Slouchy Knit Hat

Just reading my last post I'm astonished I let my guard down long enough to be optimistic. That lasted exactly five days. Then my company announced redundancies, three of which are in the photo department. Two solid weeks of pure stress over the future of my job and three to four weeks of painful side affects to my long sustained, yet stress induced acid reflux aside and my job is safe... for now.

Its scary how quickly things can go from being okay to being fraught with fear. I am no longer optimistic. I am content but I am not going to allow myself to get my hopes up again. Silly, silly me.

In the meantime I've been crocheting a cushion, cutting out a dress pattern (the power cord to my sewing machine is lost among all the boxes still unpacked from our move) and knitting a hat. It seems a long time since my last knitting project. I did throw together a quick seed stitch scarf for Billy but I never got around to adding it to the blog. He doesn't wear it because he thinks it's too big so I'll probably frog it anyways.

PS the rest of my NYC photos are up on Flickr now. I'm trying to get back into the habit of adding things in a timely fashion.

Knitting Project #7

It is snowing AGAIN! Edinburgh is getting hit pretty hard right now and my poor husband is out in it. Being nice and warm inside I decided to finish up a project. I needed to make my husband a new stocking as the one I made him two years ago was horrible. It was before I had ever knitted a sock so I didn't understand the heel.

This new one isn't perfect. I would have liked more red in the foot but I ran out. I will probably make him another again in a few years. By the time we retire he will have a ton of stockings!!

The pattern was easy enough but I did not like how the heel was turned because you didn't actually turn it. I don't think the finished product looked nice and I ended up sewing the seams. It will do for now.

Knitting Project #6

Okay, so I don't usually put up more than one project in a day, but I am really trying to catch up with all finished stuff. These are constellation fingerless gloves from Lion Brand. I love the cabled ones in Gap but I wanted ones that didn't go over individual fingers so that I can wear my leather gloves underneath. I used two skeins to make the wool chunkier and they are really super warm. They fill in the gap where my gloves end and my sleeve begins.

Knitting Project #5 & Sewing Project #9

This is the dress that I made in my sewing class with Lubi. I finished it about a month ago but I've been too busy (or lazy) to put up my studio lights and take a proper photo. Well tonight we had to set up the lights to take id photos for my visa so I thought I'd tick something off my long list of things to do.

This is based on a New Look pattern, but we really didn't keep to it that much. We changed the front and we just used some maths to figure out the skirt. I don't really like dresses with these sleeves, but I wanted to do the hardest ones in class so that other sleeves with be easy for me on my one. I want to make either one with three-quarter sleeves or sleeve-less with a boat neck. I really think it would look great in a tweed and quite fitting as I'm in Scotland.

This scarf is a quickie I whipped up when my husband needed to keep warm. It really is too short but I only had a little bit of man acceptable colors available to me. I tried to convince him to wear a cowl but that was a bit much for him. I really like the pattern for a guy and I think I will make it in gray when I can afford more wool.

I still have fingerless gloves and a gardening apron to photograph and put up. I really should keep up on these things better.

Oh and I found a shop in Edinburgh that sells my favorite winter tea! Yay.

Knitting Project #4 & Sewing Project #8

Billy and I trekked through the 2 feet deep snow today and happened upon a Christmas tree seller. We were going to go for a fake tree as we thought we couldn't afford a real one this year, but they were selling four feet tall trees which are really just the tops of bigger trees. So we bought one with a stump to put it on and they delivered it to us tonight. I love this tree. I think it is my favorite that I've ever had. I can't really explain it but all the ornaments on it were either made by us or had some significance.

I have been knitting little stockings since October. I think someone saw one and thought I might have been 'expecting' but the only thing I was expecting was a tree! I used super cheap yarn I bought my first Christmas here from Pound Stretcher, similar to a dollar store.

While waiting for our tree Billy and I made our ornaments from book pages. I sewed and he cut them out from an old book. He was quite pleased to cut up the Dan Brown book and I wasn't sorry to see it go. I saved the rest for future projects so books purists shouldn't worry.

Our star was made our first year we lived in Scotland together. We were super poor and couldn't afford a proper star. We made it out of tin foil and cardboard and we will probably keep it for the next forty years. We like it so much that we made one for my mom's tree last year when we were in Florida for Xmas. Though that one was spiced up with some amazing glitter glue!

Knitting Project #3

This wasn't the hat that I was going to make, but after having no luck finding double pointed needles US 10 in the UK, I decided to try something else. I usually shy away from things that are just purl or knit because I don't find them very challenging but I have to admit I really love this hat. It took no time at all and was a very relaxing project, which is what I need right now.

It's called the Republic hat and it was a free ravelry pattern. I actually knitted a bit more than I needed to because I was someone was visiting and I was knitting and talking at the same time (a bad combination for me!!). But it fits me perfectly. I used Big Softie yarn from Sirdar and I love it because its soft and its cheap!!

Knitting Project #2

So this hat will look great on a 8 year-old. On me it looks like a small ski cap. But I really do like the pattern. I used US 9 double-pointed needles for the whole project. I will be making this hat again for me in the gauge recommended. I could see this hat in several colors so I might make many for the dark days of winter.

It is a super easy pattern to make. I used a cable needle instead of the stitch holder I have always used. Wow the difference is incredible! It is so much easier to knit straight off the cable needle. Why oh why did I not try this before?

Knitting Project #1

So, I know it is summer time and the last thing I should be doing is knitting a winter hat, but after a long hiatus with my needles I found myself really wanting to make something. I don't like supper slouchy berets because they make my head look weird, so I found this tutorial on the Purl Bee website.

My hat is a bit different because I only had one skein of wool to use. Last year for our anniversary, Billy and I went to the Isle of Skye off the west coast of Scotland. There I found the most remote knitting shop I had ever seen. We drove for miles on single track roads stopping for the highland coos (cows) and finally came to Shilasdair. I could only afford one skein as it was a bit pricey and well my husband was there so I couldn't sneak a few more. So this hat is my remote isle anniversary hat!

I am going to make it again with red wool that I have a ton of. I had to cut so many rounds out of my Shilasdair hat that it doesn't really resemble the tutorial hat. It was super easy and a nice relaxing project.