Random Wednesday

1. Gave shots and vitamins to the alpacas over the weekend. They are loving the warmer weather and the grass growing in the pasture.

2. No progress on knitting works in progress -- instead cast on a new pair of socks.

3. Etsy update -- felted bags. Pictures later this week. In the meantime, click on that sidebar link to go to my shop.

4. Tribble is having his fur plucked this week. Plucking gives longer fibers than shearing and he seems to not mind at all. Other than looking bald in patches. Besides, I was more than a little nervous to shear him off.

5. We are fiercely on the trail of a girlfriend for Tribble -- I can hardly wait for fuzzy babies!

6. Fence progressing slowly, and will be interrupted by the start of spring turkey season.

I Heart Garter Stitch

I know, I know. I've heard it all already. Garter Stitch is boring. There is no challenge to Garter Stitch. Garter Stitch is for beginners. And even, Garter Stitch is for "knitting wussies."

I can't help myself. In a beautiful yarn, garter stitch creates a beautiful fabric. And even that annoying curl at the bottom can be taken care of with a row or two of ribbing. (At least I hope so, because I have a lot of curl at the bottom, and only one row of ribbing. I'm definitely relying on the blocking for this one!)

And for me, a person who is undertall for her weight class, simpler is always better. Details at the top of a garment draw the eye up and away from all those troublesome areas down around the middle. Case in point, this will be a sleeveless top, with criss cross straps in the front. From Vogue Knitting Spring/Summer of 2004.

Hats

So what with the blizzard and all, it seemed like a good time to knit up a hat for myself. Understand, I have knit a ton of scarves, afghans, baby sweaters, sweaters with hoods, lace, etc. -- I screw up hats every time. They're too short and I have to rip out the whole thing. They're too long and the brim goes all the way up to the pom pom. The pom pom gets ripped off the hat by a boy who thinks that pom poms are lame, so the whole thing unravels. Etc.

But I don't have a hat. All this yarn, and all this knitting, and I have never made myself a hat (see above.) I never even made myself a polar fleece hat -- no knitting involved, just sewing! But going out to the barn to feed the animals in a blizzard without a hat provides some incentive.


Yarn Harlot's 4 hour hat in Berroco Keltic, color 5853.