Hat for the Homeless

Hat for the Homeless The Yarn Harlot is having the Canadian launch of her new book tonight in Toronto at Indigo. (The American Launch was two months ago, and the book is already out here, so it's more of a formality than a true launch, but I digress.) Part of her tradition at these launches is to collect hats from knitters which are then donated to local homeless shelters. Last Friday, the planets aligned and it became clear that I could whip down to Toronto for about 24 hours to attend the launch. So I knit this hat. I used yarn from my stash and an online pattern, and it knit up super-quick (5 days from start to finish) and is super-warm and quite lovely, if I do say so myself. I would happily knit this hat again, so if there are any requests for one like it out there, let me know. Pattern: Knitty's Coronet Yarn: Briggs and Little Heritage

Rachel's Wonky Socks

Rachel's Wonky Socks I swear I thought these socks were going to look different than they did. The yarn was this great combo of purples and blues and when Rachel announced she was going to live in England for a few years, I thought that wool socks would be a good thing to have on hand. (I understand there are a lot of cool, damp months over there, and apparently wool actually warms when wet, so it seemed like a good idea.) Purples and blues are some of Rachel's favourite colours, so it all seemed good. The first sock flew by no problem (knit mostly in Cuba). Then I started the second one, and the colours started pooling in this weird, asymmetrical way, and as I knit the sock just got wonkier and wonkier. For a time I considered not giving them to her (because it's hard for me to give a gift that isn't "good enough") but then I realized that these socks were more about comfort and having a piece of us with her than about fashion (thank goodness), and also we're kind of a wonky family so maybe the wonkiness of the socks is appropriate. From what her blog is saying, I can't imagine she'll be wearing them anytime soon, but my hope is that she'll get some use out of them and think of her friends and family who are across the pond and loving her as she lives out this new phase of her life. Pattern: Generic pattern from the Yarn Harlot's Knitting Rules! Yarn: Patons Kroy in Winter Eclipse