Purls and Pugs

WTF?!

Oops! I think I messed up...this does NOT look correct. I followed the pattern. I swear it! I think I might try ripping back and trying again. If not, I'll have to go with Plan B. I'm not really sure what Plan B is, yet, so I need to figure that out, too, I guess.

I haven't had a disaster like this in ages! Perhaps I need to go down in needle size or just do the decreases every other row rather than every 4th row? I guess I can play with it, right? That's the whole fun of knitting...I never thought I would accidentally make a Pixie hat instead of a men's hat!

I'm a teensy bit embarrassed...

...over all the attention! Yesterday, a coworker instant messaged me and asked me about being a published knitter. She said she opened up her Knitting Daily, and there I was staring back at her! I knew they were going to run my blog post some time this week, but I had no idea which day. Just so you all know, there will be two more designers guest blogging on the site this week...

So, after checking my blog stats, I've noticed that I've had over 500 new visitors! Welcome! Yoda and I want to welcome everyone to our little space on the Internet. Please feel free to have a look around, comment, and email me with any questions you may have. Yoda, of course, always welcomes new Friends of Yoda submissions, too...she says you can never have too many friends!

Since there are so many new visitors, I feel I must blog about some knitting. Last night I feverishly worked on the Pismo Hat #1 while I watched a movie. Because I keep decreasing stitches, it's been moving along quite quickly. I'm a bit concerned about how long this hat is going to turn out. But the way I look at it is that I can always remove yarn from the bottom in some stealthy knittery way. Why should I rip out what's already done and have to redo it when there is a simpler way to fix it if there is an issue. And I have no idea if there is even going to be an issue!

I've also been pondering my next big project. Should I just go ahead and work on the Ribby Pulli? I love that pattern, but I've stalled on it for some reason. Or is there some other project that I should start? What's hot in the Knitting World these days? I've also been thinking it's time I work on the Gucci Knock-Off pattern, too.

I think America had a good birthday...

Ok, at least I felt that I celebrated America's birthday well... But would you expect anything less?

It's always a treat when the July 4th holiday falls on a Friday. That means three days of no work! And I managed to pack a lot of action into those three days. (Please forgive me if my English is less than stellar today...I'm still about 75% sleeping...)

The weekend was kicked off with a Chicago White Sox game on Thursday. My dad's cousin (yes, that makes me her cousin, too) was celebrating her 65th birthday in the Diamond Suites at The Cell, so we were all invited. I decided to bring my awesome Canon Rebel with to see what kind of pictures I could get. And I LOVE my camera. The quick shutter gave me some cool sequence action shots. And because of where I was taking the pictures from, they are very clear and close. Even though the Sox lost, I was excited because AJ Pierzynski was playing. For some reason, every time I go to a game, he's not playing...weird.

Friday was visit #3 to the Taste. Yes, I went again. I even tried new things...but they weren't what I would call a success. I think most of the new stuff I had, I dumped before finishing. But at least I tried it, right? The one thing I LOVED was the Nutella crepe. Mmmm...another reason to eat Nutella! After stuffing ourselves silly, again, and just about the time the crowds started to get crazy, BFF and I walked over to Navy Pier. (side note: I feel that I can justify my massive Taste eating frenzy because each time I have walked several miles during the course of the day...so I probably worked off most of the calories. That's my story, anyway.)

It was a gorgeous day to be on the Pier! I commented that it is July 4th and 75 degrees (F), and it's usually 95 degrees (F) with 110% humidity! Awesome day for just chilling and enjoying the weather. I took some pictures of boats, birds, and buildings. I didn't use my awesome camera, but my point and shoot produced some good looking pics.

My plan was to meet some friends at Naperville's Ribfest later that night to watch the fireworks, but I received a text when I was on my way that it was closed due to too many people. So, I turned around and went home. Yoda and I watched about 3 different town's fireworks from the backyard, and even managed to watch a movie. As much as I wanted to see my friends, I was ok with just chilling out. It had been a long day in the city.

Saturday was a little more laid back than I am generally used to, but it was great. I ran around and did some errands and then headed to a cookout. It was nice to hang out, chat, and relax while eating (Boca) Burgers. That relaxing night made way for some pool time at BFF's on Sunday. I'm well on my way to Golden Goddess...

