Mother of All Gauge Swatches

With a deadline looming-- four hats to finish by Monday-- the last thing a prudent knitter would do is start a 6-color Fair Isle tam in fingering weight yarn. But since I abandoned all prudence with regard to knitting long ago, I could not resist:

I dare only show you a small detail-- the swatch in its full glory is terrible to behold.

If you tally up the hours that I have invested in this swatch, you will understand why I have not finished a single hat this month. The color scheme has undergone numerous changes-- last-minute color substitutions were mail-ordered. This is the big one.

Just thinking about the number of ends I will need to weave in is beginning to give me a slight twitch. Wish me luck!

July is Winning

A combination of beautiful-- though at times disgustingly hot-- weather and weekend trips has delivered a one-two punch to my knitting. But I am not yet ready to admit defeat-- if I can finish just ONE hat today... then three more by next Monday... eep. I think I have a white flag sitting around here somewhere. Just in case.

Getaway

We spent this weekend in one of my favorite places on earth-- it's pretty special, so I'm not naming names, but I can share some pictures:

There were hundreds of tiny toads everywhere!

We saw tons of loons and ducks--and even a bald eagle.

Eric as pack-mule: why make three trips when one will do?

I'm teaching my friend Tess to knit!

She's well on her way to a serious addiction.


The bald eagle refused to coordinate its fishing with the good light.

He may look contemplative, but he's actually mentally cursing that eagle.

Heaven.

I got a bit of knitting done-- note to self: headlamps are excellent for knitting in the dark, as long as you don't mind hundreds of moths flying directly into your face-- and a ton of relaxing. It never feels like summer to me until we've gone camping.

How was your weekend?

Skull Isle Hat

Here's my latest hat-- it's pretty badass*:


It's meant for someone a bit more badass than my husband.

This is him trying to be badass-- isn't he cute?

Project Notes

Yarn: Dale of Norway Baby Ull-- machine washable for badasses who can't be bothered to sort their laundry.

Pattern: Skull Isle by Chelsea Fowler-Biondolillo-- great pattern, but I couldn't remotely achieve a gauge of 9 stitches/inch with this yarn. I knitted a small to get a large, and it's still ample.

Techniques: Just my badass stranded colorwork skills-- though I do believe I promised to give colorwork a break for a while...

The Bottom Line: Perhaps the thrill of knitting such a magnificently badass hat has ruined me for further hat knitting-- all of my current projects are boring my everloving pants off. Not to worry, I wouldn't DREAM of abandoning this project!**

*Not unlike the honey badger!

**Okay, so I've been dreaming about it... but I won't actually do it!