March Already

The Thing Hats have officially been renamed the Thinking Hats by the recipients and their folks! These boys have shirts that say Thing 1 and Thing 1. No number 2 in this family! It warms this knitter's heart to see these hats go to a good home. I love knitting with wool, but have to face up to the fact that Hawaii just isn't the frigid north. I CO on 100 stitches for the larger hat and 95 for the smaller one.

I spun up the Jacob from kbrow. She got this at SAFF from the Perfect Spot Farm . I split the colors out and spun a two ply. The result is Jake the Cat!
 

Pattern: Lion Brand Purrfect Kitty Sock Critter Needles: size 4 Mods: none. More of this pattern could be knit in the round. This cat was so clearly male:) My R2D2 bag is finally out of hibernation and finished. This was one of my Fair Isle practice pieces. I learned that it is important to have matching yarns. The white yars is much finer, softer and fuzzier and it made R2D2 pull in. I really loved the Koigu for the Star Wars letters! The lining was a pain but there are Jayhawks inside. Rock chalk Jayhawk!
 

 Free charts by Sarah Bradberry The cmeknit1's hat has been in my queue forever.

I had a great week off from work President's Day week. Now I'm back and my "assistant" is not a good match. It seems the things that are in his job description are below him. They still need to be done so I either have to micromanage constantly or do it myself. I'm asking myself everyday if it's time to resign and really be retired. I'll go to his supervisor one more time. It's just exhausting and aggravating. The paycheck is nice since it has been a year of big expenses and the timing belt is next. My contract is up in September.

Here is my Lauhala hat. This was a challenge for me. I missed some weavers at the beginning of the brim, but it was too close to the finish and too beat up to take out so my most patient teacher, Mike Nahoopii, helped me finesse the closing of the brim. Don't look to closely, lol. It is nice from a distance and made much nicer looking with the peacock feather headband that my mom loaned me. It deserves a much better hat. I have joined the club and do plan to try one more.

Weaving lauhala is much like knitting. I learned that checking my work as I go along and correcting errors early saves a lot of grief later. Not unlike Tilly here (from A Fine Fleece). I got a big head about memorizing the cables and did two repeats crossing the middle cables over instead of under. I decided to knit on as the error is in the middle of the scarf and the color is so dark it's not noticeable. .
But of course I will point it out to everyone, heh.  I'm enjoying the Rowanspun DK that I've had in my stash a long long time.

 

The Landcaster had been acquiring power tools and rebuilt the firewood box. We became quite concerned about the 3 carpenter bees who kept returning looking for their old home. He built them a home and now two have moved back in. I guess they are pollinators of flowers just like honey bees. I hope they stay in the woodpile and don't drill holes in my eaves.

I almost forgot about my shopping sprees!  I purchased some findings and one of Calvin Orr's jellyfish kits.  I stopped by the Bead Gallery booth (sparkly leather and crystals) and Bella Beads (cool leather with magnetic clasp) for make and takes. 

I also added some spinning books to my library.  A couple more are on the way.  I can't decide what to spin next.