Commission Completed and Sent, Whew!

I finished this commissioned hat last week while we were visiting family on the north island of New Zealand. It is one of my original grannie square hats, with a knitted top and sassy tassle. A friend of mine ordered it for her mother's birthday.

I put in a lining of some stretchy polyester that looks a little like crushed velvet.  Very cozy without too much bulk.

I was almost walking out the door to run into town to send it to the recipient, when news came that the Christchurch earthquake had just struck. From that moment on, everyone in the room was glued to the TV, watching live footage from the devastation in the city. We were especially worried, because so many of our friends were in Christchurch at the time *and* we have a house there.

So, that hat got mailed a few days later, as we made our way south back to our disaster-stricken town.

I am happy to report that no one we know was hurt or killed, but are plenty of people that lost loved ones. My heart cries for them.

The Hat...Personified

The Penguin Hat finally found it's way to the head it was meant to sit on. This co-worker of my mother's is bound for Antarctica in a few months and this hat will ensure her head stays warm -- with style. She really loved it ad I think it suits her perfectly.

Another view...

In Other News...

The 'Little Blue' parka was again modeled by wee cutie Isaac. He seems really thrilled to be helping us out with the photos. What a great little baby!

Really goes well with those gorgeous peepers of his.

His brother Dominic seemed to be enjoying himself as well...

Now I've traveled 7,000 miles across the Pacific and am enjoying some time in Southern California with my family. I'm knitting a sock -- with teeny tiny yarn -- in an interesting color/pattern mix. Photos coming.

Commission Completed

I put the final touches on my commission hat tonight and it took some time to decide what colors to use in the tassle. In the end, simple red won out...everything else seemed to fight with the pattern of the hat. It's lined with windblock fleece, so it's very warm. The recipient of this hat will get to travel to Antarctica in style and warmth, with a one-of-a-kind hat.

Here's the hat...well...flat.

I get the added bonus of getting to hand off my creation to its new owner and see how it looks on her noggin. I've heard that these colors will work very well on her.

In unrelated news, we are being pelted with a big storm causing wide-spread flooding around New Zealand. At high tide, our street is almost completely flooded, but it recedes when the tide goes out. I feel sorry for all the poor farmers down south trying to keep their livestock out of harms way. Hopefully it will pass soon.

Sneak Peek

My current project is blocking (the cookie cooling rack is doing double duty)...but here's a sneak peek. I'm pretty happy with it although I must admit, some things about fair isle knitting are still mysterious for me...most it's about the tension of the 'floats' in the back of the work. I used to make them too tight, but now it seems a lot of them are a bit too loose...and some are just right; the consistency is off. I would love watch a knitter who is really good at fair isle to see what they do. But blocking really helps...makes everything lay down nice and flat and hopefully it will 'mold and hold' those stitches in place.

I do love working with Cascade 220 yarn. It's really good for this kind of knitting.

Don't the penguins look like they are wearing little dutch clogs?