It’s been rather crazy here. First up in my insane world, the Train To Maine hat is complete.
This is only the second hat I’ve knit for myself. One, I’m not a hat person. Two, they rarely fit my head even though I get gauge. Three, I hate it when it comes down to knitting the top of the hat. By the last row of decreases I feel like I’ve been in a cage match and I resent whoever invented double-pointed needles. Then I run the yarn through the remaining stitches pulling tight, just like the pattern says, and snap goes the yarn.
The Train to Maine pattern was blessedly knit flat and sewn together. The seam is truly invisible with this pattern. I loved knitting it and I enjoyed finishing it. But I haven’t gotten a chance to wear it. Since I knit the hat the weather has been a balmy 60 degrees (15.5 C). That’s a good 30 degrees warmer than normal. It’s really not hat weather at all.
The two yarns I used are Miss Babbs Yummy 3 ply in Oyster and Dream in Color Smooshy in Peacock Shadow. I can’t say enough nice things about the Miss Babbs yarn. So I will just say it is beautiful to work with and turns out lovely items. While Smooshy is one of my go to yarns, I had a problem with it this time. The deep indigo dye stained my wooden needles. Normally when I have deep colored yarns I put the whole skein in for a hand wash to see how much it bleeds and clear most of the bleeding out. I didn’t this time. My bad. So yes, that is an unblocked hat in the picture above. I hope the entire winter stays warm so I don’t have to wash it.
In my endless pursuit of a serene life I have failed miserably. The car I had for 13 years and grown very attached to is in the car lot in the sky. The snowstorms and bad driving conditions it got me through with ease made this car specially dear to my heart. But it had lived its life. The new car arrived this weekend. The most I have done is walk around it once and eye it suspiciously. I haven’t gotten behind the wheel. Heck, I haven’t even sat in it. I don’t resent it, I just don’t trust it. The Skipper says I have to get over this. I know I need to build a relationship with this car, it’s just that…I want my old one back. I never realized all the places I go to are not in walking distance.
Next up this week is major oral surgery. As my phobia of all things connected with dentists continues unabated, more things go wrong with my mouth thanks to the breast cancer, the radiation and the cancer medicine.
With all this going on, I decided to cast on a shawl with a lace pattern that I have failed over and over to get right. I thought it might take my mind off all the other things. This time around I only started over three times while I ripped back five. As added help, I’m not using a life line. I feel I should be able to read the knitting and know where I am. Yes, even my knitting is not relaxing at the moment.
