Tuesday 24 April 2012

Me Brudder!

One of my brothers got jealous of Mum's hat, and asked for one for Christmas.

After seeing the second and thrid incarnations of her hat, he asked for the typical Kiwi Conservative Black Beanie.

The things we do for our family ;)

A black beanie. Are you kidding me? Talk about a snoozefest! Where is the colourway, the earflaps, the pompoms and tassels, the interest to keep me going after the initial excitement of starting a project wears off and I'm tempted by the siren song of something new and exciting?

It was probably the thought of him growing his dreadlocks back to keep his head warm!

I got my hands on some lovely black Possum/Merino from the Milton Wool Mill Factory Shop, found a "Manly" ribbed beanie pattern on Ravelry and cast on. Unfortunately I didn't bookmark the pattern, so I can't link you to it D:

Anyway, when I finished his hat looked like this:

Conner's Hat, Black possum-merino in a slightly munted rib

There are one or two "design elements" or "special features" due to being distracted while making it. But my brother is awesome and didn't mind, since it came out pretty much how he wanted.

Read: A black, warm and manly hat for a young bloke who paves the roads.

When embarking on this project I wasn't prepared for just how soft possum/merino blends can be. On reflection this probably wasn't a terribly good yarn choice for this brother of mine. Like me, he tends to thoroughly abuse his clothing. If it isn't made to last it will disintegrate pretty quickly. The had was made in time for New Years and had holes by the end of January.

So, about a month of hat-life? Yikes!

Next time I'll have to use a sturdier yarn for the hat body and line with with the good stuff, or find someone willing to make a yarn reinforced with titanium.

A quest for a brother-proof hat?

~Topaz

Wednesday 4 April 2012

Here Kitty, Kitty, Kitty.

Winter is fast approaching down here, and like a good girl I've started this winter's hat and scarf projects already.

Well, not precisely "good", I'm ignoring my tottering pile of Works In Progress/Unfinished Objects to cast on yet MORE projects ^.^;

Moving right along!

As anyone with a cat knows, knitting when the cat is around can be somewhat perilous to both you and your ball of yarn. There are several ingenious inventions and little tricks that can help you keep your furbaby from wrecking your yarn, but frankly I'm too lazy/poor for most of them.

These include, but are not limited to:
1) Pulling the working end of your yarn from the centre of the ball. (Too lazy!)
2) Using a Yarn Bowl. (Too poor!)
3) Using a knitting bag. (Too lazy!)
4) Shutting the cat out of the room where you're knitting. (Too lazy!)

What I decided to do was make Dralion (My Beloved Feline Overlord) her VERY OWN woolly toy. That way she can play with hers and leave mine alone! A few meters of DK acrylic and one tennis ball later, her SHINY NEW TOY! was ready to go.

I think it worked, after a few weeks of non-stop yarn-ball-rumpus she suddenly got sick of it and went back to stealing any and all bits of paper she finds lying around.

At least my yarn is safe!

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Happy crafting!

~Topaz