Now let me just preface this post by saying that I love Ben but something he's just plain wrong.  Like when he tells me that a day playing in the snow is not the perfect opportunity to break out all our new hand knit items.

Um, snow days in the mountains are made for hand knits, am I right?

First up, C's new cat hat.  Now we all know that C has a long-standing cat obsession.  Over the years I've made her not one, but two cat dresses.  She's had cat jewelry, cat shoes, cat tights and now she can add a cat hat to the mix.  The pattern is free and is really the simplest pattern to knit.  It's written for an adult, but can be easily customized for a smaller head.  I think I cast on 84 stitches (instead of 88) and knit until the hat was about 7 inches long.  The hat essentially a square that is given shape by a small stitch on each "ear" and by the top of  your head filling out the top of the hat.  Because of that, be sure not to knit the hat too big because it's shape is less cat-like without your head filling out the top (I learned this the hard way).  The yarn is Amherst merino and is leftover from my Bloomsbury sweater.  I ended up with two leftover balls of yarn, which of course means that O also got a matching cat hat.

And if the kids each get a new hat, well, it's only fair that I get one too.  Mine is the extra-slouchy version of the Sixteen Cable Hat, with an added cable thrown in at the end.  I was super-lazy in making this hat and didn't swatch when I should have, so it's a bit looser around my head than I would have preferred but I still love it and it's definitely been getting a lot of wear over the last couple of weeks.  The yarn is Broomfield, a merino and silk blend put out by Webs.  It's lovely to knit with and lovely to wear and it seems to be holding up well.

And now, folks, we are officially ready for the cold weather!

His Loss Is My Win

As 2016 is wrapping up I'm realizing that there are a whole heck of a lot of things that I never got around to blogging about, mostly because I made them for me and often can't muster up the energy to take pictures.  And when I do muster up the energy, it's at the end of the day and my clothes are sort of a wrinkly mess.

Like this Archer, for example.

Yes, yes, I made yet another Archer (number 5 if you're keeping count), although I finally got around to lengthening the body which is a pretty small modification, but it definitely makes it more wearable.

The fabric is a Japanese cotton lawn that I bought several months ago at Drygoods Design, but it looks like it's now sold out.  I originally bought the fabric to make a shirt for Ben since he's been complaining that I sew for everybody but him, but the stripe is slightly uneven and variegated and the fabric is a bit crinkly and when I brought it home all he could say was "it hurts my eyes!"  I tried to explain that if he was the one wearing the shirt, he would actually be the only one who wouldn't have to look at it (kind of like the guy who ate at the Eiffel Tower everyday so he wouldn't have to see it) but he wasn't buying my superior logic.  Fortunately, his rejection of my fabric wasn't an issue because it just meant that I got to use it for my own evil purposes.

Some might even accuse me of purposely buying a fabric that Ben hates so that I could ultimately use it all for me.

But, of course, they would be wrong.

One Bloomsbury For You, One Bloomsbury For Me

The sewing hiatus is still on and the knitting bonaza is in full-swing.  For some reason, I just can't muster up the energy to sew.  Perhaps it's because I don't have a project that I'm in love with at the moment.  Or perhaps it's because sewing seems like such an effort.  Or perhaps it's just because my sewing room is in the basement and it's so darn cold down there in the winter time.  In any case, knitting has been so much more appealing to me lately.  And so shortly after I bound off O's Bloomsbury sweater I started on one in my own size.  The adult Bloomsbury is a bit different than the child's size with a slightly larger gauge and a larger lace pattern on the back but it's just as fun to knit!

For the yarn I used 100% merino Amherst yarn in jungle green that I ordered from Webs because I was so happy with the yarn when I used it for O's version.  Unfortunately, I'm not sure it was a great choice for the slightly larger gauge that was needed for the adult version.  I think because the gauge was so loose it caused the sweater to stretch a ton when I wet blocked it and I was really worried when it measured several inches longer in length than I had planned for.  After wearing it all day today, though, I'm thinking that either I over reacted or it has shrunk back up a bit.  In either case, I'm pretty happy with how it came out and I think it will be so comfy for the winter.

And we've definitely had a cold spell around here lately so all the handknit sweaters that I've made over the years are in full rotation.  Now I'm just sitting around, twiddling my fingers, trying to decide what my next knitting project will be.  Oh, the choices!