Jayne hat, revised

Why do all the patterns for the Jayne hat that folks on the 'net are doing and sharing have pointed earflaps? They aren't pointed on the original hat, not at all. I reknit and reknit the flaps until it was passable and here's the result. Much better, I think. Of course, I should mention, while I'm being so picky, that these colors are all wrong, too. There was no red, just yellow and orange. Feh.

Works in progress, besides the socks

A washcloth









Beginner's triangle, A Gathering of Lace, Meg Swansen



I wish I could figure out how to get these pictures where I want them. Time to find a tutorial, I guess. These are the other projects taking up space on my desk, in my purse, and on the kitchen table. The yellow washcloth is for me. I guess I do knit for me sometimes, but it's not for the washcloth itself, but for mindless knitting while I'm stuck on something else. I also really love to look at yellow without trying to wear it. Who can wear yellow, anyway?

The oatmeal colored thing is my practice shawl while I wait for the good yarn to arrive. Turns out I have lots to learn about lace knitting, which is seriously cutting down on my private knitting hubris. I really thought this would be a piece of cake. Jerk.

Finally, the 2x2 ribbed tube. It's supposed to be a hat, but I just keep knitting round and round because, well, I have no idea how to figure the decreases myself. There are 140 stitches, way more than most hats, and damned if I can find a plain 2x2 rib hat pattern to copy the decreases from anywhere. I don't want to go for trial and error as this yarn is not forgiving of frogging, so I just keep going. Rather embarrassing.

Socked

Obsessed with making Lucie a pair of wool socks for her trip to Arctic Nebraska later this month, I am on my third attempt. The first was too small, and became a thumbless mitten for the toddler. Hopefully there will be a mate one day.

Next I thought I'd try a sport weight wool, rather than fingering, so it would go quicker. It might have, but Clover dpns suck and have no glide at all. Also, this sock is too big for her feet. I thought it could be for me, but it's too small and this partial ball isn't enough for a pair. Oh, and then she didn't like the maroon color anyway. Kill me.

A smart person would have given up by now. That's not me however, and I cast on another sock, in just orange this time (what she wanted all along) and I checked my gauge (10st/inch!) and measured her foot, too (6 inches around the biggest part). I am a knitting pro, fear me! So, what the hell is this pointy thing that still appears to be too big? I'm not just screwed, but socked. Socked in the head.

Edit: This morning I figured out why, despite my measuring and gauge-checking, I'm still making a sock too big for Lucie's fey little feet. I forgot to subtract 10% from her foot measurement before mulitplying by my gauge. Too late to start over, the socks will be big this winter, but hopefully fit just right next winter.