What's been going on

ive never really sized anything for anyone else besides myself, my mom (my size) and paulie (he's right there to measure when necessary). but i am in the process of making a hat for my almost 2yr old god daughter/cousin. hehe. i just scaled down a school age kid hat and hopefully it fits :)

the day before yesterday we were involved in a car accident :( this is paulie's poor car in the pictures below. he was picking me up from Cousin's Subs (where i went to eat after school) and a car full of 20somethings and/or teens coming out of a Kmart parking lot slammed into us

all those lights are busted.. there was glass and plastic all over the street. we were going 10mph and when they hit us the car spun about 90 degrees. and then they decided to keep driving, but paulie jumped out of the car to grab their license number and they decided to spin around and come back.

before the cops came the kids in the back seat hurried up and left, and the driver switched seats with the passenger. they didn't have insurance, and their info was incorrect on their ID's (the cop asked and i have ears so i heard lol). the driver claimed she was sliding on ice.. but the car hit us very hard, they were accelerating actually.

so paulie has to get his car fixed, luckily he has insurance and the other driver was at fault.

and that's what's been going on :)

Kinda-Slouch (a knitted hat)

LOL i keep forgetting that the pics show up in reverse order of upload...

i made this hat :) this is the "goofing around pretending to be stereotypically french by attempting to tilt my hat at a 'jaunty' angle...

a kinda slouchy hat can also be worn a-la-ragamuffin, especially if you have cute eyeballs over which the hat can float. and you will not be scrolling down in vain, i promise you a pattern at the end of this rainbow...

that hand is as much a mystery to me as it is to you..

the back

this is the one that should have been at the top if i'd been paying proper attention.

i used caron simply soft (like 2 or 3 oz from a 6 oz skein) and US size 8 dpn's (one of 15 pairs i got from amazon, yay!)

cast on 75

distribute stitches evenly onto 3 needles (25 each) and join into round without twisting work

work k1, p1 around, for about half an inch. you can do more if you prefer, but i did about 5 rounds. this would normally give you a rib stitch, but since you have an uneven # of stitches it will give you a moss stitch.

once you have the desired length for your "brim", start the increases like this:

(k1, m1) 7 times, working evenly across 7 sts. knit across the remaining sts on needle.

repeat for each needle, so you have 21 increase stitches.

knit across evenly for 1 or 2 rounds

repeat previous increase, so that you have 21 more increase stitches. you will now have a total of 117 stitches.

knit across evenly for about 6", so your hat will measure about 6 and 1/2" before you start the decrease. if you prefer, you can always make it longer or shorter by adding or decreasing amount of rounds.

start the decreases like this:

(k1, k2tog) 7 times, working evenly across 21 sts. knit across the remaining sts on needle.

repeat for each needle, so you have 21 decrease stitches.

continue to decrease in this way, until you run out of "remaining stitches"

then switch to (k1, k2tog) around.

you will not come up even on one of the rounds, but that's fine, just k the stitches that don't fit.

eventually you will end up with 2 sts on each needle. transfer all to one and work (k2tog) 3 times. slide the sts over to the other end of needle and k3tog the last 3 stitches.

fasten off yarn, weave in ends, enjoy hat :)

this is my original pattern. please do not sell this pattern, or distribute it in any form of publication. link to my pages to share, and print out a copy if you like for personal use.

Mari

Nook Case

i made a case for my Nook ;)

paulie got it for me for my birthday, and i am struggling with paranoia about it...

i really, really reallyreally don't want to break/scuff/scratch/drop it. cuz i have a terrible history of so maiming all things electronic

my lining skills are second-hand... i cut the cloth too big and pretended i did that on purpose :)

i call it "rouching" lol. or something.

so anyway if any of u have a Nook or similar sized e-reader it's really easy to make a case (mine is crochet, i will eventually get around to making a knit one, also just as simply made)

i used an aluminum size J hook (US) and some chunky yarn because i wanted the thing to be squishy enough to protect the Nook in case it got dropped. heh.

here's what i did:

chain 16

sc in 2nd ch from hook and each across, putting 3 sc into the last sc.

then turn your work and make an sc in each of the loops on the foundation chain.

yes, you're going in a non-circular circle.

when you get to the last chain of the loopies on the foundation chain, put 2 sc's in there instead of one or three. yes, 2.

join with sl st if you prefer. i know some people don't like to join but i do because i always lose track of my rounds if i don't. stich markers, schmitch markers.. shutup.

now just keep making sc in each sc, until you have about 28 rounds. this is how many rounds my case has but yours might need more or less depending on some things that are not in my control.

fasten off when your e-reader fits inside :)

i made my lining by cutting a rectangle (if you ever took home economics or had a maternal/paternal figure that had a sewing machine, you have probably been forced/encouraged to make a pillow case for a grade or otherwise) and sewing it into a pouch.

its easier to cut one piece and fold it in half and sew up 2 sides rather than cut 2 pieces and sew them together evenly. especially if you dont have sewing pins.

...then sew the pouch into the case. that part should be done by hand and not by machine, because it will get messy.

i hope this has made sense :)

Mari

There's Yeen in it Though...

i've gotten a few hats done for a yahoo group that i joined.. i'm kind of lurking on the edges of a chemo cap group. but other than those few things i haven't done much knitwise :( tried figuring out sleeve cuffs which was fun but i ended up ripping out all the work and using the yarn for a crochet amigurumi guy.. he still waiting for his legs :)

we're finishing up 3rd term at school. i'm happy to see it done and curious about my next classes. i hope they're fun but i won't be surprised if they're not. i had an instructor this term who is like-able as a human being but not as an instructor of a me. i wrote this and why in a review of my instructor, and then was taken out of the classroom to be confronted about my words. i don't know if this is a common practice.

i came home from school today with a brown coat instead of a black one. i don't know when the switch happened, but it's exactly the same brand and style as my black one. it's a size smaller though... and i have no idea when or how this weirdness happened. we were in the library when i finally realized it wasn't my eyes that were being stupid, the coat was really brown. i miss my black coat.

here are some pictures! since i don't have a pattern :( i feel weird posting without pattern..ing...

here's a cute beach picture. miami beach, fl

this is some of the yarn that i found at the dollar store. caron bliss. this is the yarn i used for a chemo cap :) pink, i mean. the rest i'm using for a blankety thing

these are the cornish hens i made yesterday :) they were so cute and yummy! i washed them, slathered them in soft country crock and season-all, and baked them covered for 2 and a half hours

i like how the little wings were all tucked in :) she's well done, or her leg wouldn't be trying to come off over there lol

Mari