Sometimes We Need to Break Down to Build Back Up

I had a horrendous night with a horrendous paper.  The thing was like working with a thousand yards of tangled lace weight yarn, it was so bad!  So I was much aggrieved, scrapped it (well, most of it), and started over.  It's going much better, if much slower.  I'm taking a break to share some news and a super late finished object.

First, I passed my exams!  Woo-hoo!  I am unofficially a Master of Classics (it will be official next semester).  It's quite a relief!  Now I get to spend my summer reading my little eyes out, studying my Latin special author, and picking a Greek special author.

Second, in other, less academic news, my grandma got married last weekend!  It was a great time and I know she and her new husband will be very happy together.  There were some cakes left over, so John and I snagged one.  It's a huge cake.  We will be happily eating it together for a very long time. :)

Third, I received another shipment of lovely, lovely Stellar Sock yarn!  I really need to do a photo-shoot this week so you all can finally see it.  I'm really excited to make socks with these beautiful colors!  I'm debating whether to join for another three months....

Finally, the finished object!  I have three.  I finished an afghan I'd been working on since last August or so and finally took some pictures of my cousin's sweater and this hat.  I'll be more regular with finished object posting as soon as school is officially over and I have time to knit (!) again.  But for now, the hat:

Duck Duck Goose

Pattern: Duck Duck Goose (forthcoming) by ifandany
Yarn: Manos del Uruguay Wool Clasica
Needles: US 7 & 8
Project page

This hat was a test knit for my Ravelry friend ifandany.  The pattern stitch was just like the one I used on my great-uncle's Holding Hands, Feeding Ducks scarf, but I could certainly see the challenge of knitting and shaping it in the round.  She was having trouble getting the decreases to look right at the crown, so I offered to give it a whirl.  The instructions were a little tricky (though well-written) and of the sort that you just have to trust it will turn out right in the end because trying to reason them just confuses you.  They worked perfectly in the end!

I had less yarn than called for, so I skipped the rolled brim, knit the hat about an inch to half an inch shorter then called for before I began the decreases, and still ran out of yarn in the final two rows!  Fortunately, I had some red Malabrigo from my best friend's robot mittens and finished the top with that.  Looks good!  I hate red, but I loved the yarn and wanted to give the hat away anyway.  I think my step-mom will like it (as a super late b-day present).  Since I blocked it stupidly and stretched out the ribbed band, she'll probably really like it: it's hat-hair proof! :)  I really liked it and may try it again with different yarn.  Manos is not for me.  It's too scratchy and thick-and-thin for my tastes.  A Malabrigo Duck Duck Goose would be magnificent, though....

Now back to that paper!  Thanks for stopping by!