Olympic Reindeer Hat

Do you know what has...

...tassles...

....an American flag...

...a double rolled brim that requires thirteen additional rows of knitting solid blue and additional seaming...

...and reindeers?

A finished Olympic Reindeer Hat!

Pattern: Olympic Reindeer Hat by Clever Knits /Rav Link
Based on the official hat of the 2010 USA Olympic team (she did a pretty amazing job re-engineering)
Yarn: Cascade Yarns 220 Wool
Colorways: Christmas Red 8895, Ecru 8010, Navy 8393
Needles: US 5 & 6
Ravelry Project Page

Is this hat for me? NO. I'm a beanie kind of girl and my fair isle takes the form of things like little owls or cupcakes.  But this isn't for me. As I previously divulged 

"When we were out for my birthday last week [March] I had asked a friend of mine what he was planning to get his wife whose birthday was a few days away (she was obviously unable to make it to supper). He told us how watching the opening ceremonies of the Olympics she had fallen in love with the US team hats. It was a tale of woe. Seems he went online looking for this and it had been $75 (too much for me already), but they had sold out pretty much instantaneously and then they were $300-$400 on eBay (which they must have sold out there as well, because I couldn't find them in a search). Now, I am a bit of a pushover when it comes to a husband wanting to make his wife happy, so I told him "Hmm, too bad you don't know a knitter". I promised to go looking to see if I could find a pattern for this hat. I am a bad American. For multiple reasons, one of them being I do not watch the Olympics. Not a second of it. Luckily, Ravelry to the rescue. I did a search and I found it! I was pretty psyched. Granted, her birthday is past, but we are aiming for Christmas. I also have little fear she reads this blog!"

I thought I would work on this during the slow summer months. But then didn't start it until August and it's been competing for stress with Christmas crafting. I am not sad to see this go.

Also, as a beanie girl the tallness of it freaked me out, 10.5"x 11". But looking at pics of the project others have finished this looks normal...

Goodbye happy little patriotic reindeer. May you make your new owner very happy and warm!

Yarn Stormed!

So, Monday I drive up to my apartment and see a box propped up against the door of my townhouse. Two thoughts crossed my mind in this order:

1) "Damn mailman. What in the hell is he doing leaving that box propped aganist my door totally stealable in this neighborhood??"

2) "Hmmm. Did I order yarn and forget about it again? I really need to stop that. Definitely a sign of a problem."

So, I went and rescued the box. I was on my way to pick up some shoes I had ordered. (Reference above mentioned "sign of a problem" thought.) I threw the box in the passenger seat and started towards the mall. I glanced at the return address and saw "Yarn Stormers". First stop light I ripped through that packaging with only my stubby, yet deadly, fingernails for tools. (Okay, so I may have continued digging once driving commenced.)

I behaved and pulled out the letter first.

Then I dug through the yarn.

Nine total skeins. And then I proceeded to do what any sane knitter in my position would do. Called my knitterly friend to brag that a knitting fairy stopped at my house. Then said a prayer to thank God for having people in my life, that while they have never met me face to face, do amazing things like have me yarn stormed, send me patterns I've been drooling over the day my divorce is finalized, and drop random bits of handspun in the mail to me with encouraging CDs. And these are just the friends I've never had the joy of seeing for real.

Then I sat down with some research I had to get through for a meeting this week and cast on for a cowl with my newly acquired yarn.

I used the Dolores Park Cowl pattern from s i x o n e s e v e n.

Ravelry Project Page

But I made some adjustments. Many (most) that were totally unnecessary. But you see, all this yarn came with was a little tag that told me it was from Dancing Leaf Farms and 100% wool. No idea how much yardage I had. And I haven't really knit much with thick and thin yarn, so I wasn't quite sure how accurate a gauge swatch would be. And I'm a lazy bum who doesn't swatch.

So…


I went down a needle size from the pattern. (From US13 to US 11).

I cast on an extra 10 stitches (bringing the total to 60. Not needed in any way, shape, or form. Obviously.)

I added two rows. One before the middle increase section, one after. So knit 14 before started the increase, knit 12 before the last purl row. Obviously not needed.

The thick and thin yarn gave this usually smooth cowl a really interesting look with puckers and bulges and whatnot.  (And I haven't gotten around to weaving in that loose end.)
 

This cowl is so crazy and large! One of those pieces that says "Hell, yeah. I made this. No way you are buying something that rocks this much in a store, honey!".

So to the yarn fairies at Yarnstormers. Thank you. Much love from this knitter who's had a rough month. Well, okay. A rough few years.



To make this an EXTRA long entry, this reminds me of a post I put up in the Ravelry Casting Off group almost a year ago. Still true today as much as it was then.

 

I Knit So I Don't Kill People...

