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Wednesday, September 25, 2013

#225

Purty, aint' it?  This is at last year's exhibit of Chihully glass sculptures, at Cheekwood Botanical Gardens.  Disco & I went for their Day of The Dead celebration; they had mariachis! 
This is my 225th post, WOOOT!  This morning Iron John came by my cubicle & picked up his birthday present -- the dark grey tricorn hat trimmed in blue & white.  I made a great big "cockade" for the thing, from a UNC decal attached to some craft foam, cut to just the right size to fit into a chip(Pringles) can lid.  Then I hot-glued around the edge of the foam to keep it from slipping out, and bent a folded piece of chenille stem, slipped in a big safety pin, and hot-glued that to the back of the foam.  I need to make one for my hat too!  Maybe I'll photo the process and you can all see how it's done.  Anyway, he was supposed to be here last week; I didn't want to leave the hat at my desk so took it home.  Got to thinking that it was a bit big, so carried it to the laundromat (Yes! they let me felt both hats there!) and ran it thru just one more wash cycle.  It seemed a tad small to me, but Iron John hasn't got the masses of hair I've got.  I did stretch it over a form, reattached the pins, and set it before a fan.  Last night it seemed dry so I replaced the plume.  IJ put it on and IT FITS!!!  Now if he can just keep his kid from swiping it.....
I'm 60 years old now, and I knit pirate hats.  But they're very nice pirate hats!

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Serious sillies, round two

I've felted both Captains' Hats; they look great!  See:



I told her she can't wear them point-forward, as she's not a Captain, so she's wearing them turned sideways.  Love the concentration in the last shot!
The red (Paton's yarn, Cognac Heather) one is mine.  The other is intended for Iron John Bonney, and will be decorated with Tarheels insignia and some other junk in light blue and white.  The yarn was Cascade 220 in a very dark grey, which took two more cycles of hot wash than did the Patons's.  But both hats are drying now, very firmly felted!  Hip, hip, HOORAH!


Thursday, September 12, 2013

Work work work

Steelers Fail at home....how disgusting.  Their hearts weren't in it, I guess.
This is just a quick note of progress (sort of):
    The Captain's Hats are in a holding pattern for now, but I'll have to get 'em felted Friday afternoon.
      The Bunny Hop is back on the burner; got to the top of the #2 sleeve.  It looks soooo much better than the first one; I'm going to knit a 3rd sleeve like the 2nd and just hold onto the 1st one for finishing.  I have a trip planned to visit the Princess, and must MUST have her sweater done in time!  Oh how I love knitting deadlines...not!! 
         The ruffle scarves collection has grown by one more.  I have one in black & gold, one in olive & tan, one in various orange-y reds, and now one in a shade called "malachite" which actually looks more like turquoise.  I have another ball of the black & gold, more of the green & tan, more of the "salsa" red, some pastels, and some more metallics in ruby and royal blue.  That will cover about half the department.  Whew!  Got some work to do!

Saturday, September 7, 2013

Hat(s) redux -- for photos

Ah, friends, we've a serious case of the sillies here.  It's due to the "before felting" hat below:
We know how much Disco loves a hat.
I like it too!
It can double as a tent...
Or maybe just a burka...
The other hat is well under weigh, and as soon as I get it to the point of this first one, we'll work on felting both of them.  This will be a chore, as we haven't a washing machine.  What we have is a large plastic barrel, which may or may not hold both hats.  We'll load in a hat and some tennis balls or knotted up blue jeans (for friction), then some hot water & detergent.  If there appears to be room enough, we'll put the other hat in as well -- but we've got to leave some room so the contents can tumble about.  Then we'll cap up our barrel, turn it on it's side, and sit across from each other with the barrel between -- and just roll it back & forth to each other.  Should be loads of fun!
 

 

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Wow, it's September -- how'd THAT happen?

Busy, busy...a couple of posts ago I mentioned new digs for our local Jo Ann Fabric & Crafts.  Last weekend (a long one, so very needed!) we finally got to go over there.  I used to complain to the sales clerks & even the manager, about the poor lighting over the yarn in the old store.  Well, I'll complain no more (at least, not about the lighting...)!  The new store is HUGE and very well lit up; I thought Disco was going to need a bread-crumb trail to find her way out of the beading section -- which looks like a good sixth of this very large store.  I'm just so pleased with the look of this redisigned Jo Ann's.  My only issue is the paucity of yarn lines stocked.  This was about the fifth place I'd checked for (of all things..) light blue eyelash yarn in the carrying weight (think Lion Brand's Fun Fur).  I went to Michael's last, and of course that's where I found some.  It's not Lion Brand, but it'll do.  I've got a particular project in mind, and actually well under weigh -- and yes, that's the correct spelling as it's a nautical term, entirely appropriate for the project in work:  Tricorn (aka Pirate Captain) hats!  Oh, I crack me up somethines... The pattern is free on http://www.knitlikeapirate.com/ and I've wanted one, like 4-ever so I shall have one.  But I'm making two....who will get the other one?  Can't say, as the scurvy dog just might read this here blog.  The plan is to have both ready before Sept 19.  I think I can, I think I can....