My own worst enemy.

I have been sick, as it was starting I got this far on the Kauni hat, almost half way up.  Then I just stopped knitting in an attempt to breathe.  

No knitting for a week:  Before this started I had gotten the Brioche socks down to the beginning of the heel, and either because it was late afternoon or that I was getting sick, I read and re-read the instruction for starting the heel.  They made no sense to me, (not because there is anything wrong with the pattern) just because my head was not working properly. 

So yesterday, I got the instructions out again, and read them and started working:

And here is the progress, now to work down the gusset.  And, of course, I fretted the whole time that I had gotten so old that I would never understand a pattern again.  Glad that is settled.

Trip Trap Hat

 To continue the quest for matching hats I have finished this little stripy number.

Regardless of the photo, the colors are the same as the sweater, which is true to the actual colors.

All that is left is the Kauni Damask Hat which is underway.

Dragon Boats

 I  have finished and blocked a Hat to go with the Dragon Boat Sweater. 

And today I cast on one to match the Kauni Damask (shown below).
Both the Kauni and Trip Trap will take longer than the others because they are both fingering weight yarn and one is color work, while the other is garter stitch.  I am having fun though.

Primary Colors

I finished this sweater in 2009, it is very very heavy and is worn during really cold weather.  So it really needed a hat.  Why it took me until now to spend 2 days banging one out, I really don't know, but here it is:

Next up a hat to match Trip Trap.

Already started.

Hats (and cowls) and Waltham

I have 4 family birthdays from Jan 21 to Feb 3, coming right after the Christmas rush, it is often a little frantic.  This year has been a year of Hats first:

 For my Daughter-in-law Naomi this cowl and hat combination for her 22nd birthday on January 21st.

On the 23rd we had son Christopher and Daughter-in-law Anna out to the farm for farm raised lamb, roasted potatoes, and Brussels Sprouts.  And, of course cake for desert.   Carl (Jan25th) got numerous DVD's of his favorite TV Shows and "Movies with Dead People"  (Not zombie movies, movies in which the entire cast have since died).

Anna got a gift card that she wanted and a do it yourself cashmere shawl, i.e. a bag of cashmere fiber.

On the 24th we celebrated with Chase and Naomi, and granddaughter Ameya, and Chaun and a friend of his.  (Don't know how to spell his name)  And Naomi got the Hat and Cowl shown, and Ameya distributed packages and then unwrapped them, and modeled the cowl as a skirt.

My grandson Mark lives in Virginia and so I mailed his double-knit hat in orange and brown to him, his  birthday is Feb. 3rd.

All of this hat making got me thinking, (as I do each time I make a hat) that I really should make a hat for Me.  So I sat down and knit up this blue and gray set: OK, this is a start, and it's pretty neutral but I have all those sweaters that I use for coats, and I have left over yarn from almost all of them Why don't I make hats to match?   Off to the studio and after some rummaging around I located the leftovers from several sweaters.

 Here is the Waltham Cardigan and the Hat I just made to match it.  There is not enough yarn for mittens which is probably just as well, as I can imagine what white mittens would look like very soon.
The next hat is to match the Primary Colors Cardigan, and is on the needles.  Stay tuned to see how this turns out.

 

January Report

 8 pair of socks all gifts none for me.

2 hats one for a granddaughter and one for a Great-granddaughter.

1 pair of mittens that match the hat for the Great-granddaughter.

2 pair of Monster pants for the youngest  granddaughter.

1 sweater for the daughter-in-law.

1 Vest for a daughter.

Spring Flowers

healthy tomato plant

 We have been working in the yard,  First we used some left over 6X6's and one new one to build the square 4X4 foot raised bed.  Then we planted the tomatoes and strawberries.  Once that was done, we planted my Tulip tree, actually Magnolia Anne.  And mulched them and the front flower beds with the peonies and iris. there were 2 tomatoes in the pot one healthy and one starting to look not so good.  I split them and the sickly one looked like it was not going to make it at all, but after the second day it had started to stand up again instead of lying down on the mulch.   One of the strawberries (out of 18 may not make it either but we will see.  All of the rest of what we planter seems very happy and are growing already.

Front bed mulched

Tulip Tree

Raised bed

Strawberry Plants

Tulip tree blossoms

Tulip tree close-up

Sickly little Tomato

mulched

January Birthdays

There are 4 of them.  Starting with the one I have had the longest:

Carl got season 2 of The Big Bang Theroy.

Naomi got a pair of socks I need to measure her so she can get something besides hats and socks.

Anna got a sweater:

And Mark got socks to match his Where's Waldo Sweater and Hat.

Now on to June which is the next bunch of 4 birthdays.

2014 Roundup

What did I finish in 2014?
15 pair of socks, 10 for gifts.

8 Hats, 5 of them for Rayne (fashion statements) and one each for Mark Caleb and Chaun

Three Sweaters 2 for me.

One Vest:

One Shawl:

And one poncho: