Tidied up

New stuff!  I wove in ends on 4 projects so far today.  I finished the "Dragon Slayer" hood, but I need to find a way for it to lay flat.  Stockinette likes to roll up, and the garter stitch edges are not enough to prevent that.  It's acrylic, so blocking won't work, but maybe a steam iron and a pile of damp towels, enough to warm it without melting it.  Hmmm.  Will see what the internet says.

Some projects have been done for a while, just waiting for that last bit of attention.

Little girl's felted purse with beads

Big girl's felted purse

Dragon Slayer hood and scarf

Baby blanket

Car and truck hat

Twin Leaf fingerless mitts

Slouchy hat whose name I have forgotten.

As I was weaving in the last tail on the fingerless mitts I noticed that one seemed to be larger than the other.  Doggone it if I hadn't started with more rows of ribbing on one than on the other.  How did that happen?  I also had the Modern Millie hat, but couldn't get a good picture of it.  It seems a little large - either the owner will have to have a big head, or wear it slouchy.  I did not bother with a gauge swatch, and I should have.  I need some kind of head for modeling hats - either force my daughter into fashion slavery or go buy something, but I don't want one of those faceless (or even faced) mannequin heads.  I want something different, like a bust of Einstein (but with not too much unruly hair to wear a hat).  My son suggested an Orc's head from Lord of the Rings, which I like, but I'm not sure that's the look I want to convey to customers for the auction.  Might be distracting.

I think, after going through 46 pages of options on Ravelry, that I have a sweater pattern for my cotton summer sweater.  And compared to what I usually make, it's very simple, but I think it will work.  It comes from the Red Heart UK website originally, where I would never have thought to look.  Just a touch of lace pattern on the front, a V-neck to work with the collared polo shirts I usually wear.  Time to go mark up the pattern for the size I need and start winding my yarn into balls.  I think I'll take this on the trip to Alaska.  I should have lots of time.

I signed up for another Craftsy class on sale.  This one is for how to get better at Fair Isle, or multicolor stranded knitting.  I learned on my own, and could use some help to get better.  I'll pass what I learn on to you.  For example, they show you how to avoid or fix the tangles from two balls of yarn wrapping around each other as you knit with both colors. Yes!  I have some mittens and hats planned, so this will be worth $19.99.

Time to go enjoy my long weekend and finish an alligator.