Ooh, La La!

La Parisenne Beret
Mountain Colors Bearfoot, Winter Sky, .4 skein
US3 needles

I suddenly wanted a beret last week, and it's a good thing, too: we've been getting snow in Seattle in April! Wha...? This beret is meant to be knit with two contrasting colors to really show off the chevron stitch pattern, but I was looking for something unsocklike to do with my sock yarn, and decided to go for it with the one colorway. I think it turned out beautifully. The handpainted colors still "move well" (says Jenna) within the stitch pattern without being garish at all. When I finished knitting, it fit my head, but I wasn't sure it qualified as a beret. Wet blocking with a dinner plate inside remedied that right away; the resulting fabric is soft and drapey and the shape is definitely all beret. Bonus: it's not so tight on my head that I get hat hair after wearing it! Woot! For such a lightweight hat, it's a lovely warm layer for this insane weather we're having.



And the 'Nut likes it, too!

Raveled here.

Spring, Schming.

No wonder we're a bunch of depressed freaks in this town... From today's weather forecast for the Seattle area:

Since Nov. 1, we've had (count 'em) only 10 days considered mostly sunny. (And four of them were in January where the average temperature of the day was 33 degrees or below.)

I really like the idea of hats but don't wear them very often. This week, I had the sudden urge to knit a beret out of a hank of Mountain Colors Bearfoot that's been languishing in the closet for a while. I have knit myself a few pairs of socks but don't really wear them very often (heresy!), so maybe hats are the way to go?

Any suggestions for cute sock-weight hat/beret patterns? I was thinking of something simple like Grumperina's Periwinkle Beret, maybe, and that's about as far as that thought went.

Also, my friend gave me a lovely ball of Be Sweet African Bead Ball yarn for a belated birthday gift. It's absolutely precious, handmade by women in South Africa; mine's the dark plum purple with multicolor beads shown at the link. I wonder how to use this special yarn to best effect... a loosely knit scarf, maybe? Which stitch patterns use the least amount of yarn? Ball band info = 50g ball is 65 yards. 3 stitches / inch on US 11 needles.

I'm still slogging along on Tangled Yoke cardi. It's good TV knitting!

Come on spring!!!

How I'm Spending My Spring Break

Reading: Click, by Nick Hornsby. I'm pretty sure it was Moni who recommended this Young Adult book on her blog. It's written by ten fantastic authors (including Roddy Doyle, Eoin Colfer, Ruth Ozeki, Gregory Maguire, Nick Hornsby), each taking on a different chapter in the book, all connected and concerning some aspect of a photographer's life. Really well done; I'm captivated by the book but also impressed with the project itself. I think that Hornsby was the editor? Finally, all the proceeds for the book go to Amnesty International. What's not to love?

Reading: Breakfast, Lunch, Tea: The Many Little Meals of Rose Bakery, by Rose Carrarini. This recommendation must've come from Rangiswan. What a lovely book! It's a glimpse into the life, philosophy, but mostly the recipes, from a French bakery/cafe. They are very intentional about preparing simple, delicious food from local and organic sources. My friend is leaving for Paris in a week and I hope she'll go there, just so I can live vicariously.

Watching: Into the Wild on DVD. I didn't read Krakauer's book; it just seemed so Bestseller List, which has often been a big turn-off for me. Now I wish I had... the movie is haunting me a couple of days after watching.

Avoiding: Report cards. Bah. They go home on Monday, and I've got a good chunk of them finished, but I'm feeling a sort of emotional stall-out after the stress of finishing my portfolio. Spending loads of time with the Peanut; today we tried Play-Doh for the first time! She kept wanting to taste it, and Wikipedia tells that the exact recipe is a secret, but the ingredients list sounds pretty safe, sooooo.... I'm trying to teach her not to eat things that are not food, but also trying to have fun. The eternal struggle! hahaha.

She's Alive.... ALIVE!

I mailed my portfolio for National Boards on Friday!!! I have rejoined society!!! It does feel strange to, you know, relax on a weekend. But I think I could get used to this. It was surreal, surrendering a year's worth of work to a USPS employee for $9, but I quickly remedied that odd feeling with a giant mai tai at the West 5. Ahhh. Now I just have to take the exam in late May, and then wait for my scores to arrive around Thanksgiving time. La la la...

I have much to report, three finished projects to share, a long queue of dreamy projects to begin (or continue!). But let me just ease back into this blogging thing with the help of the Peanut:

Toddler Explains the Economic Stimulus Plan:

Like Buttah

Handmaiden Swiss Mountain Silk
Cashmere and Silk
Topaz colorway
Excellent work avoidance mechanism.

Nose to the Grindstone

I find myself mentally blogging as I go throughout my day, updating my own synapses on my progress on various projects. Surprising, then, to see that it has been a month since my last post. In that time, both Tiennie and Katherine have told me that I "make their day"! Aw, thanks, pals! You know they both do the same for me.

I still haven't blogged my finished Excellent Jacket or Tilted Duster, but have worn them both a couple of times. There doesn't seem to be time -- or daylight! -- to take pictures this winter. I'm off work this week, though, furiously pecking away at the keyboard in an effort to complete my NB portfolio, to be postmarked by the end of March. Perhaps I'll find a little pocket of sunshine in which to photograph myself in my new jackets?

I went to Madrona Fiber Festival this weekend with Jenna and Melissa. It was my first fiber festival and I was really excited to go; I'm glad that it was much smaller than I imagined it would be. I was afraid that I'd be too overwhelmed to buy anything at all, but I did manage to buy a couple of things... a lovely hank of turquoisey Handmaiden Swiss Mountain Cashmere and Silk... I actually talked to The Handmaiden herself about the little skein of heaven, ooh la la! I also bought a couple of skeins of Shibui sock with plans of making my first pair of colorwork mitts... Endpaper Mitts, perhaps? We had lunch at the obligatory Mexican restaurant nearby and then explored the Tacoma Art Museum, luckily on the last day of a local quilting exhibit.

Naturally much of my energy is focused on my dear Peanut, who is beginning to incorporate sentences between all the gobbledygook... "I want some" is a favorite, lately followed by "Where did my clothes go?" I kid you not. This girl is destined to be a shoe 'ho. At my school's Lunar New Year celebration, she tried to engage an older girl in a barter, Peanut's wilting carnation bud for a pair of fabulous silver glittery shoes. No luck, but it was fun to watch!

She'd better get a hands-free set for her cell phone, soon, though! She's gonna get a ticket!

No Way! Me, Too!