Incidental Minutes

Hidden among the errands of the last couple days, there has been knitting. It never was very much and it always seemed to take a backseat to the usual tasks of life.  The interesting thing about knitting is that all those incidental minutes add up and before you know it, you have a thing done.

I have two.  I finished Carter's hat.

The hat is, once again just a two row stripe, and the hat pattern is from Ann Budd's A Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns.  I love the way this design decreases.  It is just the best hat.  I've knit it in a relatively firm twisted one by one rib so that the 4 year to adult small will fit the head of a growing boy.

I am so glad this is finished.  I was a bit worried that I wouldn't persevere.  I never noticed it so much working on his scarf, but on the scarf I was using some short straight needles.  On the hat I was back to my usual circulars and pointy ones at that.  The pointy tip of the addis versus the much more rounded tips of my straight needles made a huge difference in the misery of this yarn.  It took the experience of it from nice on the metal straights to oh my goodness, I can't wait till it is done on the hat.  It made a relatively soft yarn splitty and miserable and almost torturous. 

It wasn't a good match of yarn and needles. I did debate switching to birch or bamboo needles, but my tension would have changed and by the time I hated it, I was too far along to change. I made myself work on it a couple rows every time I sat down to knit on other things and in no time at all, misery or not,  it was done.  

Carter did not ask for a hat, but I am going to tell him that if he doesn't want to use it, maybe his mom could help him find a little boy or girl who could use it.  There is always a need for hats and scarves and other winter things and schools and churches almost always have donation boxes.  It's a good thing for a little boy to learn to give.

All that fussing and moderate stress made a sock the only other thing I knit this week. It is showing progress and results from steady work.

 Funny how that happens (cough, cough)  Sock one, complete.  

And that is the round up on my last couple days work.  I could tell you about the other things I did but you know what? 

Life is too short to think about those things.  I am going to sit back and plan for the next project.  There is a world of options of interesting things to knit out there, and I have a ton of really nice yarns to knit them in.  Sweater?  Shawl?  What will it be?  I can spend hours thinking and debating on the merits of either.  And what yarns?  Answering that will need a quick trip through the stash.   Then winding.  And then being ready to cast on. 

I love this part of knitting, always a new adventure waiting for me.