Tag Archives: berocco ultra alpaca

FO: cider press hat.

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Here are a couple of pictures from that walk I told you we took on Sunday.

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I wore my new hat. (I’m much happier with it than I appear to be in this picture. This is clearly me focusing too much on keeping my eyes open.)

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I cast on the hat from the Cider Press Set, an Amy Christoffers hat and mitts pattern pair that I purchased a few weeks ago when they were on sale. This ribbed and waffled combination is awesome: squishy, stretchy, and oh-so-warm.

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Also, totally addicting to knit. I made this hat out of most of a skein of Berocco Ultra Alpaca, and I love it. Good thing this color has my brother written all over it, or I’d keep it too! (I might make one for me out of handspun.) I used US 4 and US 6 needles because I couldn’t find my 3s and 5s.

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Hooray for last minute (and late-night) Christmas knitting. I’m so excited to send this, along with the rest of his present, to my brother, who has to stay in Colorado for the holidays.

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double garter stitch and grading.

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And new glasses! These are also from Warby Parker. A few weeks ago, in the middle of lots of stuff that was making me cranky and stressed out, I ordered some frames to try on at home. I totally fell in love with these red ones — Marshall, in Rum Cherry — and decided that a new pair of glasses might make everything a little better. And they did.

This is the outfit I put on to wear my new glasses to an event on campus. My dear friend Eileen, who stayed with me while in town for a conference this weekend, even noticed (without prompting) that all these blues made my glasses look even more red and fabulous. Hooray!

In other news, I finished one side of the front edging of my Kerrera! This is what half a sweater looks like. (Please ignore all of those ends waiting to be woven in.)

And here’s a side view. The double garter stitch edging is worked perpendicular to the body, which adds some structure and helps with sagging and stretching. I’m so close — just the edging on the other side and all of the finishing to go!

One more shot. I dug out my favorite rugby sweatshirt to watch the team from my alma mater play the team from my current institution. I’m super active in alumnae stuff, but I don’t get to watch the team play very often, and I had a lot of fun cheering on a group of fabulous women as they rucked and mauled and tackled on a gorgeous fall afternoon. (WRFC = Women’s Rugby Football Club.)

I’m a bit under the weather today after a busy week and weekend, and I finally gave in and took some cold medicine an hour ago. I’ve got a little bit of grading and some class prep to do and I’m aiming for an early bedtime. I can’t believe tomorrow it will be October!

sick/swatching.

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First, I have to tell you about these muffins.

I did not make them — my friend K. did. And then, after a lovely tea date, she left the rest here, which turned out to be an even better idea than I had initially suspected. See, a few hours after she left, I developed an acute sore throat, and nothing goes better with copious amounts of tea and hot toddies than  delicious, not-too-sweet muffins. Due to the sore throat, I did nothing but eat muffins (well, okay, and potatoes and soup), knit seed stitch, and then, late in the evening, reward myself with some serious swatching.

The yarns are, from the bottom, clockwise, Queensland Kathmandu DK, Berroco Ultra Alpaca, more Kathmandu DK on smaller needles, and Berroco Peruvia. (You may recognize the book as Mastering the Art of French Cooking, by Julia Child. Yes, I finally saw the movie, and decided that I needed to own this. I’m realizing that cookbook acquisition is one of the ways I cope.)

The verdict? I like them, and I think they’ll work for what I have in mind. More on that soon.

I caught Boh mid-lick, lounging with his front paws dangling off the couch, and had to share. I’m planning to take it easy today as well, in hopes that this sore throat/drippy nose will continue to improve, which means lots more knitting time — and more lazy time on the couch for Boh.