FO: Hippie Traveler

Happy Friday everyone.  I have managed to pull my sodden self back together and am comforting myself with the notion that my ikkle brother may be bigger than me now, but he still has to go through freshman year and all the amusement that entails for his big sister.  But before I became a blubbering mess I did manage a small knitting feat and turned in this hooded vest for Charms homework in the Harry Potter Knit and Crochet House Cup.

The Havasu Hoodie by Par Oiseau was in Knitscene Summer 2012, but somehow I missed it at the very back of the issue.  It is a reverse stockinette hoodie knit in pieces and then joined together for the hood.  I knit mine out of some old Lion Brand Fisherman's Worsted I had in the stash.  I had bought two skeins several years ago but had not done more than the occasional scrappy worsted project and it needed a better outlet.

You may have noticed a slight error in my version of the pattern.  And by slight I mean AN ENTIRE PIECE IS BACKWARDS! *Ahem* Yes.  It seems that when I joined the back to the two fronts I joined the back with the stockinette side facing, but the fronts with the reverse stockinette side facing, and proceeded to knit the hood as written.  I did not realize this until I was finishing up the seams two days and a new season of Arrested Development later.  So I left it, which could have been one of the better mistakes I have made.  This white yarn shows all the mistakes I made in my tension as I carted these pieces around with me and the knit side is much more forgiving than the purl side.

My loving husband is often the one behind the lense helping me to take photos of my knitwear.  For this hoodie I styled it in a sort of lost explorer with a little bit of fashion sense (not too much, we were working off of my closet).  The twist came when a thunderstorm rolled in while we were in the nature park and we tried to get "just a few more" pictures.  I don't think I have ever seen him run so fast, though he claims he was just keeping up with me.  Out of deference to him I will probably be picking much tamer photo locations for a while.

To see more FOs, hopefully photographed with less chance of immolation, check out the gang over at Tami's Amis!

A Rambling Amble and Contest Winner

I talk way too much in this entry, but I do get to some relevant information including current projects and the winner of the What's Your Beach Contest.

Helpful Links:

Singlehanded Knits with Mel Ski

Drizzle by Mel Ski

Perpetua Shawl by Romi Hill in Unwind Yarn Company

Triptych Shawl by Liz Abinante in Sweet Georgia Tough Love Sock, Honey Fig

Havasu Hoodie by Par Oiseau in Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool

Sunshine by Robin McKinley

Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham (review)

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern


Thanks for watching!

Here There May Be Ponies

How is it Wednesday already? My friend Taryn came up on Sunday for the "weekend" and we had way too much fun knitting, thrift store shopping, and watching My Little Pony (How did I not know of this brilliance before? I will never know).  It has been a perfectly lovely followup to the rather traumatic work day I had on Saturday.  I had a very unpleasant encounter that put quite the damper on the rest of my day.  When I got home all I wanted was the comfort of organization and a basic knit.  As I was working on my new craft area I started flipping through a random magazine.  Next thing I knew I had sat down and cast on a new sweater.

Somehow I had never noticed the Havasu Hoodie lurking at the end of the last summer's Knitscene.  Something about the very unassuming description and the comforting basic ribbing and stockinette made it exactly what I needed after a horrid day.  I'm knitting it out of some Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool that I bought a few years ago but never managed to use.  Here's hoping I bought enough.

For more WIP Wednesday posts, check out the gang over at Tami's Amis!

Also, don't forget that you still have time to enter the What's Your Beach Contest to win a copy of Drizzle!