crisp sunny days for crunching through the leaves. I'm giving up on the last of the basil, no motivation to harvest the last bush before the probable frost tonight.