While I was sitting next to the pool, I pulled out my Pismo hat. I promptly was harassed, but I didn't care...kept me out of trouble and occupied. I worked on it last night as well, and am to the crown decreasing...it's moving so much faster than I anticipated it would. But remember that I wanted to originally make two, so we'll see how that goes.

I heart Summer

Forget NY (sorry to anyone that lives there, but I really gotta be strong on this one!), I heart Chicago, too! There is just so much going on that I just don't know how to pick!

This weekend started on Thursday this week. My friend Jenn and I went to a Lymphoma and Lukemia Society Bachelor Auction at the Bar Louis in Naperville. Originally, we went just  to check it out, but it was a lot of fun. Neither of us walked away with any guys, but we met some really nice people, had a couple drinks, and tons of laughs! Here we are showing off our "Raffle Tickets". This was a fun concept--they sold playing cards and then ripped off a corner of them as the ticket. We had both the Queen of Hearts and the Ace of Hearts. I would say those should be good luck for a bachelor auction!

Friday I had some appointments that I had to take care of in the city, so I jumped on the train. I even knit on the train! I decided that if I had a commute where I could take the train, I would have way more knitting done than I do now. It's dedicated knitting time! Look at what a little time gets me-- two inches done on the first Pismo Hat! I just gotta keep that momentum going...

Friday night I relaxed on the patio at Potter's Place in Naperville with a margarita, and then migrated to Jimmy's for a Summer Shandy (mmm...can't go wrong there!). For dinner I visited my first Japanese Steak Restaurant called Kiku. The food was fantastic and the chef was entertaining. I recommend the scallops...mmmm....Then it was off to the Roundhouse to see Hairbangers Ball, and 80's tribute hair band. They were pretty good, and got me thinking about back in the day...yeah, I was around in the 80s!! I even remember LPs...

Saturday I got up and went to the Taste with Jenn! We stuffed ourselves on yummy food (here I am with some gelato), and then walked to the Oak Street Beach. The worst part was that the sun was shining the entire time we were walking, but once we got the beach, it was nothing but clouds. Then is started to rain, so we called it a day. I did think about seeing Mike and Joe again that night, but I was wiped out!

Sunday I actually worked all day so that I can play Monday night at the Sox game!

I heart Chicago in the Summer!

Life Goals

Last night I decided to make it a mild night, so I rented The Bucket List and knit on the first Pismo hat. This is about how far I got last night. Not very far. Again, another reason to not like sock yarn...progress is sloooow. I'm a project knitter, folks, so I want it done now!

I decided to use 2 circulars to begin so that I don't have to switch later when I start decreasing. Why am I so worried about decreasing when I know that's not gonna happen for a while? Wishful thinking? Maybe...

I think I liked The Bucket List, though. I had a different idea in my head of what it was going to be about. But I think I liked how it was done rather than what I thought was going to happen.

I actually think that having a list like that is a good idea. I have one (in my head--I should write it down), my Summer BFF has 101 things on his....I heard once that people who write down life goals tend to accomplish them more than people who don't. Maybe we should all get to writing down some of those things we want to do before we "kick the bucket". And we never know when that's going to be, so get cracking at crossing things off too!

I just can't get into socks

I have tons of sock yarn. I really like it, too...all the colors, the variegation, and it's cheap for a whole project! But, you know what, I just really can't get into knitting socks. I've tried. I really have, but I get bored. Maybe it's that whole second sock thing...I don't know...something.

Anyway, a couple years ago I knit a bunch of my guy friends London Beanies for Christmas, and they loved them! I now have several new bald friends that use hats all the time in the winter (it gets cold!), so I thought I could use up some of my sock yarn and get some Christmas gifty stuff done. Obviously, the London Beanie would not be optimal for this type of yarn, but Marnie's Pismo Hat Pattern is! And I have some manly sock yarn (Regia 4-ply in 2025-Blue Mouline purchased in Germany) that I can use for this purpose.

Here is the swatch I am working on for the Pismo, and I think I am liking the colors. I figured that if I started knitting now, in June, that I might be able to crank out two hats with teeny tiny 1x1 ribbing. Maybe? I have good intentions at least...