Viking Wants Knitted Hats

Normally, my Viking isn't too big on knit items, because he runs very warm, so making warm things for him doesn't quite work. On occasion, he has asked for hats, but they've been usually novelty hats, like his Viking Helm or Blinky the Fish (from the Simpsons).

However, the weather around here has been dipping into the low 30 (deg F) and he generally walks to the train station, so he's asked for a few 'regular' hats that he can wear to work. I was only too happy to oblige! I love knitting hats as they are a quick easy knit and I can swap between socks and hats for work knitting.

We went through my stash and he picked out a few colorways that seemed appropriate for work and we went through Ravelry to look at various hat patterns. He picked the ones he liked, and I started working on hats for him. He has a 23" head, so I have to up-size every hat so that it fits him properly.

The first hat was made out of Madeline Tosh DK. It's a scrumptious yarn and the varigated blue matches his eyes. I used the Koolhaas pattern by Jared Flood.

 

The second hat is using leftovers of Cascade Greenland yarn (discontinued) that I had left over from other projects. He wanted the green to dominate. I used the Turn a Square hat pattern, also by Jared Flood.

Luckily, hats are a fairly quick knit, plus, I'm tickled that he wants them. He's worn both on multiple occasions now, because the weather has turned rather cold in the mornings. I've got more in the queue for him, but I'm running out of his preferred colors; apparently, his favorite colors differ from mine! So I'll have to pick up more yarn just for him when Stitches comes around.

Star Wars and Lego

Have you seen the new ROGUE ONE - A Star Wars movie yet? If you haven't, GET THEE TO A MOVIE THEATRE, asap!!

I won't spoil it here, but we might on the podcast so get ready for it. But, I will say this....It's really GOOD. I laughed. I cried. I loved it. And I plan on seeing it several more times in the theatre.

In celebration of the new film, my Viking and I spent a couple hours of our holiday building Legos that we acquired on sale at Target. Needless to say, we had a blast doing it.

This particular build had several different bags, and the instructions have you go through each bag -- showing what it would look like after each stage.

First thing is first, we separated all of the Lego pieces according to size, color, and shape.

Because, it's so much easier to find everything when it's all laid out well. There were a lot of different Lego pieces that I hadn't seen before. It's no longer standard sized blocks.

I wonder if you can guess what we're building. He & I took turns on each page. He'd do two pages, then I did two pages -- it was a collaboration effort, just like most relationships. It took us about two hours to build it from start to finish.

Eventually, we got through all 5 bags of different pieces.

It was a lot of pieces.

But the final effort was so worth it.

A black X-wing you might say....well, it is Po Dameron's x-wing after all, complete with a BB-8 and rebel mechanic.

And it fires off proton torpedoes! How cool is that?

Because you never know when you're going to run into a giant cat....

We also picked up our own separate Lego projects to build. I thought this General Grievous looked way too cool not to build, so I picked this as my personal project.

He's comprised of a lot of different ball joint pieces.

The build, itself, wasn't overtly difficult, but it was a lot of fun. The resulting figure is extremely posable and pretty much looks like he stepped out of the Clone Wars animation.

I think we shall be building more legos in the future. It's just too much fun.

Playing Catch-up

It's been a bit since I've blogged, partly vacation & the holidays. But also because the Blogger App that I've been using on my iPhone stopped working for a little bit and it was hard to write my drafts & upload photos. But, I wanted to say that I'm still alive and well...and even crafting at this point. So let me endeavor to catch you up on a few things.

For trip knitting, I ended up bring four projects -- my cable vest, my Dragon colorwork scarf, a pair of socks, and simple stockinette cardigan.

The plane trip afforded some quality knitting time and I got a whole TWO INCHES done on my Dragons scarf. I had a severe knitting attack and had to tink carefully back to fix my mistake -- hence why I only got two inches done.

The Knitting Companion app makes chart reading So Easy.

I also had a 'to-go' project, which I worked on while we drove around the Big Island of Hawaii or whenever we were at a restaurant. I managed to get a full sock finished before we left....barely.

(I managed to finish the second sock after our vacation.)

But, just before the vacation, I started a new project, and also ended up working on while in Hawaii. It's Watercourse by Carina Spencer. So, my attention was a bit divided between three projects. I completely ignored the cable project that I had brought. It languished in my luggage the entire time.

Why so little knitting? Because we ended up doing a lot of things, especially involving being IN water. And we know that knitting and sea water don't play well at the same time.

I don't mind not knitting as much as I had hoped while on vacation. It was gorgeous and fun. I need to factor those into my next trip knitting.

Vacation Crafting Plans

Vacations are awesome things. They allow you to get some much needed rest and relaxation; free from distractions of work and other life obligations. I love vacations, and we haven't had one in a while, so I'm very much looking forward to this one.

One of the things I love to do on vacation is a bit of crafting -- not a lot, but enough to relax. And what's more relaxing than knitting or crochet? These types of crafts are pretty darn portable, and while you do have to take precautions with your knitting while flying, it's pretty worthwhile to bring "something".

Of course, the hardest part of planning out a vacation is trying to determine the crafting projects that will accompany you on your voyage:

A) How many crafting projects you can bring with you safely. It's a Goldilocks type situation. You don't want to pack too much (that you won't ever get through) and you don't to run out of projects during your vacation. You want just "enough" to last you through your holiday. This part is hard. It's all too easy for a crafter to overpack projects.

