Stress Knitting, Hat Edition

It’s been two weeks, so I should probably write an entry before I get out of the habit. I was off this weekend which did result in some knitting time, but these last few weeks have been pretty spars knitting-wise. Since I last posted pictures of my knitting projects, I have,

Finished another chart on my Names of the Doctor scarf—only three more to go! As this is a bit more of a ‘brains’ knit, I don’t reach for it that often when I have a few spare minutes. However, I am determined to wear it in London in December.

I finished the first Monkey sock and started the second. In fact, the second Monkey sock was what I was doing when I did my ‘extreme knitting’ this weekend—knitting IN a river! My life is so on the edge…

Rather like Ned the Piemaker’s stress baking, I do stress knitting, and recently my flavor of choice has been hats. So, I have two new hats on the go. The first one is a free pattern that I was totally smitten with from the git-go, Picacho Peak. I just got past the extreme boredom of the ribbing (20 rows is DEATH) and started the fun bit. The yarn is Round House alpaca in fingering weight, though it’s rather closer to sports weight.

This is totally boring just yet, but the hat will be far from boring once I get into the ‘good stuff.’ It is Brilthor, a lovely beaded slouch hat; the name being in Elvish is a nice bonus. It’s been a long time since I did beaded knitting; should be fun!

Oh, and I finished the stocking for my friend's little girl. All except the hanger that is; I don't have anything suitable out here, so I'll sew that on before mailing in December. The first stocking done totally by me! Hence the lack of perfection, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

Other than that I haven’t been doing much exciting. I am enjoying reading The Hobbit for literature class, and last night I was a total nerd and watch half a documentary on the Normans. Tomorrow is Birthday Party, so I’m trying to find a happy place. And yes, I am definitely taking knitting with me to the show!

Parting shot: Sometimes the Southern heart needs to hear the wind in the pine trees; they make a sound unlike any other.

Not ready, but resigned

I spent most of last week working on various 'school is about to start, ack!' projects, but I still managed to find the time to finish off a few things. First, this last project bag. I wanted one that had a zipper but no interfacing to make it less bulky so I could use it as a plane knitting bag. I used the bottom part of the chetengi I made my skirt with, and I decided to be wild and line it with orange. I might have made it a smidge deep, but overall I'm pretty happy with it!

I finished those two bags that required a lot of top stitching; here is one-

I finished stitching the trim on the stocking I'm making for a friend's precious little girl. Lots of hand sewing, but this little girl is worth it! I also finished the cuff, but I'll make you wait till I have the whole thing assembled.

On the knitting front I didn't get as much done as my break-time whirl of PD (professional development via Great Courses and Dimensions of the Faith) was rather interrupted, but I did manage to get a few repeats done on Magrathea,

and I manged to finally get my Monkey sock working--third times the charm! This was the result of a few lunch breaks and two pre-term meetings. I love the yarn, and I love that it's going so fast! At this rate I'll get through this in my 7 river times.

I'm sorry to see this holiday end, but term beginning means I am that much closer to getting home! I can do anything for three months...