Knitting in Florida

Hi! I'm still here!

This is a random nature shot from Sarasota, Florida. It's beautiful, but hot and humid at the moment. I've been quite busy lately, so I haven't gotten much accomplished - just a few small projects.

My most recent finished object is hat for a friend, who almost died after a bus accident in Jamaica earlier this year. She had a terrible brain injury that required surgery, and they had to shave her head to operate. Charlotte was in a coma for three weeks and even when she came to, doctors said that she would either die shortly or be in a vegetative state for the rest of her life. Miracle of miracles, she recovered completely and is back at home, living life just as she did before the accident. When she asked for a hat to keep her head warm I was more than happy to oblige. I sent her links to a few patterns and she chose the In-Between Seasons Cap (Ravelry link).
This is not a great photo (of me or the hat), and I took it before frogging and re-knitting the hat. I'll replace it with a better one soon.
This hat was my first attempt at twisted stitches, which I like in theory, but they didn't turn out so well in this hat. The stitches up the sides of the hat looked nice - until you put it on, when they stretched in a sort of weird way - one side stretched out a little bit more than the other. I think the problem has to do with my knit vs. purl tension, which I've been working on lately. Anyway, to remedy the problem, I frogged the top part of the hat down to the picked-up stitches and re-knit it without the twisted stitches. I like the result. And the yarn I used - Knit Picks Andean Silk - is amazing! I will definitely be using it again.

Then I knit another hat for Charlotte, because the Knit Picks wasn't exactly the right color. I used some Vanna's Choice in a dusty blue to knit Cabled (Ravelry link), by Thea Colman. This is one of my favorite patterns. I made one for myself earlier this year, so I immediately thought of the pattern when I decided to knit a second hat for Charlotte. The Vanna's Choice isn't great, but I found it more pleasant to work with than some other acrylic yarns. I don't have a photo of this, but I'll add it in a day or two.


I love knitting for charity. Especially baby things. Especially hats. I like to think of the person who will use the item I'm making. So, I both give and get warm fuzzies. Get it? Give... and get? Never mind. Here's a picture of an almost-finished newborn hat.

I promise I'll have some more respectable projects to share soon. In the works: my first cabled scarf - with a deadline (yesterday). Life is... crazy. Maybe one day I'll have it figured out. For now, knitting is a necessary piece of sanity in the midst of all my craziness.