FO: Dishcloths for Kim

These dish cloths are for Kim, a co-worker of mine who turned the concept of tradition on its ear and bought a house by herself. Let’s face it, it’s fairly common to wait until one is part of a couple to make such a monumental purchase and I’m proud of Kim for choosing not to wait and to go it alone. Such an accomplishment deserves something small and noteworthy – like some cotton dishcloths and kitchen soap from Tval.

Congratulations, Kim! I, too, was one of those females who stared tradition in the face and purchased a home on my own. It’s an accomplishment to be proud of because it means that there has been years of individual scrimping and saving to make a dream come true.

Aren't we women awesome?

Pattern specs: Traditional dishcloth pattern (the one where you cast on 3 stitches and then start each row with k2, yo, k to the end to increase and then decrease with k2, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k to end)

Yarn: Bernat dishcloth cotton

Needles: Addi turbos, 4.5 mm circular

FO: whale of a tail hat (project spectrum continues)

I spotted this hat in a craft shop during my most recent trip to Newfoundland. Spotting the hat equals finding the pattern (in my mind) so off I went to Wool Trends in St. John's and found it - it's called A Whale of A Tail hat and it's by Cabin Fever.

This hat is surprisingly easy to knit - even the little whale tail at the top was not that difficult - only a little awkward. I mean, the tail is done with dpns and when you're down to 8 stitches and you're knitting two together and trying to keep the wool from twisting, I felt like I was just barely controlling it all, but it turned out okay in the end!

Wool: Ella Rae Palermo

Needles: Addi turbos 4mm / 60 cm long then switched to bamboo 4 mm dpns to finish

Modifications: I started the decreases a lot earlier than called for because I wanted the hat to hug my head and not end up like one long tube.

Totally enjoyable and fun. I completely intend to wear this on my morning dog walks during the winter, because something has to be fun and enjoyable about walking the dog in -25 degrees and complete darkness at 6 a.m.

Posts will be even more brief and sporadic over the next few weeks. School is starting up and God knows what will come up between now and October that will sabotage honest knitting and blogging efforts.