 

This phrase has always entertained me. I was catching up on my blog reading this morning to avoid the big mess I made on my desk before leaving yesterday and Yarn Harlot’s blog had an entry that really got me to thinking how grateful I am for being a knitter through these hard times.

"How do non-knitters handle stress? I mean, I know they must do something, since it’s not like I see them all weeping on the bus all the time, but when everything in their lives is all messed up, what is the thread of sanity and sameness that runs through it and keeps them from being a lunatic? Does knitting attract people who need something to moderate stress more than others? Do you think that you use knitting to moderate your behaviour, and in this spirit of this shirt (I knit so I don’t kill people) do you think your behaviour would be different if you didn’t?"


This was an entry she wrote about some renovations and handling stress. It made me realize I really don’t know how non-knitters handle divorce! :)


Being a knitter has truly kept me sane. It has given me something to concentrate on when I can’t quiet my thoughts down, it has allowed me a reason to zone out for hours just as long as I kept the knitting going, it has given me a sense of control over a life that I can’t stop from spinning out of control, it has made me feel like I am worth something when I’m feeling like I can’t do anything right. It has given me a reason to sit and knit with others for hours and not have to really say anything, but not have to face the night alone.


Not only has the actual act of knitting kept me sane, but the intense spirit of community between knitters. When I realized I was leaving my husband a year ago I started a knitting group. Knowing I need to be there for this group has given me structure, it’s made me not sink completely in to my introvert shell, I always know that they’ll listen. I’ve made friends that accept me for who I am through my knitting.


Yarn Harlot mentions the “thread of sanity and sameness”. My knitting makes me feel grounded. It connects my past with my present and as I finish a project I often find myself wondering what storms and joys that finished object will be with me for. Who will unwrap that scarf from my neck? When I buy yarn I wonder who I will make a project for to show them my love. It reminds me who I am and it is something I hold on to while everything else around me seems to keep changing, including myself. I am a knitter.


Today I’m feeling grateful and I wanted to share.

Happy Thoughts

First off, I have to declare my love to a special Rav friend that sent me the sweetest package! She was already being a sweetie sending me some marriage sermons that had been a great comfort to her and said that since she gathered I was having a rough time last week she "padded" the box.

With this.

340 lovely yards of handspun fingering weight. Blue Faced Leceister. It is mine. Don't even think about it. But for the yarnies out there here is a closeup. You can pretend you are squeezing it. I promise it's luscious.

And she was also sweet enough to include some cute little stitch markers and a toy for my kitty (which was stolen by the kitty and unavailable to photograph.)

This is one of the many things I love about knitters. They care. I mean seriously. We spend hours of patient work on projects. Cross us and we have pointy sticks that we're not afraid to use. Don't screw with us. But if we like you, we mean it for reals. Through some of my darkest valleys knitters are the ones who have came in after me and drug me out by my ear. They have held me up and shoved some wine in one hand and some yarn in the other. Thank you, Patty. You have no idea how much this care package meant to me!

In other weekend events, Mom came to visit this weekend. We did a little shopping (I survived a trip to the LYS AND to JoAnn's and only spent $7.50. The joys of being a broke ass crafter!) We then declared Saturday to be a day of no showering, pjs, coffee, and beading. In the last few years my mom has requested to have lessons in the crafts that I obsessively surround myself with and she's gotten pretty good. Now we always have a nice way to spend her visits. I got bored pretty quickly and resorted to cutting fabric for my quilt, however, before my gnat-like attention span put an end to my beading, I did finish a couple of necklaces.

Unfortunately, there was a baking fail. In my attempt at breadsticks I had a massive fail at multi-tasking. With the marinara sauce on the stove, my friend asking me questions, and me trying to measure the flour I seem to have added an extra cup of flour. They were truly awful. My mom threw them away when I wasn't looking. For this I was grateful. It would have been reminiscent of the scene where they have to shoot Old Yeller.

The weekend ended badly, but for today I leave you with happy thoughts. We'll stick with yarn presents and pretty necklaces.

Happy Monday!

Pie. Friday.

First off-two words. Pie. Friday. But you’ll have to wait for it.

I was on my way home from work today after making two stops for alcohol. One for wine and then on second thought some beer while for while I wait for my friends to get here to drink wine. It was a bitch of a day to end one hell of a week. I was listening to a Christian radio station and they were interviewing a new band. The band was talking about how cool it was to be playing alongside bands they grew up listening to. They mentioned the song “What if I Stumble” and suddenly here I am driving in “rush hour” (I live in Iowa) traffic with tears in my eyes.