B) What type of crafting projects should you bring?

• We're going to be flying to our vacation location, so I will need airplane knitting. I'll have a couple of hours free to work on lace, cables, colorwork, or anything complicated!
 
Cables? Lace? Colorwork?

I have some languishing WIPs so this might be a good time to get those finished. 

• We're also going to be driving around, and I don't want to miss out on some beautiful scenery, so I'm going to want something easy that I can put down at a given moment. Usually that means vanilla stockinette socks, but I could go garter stitch shawls, too!

 

Of course, I did just get some self-striping Halloween yarn, so that might influence my decision. :-)

And of course, there's all the accoutrements that I also need to factor into planning, such as extra needles, stitch markers, crochet hooks, and the whole lot. And as I tend to break sock needles, I want to ensure that I have a back up pair in my luggage.

I also did some research on any local yarn stores (http://www.knitmap.com) in the area, and managed to find one in the entire area, which I will be visiting once we arrive there.

I can't wait to for vacation and get some dedicated crafting time!

Building a Prototype for Knitting Needle Carrying Case

After sewing nearly every night for the past two weeks, it felt a bit weird not to be sewing. So, I decided that I could spend a little bit of time making something small -- a knitting needle / pencil holder for travel.

I should have probably sketched out general ideas of what I wanted, but I dove right into making a prototype. I had a general idea of what I wanted to do, and it took about 20 minutes to make. There are some problems with it, but it's serviceable and will act as a base for any future cases.

First, I took some left-over fabric that I used to create my Rosie the Riveter bandana, and cut out a 17.25  x 9.25" rectangle; the seam allowance will be about 0.25".  The final piece will be about 8.5x 9.0.

Then, I cut out another rectangle -- 4.25 x 9.25" to act as the pocket, and sewed it  onto three edges like the below photo)

I folded over the longer fabric and sewed the right sides together on two sides. I also added a ribbon to act as a wrap-around.

I turned the whole thing right-side out and sewed the last opening shut. Afterwards, I created channels to fit a variety of knitting needles, pens, and pencils.

The flap folds over and the ribbon wraps around it to form a fairly compact case.

I thin I'll re-make this again with different fabric and make it a bit better with additional closures, but for now, it's a workable prototype.

Night of the Ball -- Soiree Au Moulin Rouge

Who doesn't get excited about getting all gussied up and heading out for a night at a Ball? Perhaps, if you're Scrooge, you might not, but even Cinderella's evil stepmother & stepsisters were excited about getting dressed to go to the Ball. I certainly was excited --- my outfit was complete; one of my favorite swing bands, Lee Presson and the Nails (LPN), was going to be playing; there was going to be cancan dancing; and a lot more.

My outfit before we left for the Ball

The weather wasn't cooperating and it poured buckets driving there. Visibility sucked, but we were committed to going, especially as we were bringing photography lights for the self-service photography area.

The location was the Michaan's Theater, which was an amazing location --- it was a renovated movie theater with an art deco Egyptian theme.

The organizers had done an excellent job with the decorations.  There was a beautiful jeweled elephant in one of the hallways.

This thing was amazing. It had taken volunteers many days to "bejewel" this elephant.

Insofar as my part in the event, the organizers had picked out a beautiful curtain backdrop, and we set up the lighting so that people could take photos at their leisure. Of course, I took my own photography gear to shoot at my own leisure as well as dancing.

The evening was full of lovely people in some very gorgeous outfits.

And then there was the entertainment!  LPN was fun and amazing, as always

There was a lot of dancing (oh, my poor feet....) Although LPN is primarily swing, they did play a few polkas, including the local favorite, the Congress of Vienna, and some very fast paced polkas. I had the (mis)-fortune of acquiescing to a very fast polka with a most excellent partner; I got dizzy very fast, but he was kind and took pity on my state.

CanCan Bijou and the other performers were extremely entertaining.

The absinthe tasting was available for those interested in trying the Green Fairy.

Sketch artists were on-hand to draw your portrait.

Overall, it was a most excellent night at the Moulin Rouge.

Day of the Ball --- It's the Little Things

Having completed a majority of work the evening before, I only had a few small things left to do today for the bodice. Primarily, finishing up the shoulder trim. I got some buttons from Joanns Fabrics.

And here the final cockade. 

It goes over the shoulder and the ribbon ends loop to form quasi-shoulder caps. 

I also had to add buttons for the skirt loops. I used the smaller button as a shank, by sewing both buttons together. I used the smaller button as a shank, by sewing both buttons together. This allowed me to pull up the skirt and hook it to the underside of my bodice.

 

And what's a dress without some accessories? About 2.5 hours before having to leave for the Ball, I realized that I had no hair ornaments and my 1890's hair style looked a little too plain. Whoops....

So I drove back to Joanns and picked up a few bits and bobs --- feathers and a silk flower. 

Within 10 minutes, using a bit of felt, some sewing, and a hot glue gun, I had a hair piece that I attached to a small hair comb that I slid into my hair.

I stopped myself at that point, because I seriously considered making a reticule (i.e a purse) out of left over fabric, when I really needed was to finished getting dressed. Instead, I grabbed on of my prettier yarn bags with scroll work.

(Note to self: I need to make more "formal" ditty bags 

that can do double duty as a yarn bag and purse for such events.)

Here's the bodice at various stages of trim.

I shall finish this series with a final post about the Ball itself, later.