Bolero

Well, I am certainly off to a good start, two entries this week. Anyhow last night I finished knitting the "santa" hat. It still needs the ends worked in, and felted. I usually try to have stuff that needs finishing by my chair so I have something to do when vegging out in front of the tv at night. However last night I was trying to finish a bolero for my oldest daughter. I used the December free patern from Kangamooknits.com, but didnt follow the instructions totally. Well, the only thing I did different was use worsted weight, Red Heart. The pattern calls for a Bulky weight yarn, and I didnt have any. Now I know that for many people, myself included, this means I NEED to go buy more yarn, but I had just had my husband and son bring all my yarn down out of the attic, and I had 6 Rubbermaid large bins. Needless to say to, if at that moment I had told my husband that I needed new yarn in might not have gone over too well. So, I improvised. My daughter is a small(thin) 9 year old. The pattern is for adults with a size small being a 34, so I figured if I used the same keyplate, and the worsted it might fit her. Now I know this would be a good time to swatch, but I never have, and maybe that should be my knitting new years resoultion. But, the thing is, I would not know how to adjust the pattern according to my swatch, so what would be the point. I would just have a piece of knit fabric, and I could say, "yep that looks nice". Maybe I should learn how to adjust patterns. Anyhow, I knit it up fairly quickly. It is knit in one piece on the machine. Which is kind of nice, as i dont have to rehang it to add sleeves. Anyhow, you take it off and seam the arms, and sides,and voila a bolero. Of course because it is stockinette, it rolls on the edges. So I crocheted a nice shell edge around it. Now if I had been thinking, which I wasnt, I would have realized that I made it a little smaller, so the shells should also be a little smaller. So when all is said and done, the shells gave it a sort of ruffely effect. If that is what I was going for, great, but I wasnt. So now it doesnt lay flat, which my daughter wanted. Here is another place where swatching and adjusting would have helped, it is a little large under the arms, throught the body. It however fits great in length, and in arm length. I probably could have fixed that by doing fewer rows in the body, but it would also need to be narrower around the arm. Hmm. I really do need to figure this stuff out. I would like to be able to knit for my family and have the items fit well, not like someone just knit a pattern and it fits ok. You know a professional vs. homemade look. Not that there is anything wrong with homemade, I actually prefer it, but well done homemade is the look I want. So I have added pictures of it, to this post. It is knit in Red Heart Lavendar color and she liked it well enough. I will probably try to steam it for her tonight.

Today was the first day back at school after Christmas Break, and my kids were so difficult this morning! The daughter I knit the shrug for was absolutely terrible. She obviously did not get enough sleep. I almost didnt let her wear the shrug, but I stayed up late finishing it for her, so it was more of a punishment for me. I hope that tomorrow goes easier.

I have a hair appointment in a little bit with a new hairdresser. A friend of mine recommended her to me. The lady I had been going to be was nice, and did a great job, and was priced in a range I was willing to pay, but a week or two after getting it cut, it felt like it needed cut again, and she was too expensive for that. My best example is that I moved here is Sept. and got my hair cut in the middle of Sept. and then again in Oct., and then again in early Nov. I have been putting off getting it cut since, because I dont normally cut my hair every month, but it really needed it. I would prefer to get it cut every 8-12 weeks. Twelve being really pushing it. Now I know that some styles require cuts more often, but I didnt think mine was one of them, and before moving to Virginia it wasnt. I think what my hairdresser was doing was taking the minimum amount off, so that it looked cut, but not CUT, and then a week later when most hair starts looking its best, it began to look a little long. It would require a little more time, and a little more product. And I am not a product person, so that was a hassle. Anyhow hopefully I will love my new hair and this new hairdresser will be my new hairdresser. I got my fingers crossed at least. Of course anything is better than what I've got going now.

TTFN, Miki