Happy St. Pat’s!

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day (a little late), everyone!!!

I’m somewhat Irish but didn't really celebrate because my friends are old. Seriously. We talked about it when we were all out on Fri. night and we were all just kindof “Meh” on the whole thing. Boozing on a Monday just doesn’t sound fun anymore. Especially considering the amount of meetings and deadlines I have to deal with this week… I’m stressed just thinking about it. So insead of green beer how about some green projects?

I finished the Koolhaas! And can I just say that it kicked my ass? This should have not been so complicated. But I thought it would be fun to try to learn to cable w/o a cable needle. It was worth it in the end but there was quite a bit of cussing along the way.

Also? I started knitting it on size 6’s and 8’s like the pattern called for and it came out waaaaay too big. Not even close to gauge. And I was on a plane with no other needles – and no other needles packed with me for the weekend. Which just goes to show that you should ALWAYS pack more knitting than you think you’ll need. Luckily I also had a sock with me or I would have been really screwed.

Pattern: Koolhaas (guys size)
Yarn: Malabrigo Merino colorway Forest
Needles: Size 5 & 7 Knitpicks Options
Mods: None. At all. Crazy that.
Verdict: LOVE!!!


So after finishing up the hat I had what I thought was quite a bit of yarn leftover. Not enough for another hat but enough to do something with. Also? I was in the middle of watching The Sandlot (we haven’t had a lazy weekend in for-ev-er. Sandlot style. Heh.) and I didn’t want to get up. So I cast on for what I thought would be some nice, guy friendly, fingerless mitts:

Looks ok, right?

Turns out it’s actually a heaping pile of FAIL.

I weighed this mitt and then weighed the rest of the yarn and discovered that I had used more than half of what I had. Boo. But I really didn’t want to give up because this had now become a problem to be solved. This malabrigo would NOT get the best of me.

So I wound the ball back on itself and started a new mitt from the other end. This time I used much larger needles and many less stitches:

I finished it w/o having to rip any of the previous mitt out! That means I have enough yarn!

Success.

I’ll probably post the “pattern” when it’s done.

Oh and speaking of patterns… both the Mod Cables Hat and the Bulky Flip-top Mittens are now available for direct download through my Ravelry Pattern Store. I have my own pattern store! How fun is that! Of course everything in it is free but still… made me feel all special and stuff. I should have another pattern (not the one for these green mitts but something way funner) coming out this week...