I grew up in the Lutheran church, but then spent a few years as an agnostic. When I was really struggling with coming back to God I knew that I was in it all the way or not at all. I couldn’t do this whole “social Christian” thing I had seen growing up. Just going to church on holidays but really not letting God have much control over my life Monday-Saturday. So I fought Him for a long time. Not long after I first made the leap my husband (then boyfriend) played the DC Talk song “What if I Stumble” for me. It brought me to tears. I felt so much pressure. I thought as a baby Christian I was embracing the love of a God in a way different from I understood it growing up, but instead I was just vowing to not mess up. I was so afraid I would be a hypocrite.  But I did mess up. I used to cry over the idea of not being good enough for God’s love and the pressure of not knowing how He could love me if I ever stumbled and fell away from Him. But I did. And He still does. In the end the biggest instance of being a hypocrite for me was not accepting the grace I believed in for so many others.  Amazing how different these words can mean to me over seven years later.

What if I stumble, what if I fall?

Will I lose my step and make fools of us all?

Will the love continue when my walk becomes a crawl?

What if I stumble, what if I fall?

What if I stumble, what if I fall?

You never turn in the heat of it all

What if I stumble, what if I fall—

Everyone’s got to crawl

Do they see the fear in my eyes?
Are they so revealing?
This time I cannot disguise
All the doubt I’m feeling

You’re up against a wall, it’s about to fall

I hear you whispering my name you say

“My love for you will never change”

Now for the pie.

For this week's bake-a-long the theme was ginger. Bitter truth, not a ginger fan. However, this pie has seriously made me reconsider this position. Seriously. However, rewind back to before I knew of my upcoming challenging of my ideas on ginger, so Tuesday. I knew that I would be baking a pie this week. I also knew that I couldn't (shouldn't) eat a pie alone. Due to having to work late Thursday I had to miss knitting this week. So, it seemed like a great idea to invite a couple of good friends over for pie.

Ginger Pear  Pie from All Recipes

3 T. cornstarch

1/4 t. ground ginger
1/2 c. water

1/2 c. dark corn syrup

1 t. lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon grated lemon peel

4 large pears, peeled and thinly sliced

1 T. butter or margarine
9 in. pastry shell

Topping:
1/2 c. flour
1/4 c. packed brown sugar
1/8 t. group ginger
1/4 c. cold butter

1/4 c. chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

To start off with I made my pie crust. The crust called for a bought shell, but hell no. That's not how we roll here. I don't like the funny aftertaste, but hey, to each their own. I made the shell first so it was done, but put it in the fridge while I made the filling so the butter didn't get too warm.

Next for the filling. In a saucepan, combine the first six ingredients until blended. Gently stir in the pears. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally; boil for one minute. Add butter.

Pour the filling into the pastry shell.  For the topping combine the flour, brown sugar, and ginger in a bowl. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over the pear fillling.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the topping is golden brown.

We let the pie sit for 30 minutes or so. It was still nice and warm, but the filling was a little firmer this way. Sided with ice cream and it was amazing. What a great reason to spend a fabulous Friday night with fabulous friends. Most definitely the stage for a new tradition. Pie Friday sounds like a great way to end every week. Even ones that don't have you wanting to crawl in the fetal position under my desk. My friends rock. Pie is great. It's on.

Happy Birthday to Me!

I had a birthday this week! I turned 28 on Monday. It was a low-key birthday. And I was okay with that. Really. In the past I've been a kind of an it's-my-birthday-I-want-a-freaking-hubbub sort of gal. Maybe I turned a maturity corner this year. I really didn't want to do everything. (I realized my previous divaness when this was met with varying levels of disbelief and shock.)

I had a fabulous surprise on Sunday when my mom took me to lunch after church and there was my family waiting for me! They made a three hour round trip to come visit me. I just kind of plunked down in a state of shock. AND THERE WAS CAKE! My grandma has a signature angel food cake.

Sunday night was a great quiet night out with friends at a local restaurant. Sorry no pics. Imagine a group of 10 laughing friends in a dimly restaurant with lots of food.

Monday, my actual birthday, was rather quiet. I felt loved by the 30 facebook birthday greetings. Gotta love facebook. You never really know who would have really remembered you if not for the sidebar reminder. Monday night my dear friend, Ms. Erin, insisted on a birthday supper. The lasagna was yummy, but of course it was, she's my 26 year old little Italian grandma. However-There.Were.Cupcakes. For real. They were decorated like sunflowers! I felt an enormous amount of love, because they took some patience. And she has a squirmy 10 month old.

(This refuses to go the right way)

And due to a need to burn up some vacation time before the "use it or lose it" deadline of the end of the fiscal year. Yesterday I also had off work (yep, I was that girl who took off her birthday). A day of sewing. And some disasters. Related topics. More tomorrow.

Then, when I begrudgingly returned to work today there were flowers! A quiet birthday, but I feel loved!

So now, on with 28!