This is Not What I Was Talking About

  I was just thinking to myself that I haven't done anything interesting to blog about.  I've been jumping between projects, so I haven't finished anything.  Though I did make sure to take this progress picture while at knit group.  I've also not gotten far enough to finish a skein of yarn.

  The universe heard me and decided to fix this.  Since I'm currently snuggling Miss Spud at 4:29am, so I figured I should give you the story that the Universe gave me.

  I was having problems sleeping, so I wasn't fully out on Wednesday night.  I heard her cough a few times, cry a tiny bit, then cough a few more times before being quiet again.  I decided to check the camera since she coughed so many times.  I saw dark spots on her blanket and went to check on her even though she was starting to settle in again.

  She had thrown up and all the raspberries and strawberries she had at dinner made it alarmingly red.  It didn't smell like the last time either, so I was able to set out to get everything and everyone cleaner on my own.  Candy Corn was the only bedtime friend to get anything on them.

  I got her blanket rinsed off and tried to take it downstairs.  It held water and the quicker I tried to walk to get it into the wash, the more it sloshed and dipped water onto the floor.  I dried the hardwood some on my way back up.  I tried to grab the glasses I have on my bedside table, but they were so dirty it didn't really help.  I grabbed my more recent pair from downstairs and felt something hit me while hearing something plastic sounding hit the floor.  It was the right lense.  At some point they broke in the case I was using for them.

  While only being able to half see, I cleaned up Miss Spud.  I also rinsed off her sheet and PJs while she played with her light up fish.  Right before I was going to take her out she threw up again.

  I laid her out on the brown towel, but she didn't like it.  She wanted her usual green one.  I got her wrapped up anyway and onto her chair so I could get her some new PJs.  I left her with my phone in her lap playing puppy videos.  I know that means that if she threw up again it probably would have ended up on my phone.  We got new PJs on and I put the towel back on her front so I could go back to getting other things done.

  I cleaned my old glasses since we weren't in a rush anymore, then I was able to get her bed made again and her bedtime friends in it with no problems.  I was snuggling with her when she threw up again, but only foam came out.  I have to get her used to leaning forward when she throws up.  I had to push her forward to get it into the trash can I had on hand.  She currently wants to look upward and lean back, which explains why it keeps getting into her hair.

  I was making sure to have her sip water every once in a while to try and rehydrate her without reaggravating her stomach.  I was feeling warm in the house and I don't know if this happened because of heat, but I turned it down in case that would help any.  She was dancing to some of the puppy videos before I put her back to bed.  She tried to be silly and resist going back to bed a tiny bit, but laid back down pretty quickly.  Normally she falls asleep on her back at night, but she curled on her side this time.  This might also explain why she was so insistent that we snuggle so much before I could put her to bed the first time.

  I looked online and it said that eating right before bed can contribute to the likelihood of throwing up.  Stomachs rely on gravity to help keep everything in and when you lay down things can move in the wrong direction.  The internet said at the minimum to wait half an hour, which we did, but said that 2-3 hours is ideal.

Yearly Yarn Tracker:

Yarn In: 19 (0)
Yarn Out: 41 (0)

Total: -22

Hats Again?

  If you are wondering to yourself as to why I started another hat after the hatathon is over and I still have my Radiata to work on, you are not wrong to wonder.  The Radiata is at a point where it is getting a bit too cumbersome not to put on a table.  Each row is taking long enough that they need some time dedicated to them.  I needed something to take with me that was easy to pick up and put down since Miss Spud and I were at the church for our craft group.  I will keep working on it when she is napping, so I hope it won't take too long to get it finished.  I wasn't sure what size I wanted to make, so I let the yarn decide.  I think I have enough to make a medium.

  I can also feel a case of startitis coming on again.  I want to try and made a chunky side to side crochet rib hat, try a knitting machine technique on a knitting loom, start a second Radiata, work on worms and octopi for T.A.P.S., start a knit brioche hat, another Jason's Cashmere Hat, and the rainbow side to side crochet hats.  Of course all at the same time.  I'm going to try and put them into an order of importance.  Finishing my current WIPs are on the top followed by easier things.  I'm going to hold off starting the second Radiata until I have some of the quicker things out of the way.  Once I figure out how many single crochets I need for the crown, the chunky hat will work up quickly.  The chunky knit beanie might not even count since it's back-up easy knitting, though I have a non-chunky knit beanie that could also fulfill that need.

  The startitis isn't limiting itself to my crafting either.  I want to listen to my book on Julia Child's life, start reading the Mercy Thompson Series, and also start The Parasol Protectorate series.  The Julia Child book is so interesting, so I'm doing okay sticking with that.

Yearly Yarn Tracker:

Yarn In: 10 (0)
Yarn Out: 12 (1)

Total: -2

A Rant About Colors and Their Uses

  Although I'm not posting about it anymore, I'm still trying to Project Pan all of the items I have too many of.  When I look back on those blog posts they just seem bloated for no good reason when I could just use a spreadsheet to keep track of that.  I was thinking about the colors of lip products I have set aside to work on and remembered the green lipstick that I think looks pretty good on me.  I then was lamenting about how I don't often have an occasion to wear green lipstick to.  That got me thinking about how wearing green lipstick is considered a bold enough choice that I've gotten double takes, but no one bats an eye when I wear my green sweatshirt.  That lead to me considering other colors and their "approved" uses.  Black is considered a staple color in clothing because it can look professional and you can pair it with any other color.  However, black lipstick and eyeshadow are daring looks.  I know that some people would consider a plum themed makeup look to be too bold for them, but as a general concept, it isn't very strange.  It isn't just makeup versus clothing items either, a pair of pink pants isn't part of the norm.  I think my overall feelings are that we should be freer to use colors however we want and not feel pressure to avoid something because we might stand out because of that choice.

Yearly Yarn Tracker:

Yarn In: 10 (0)
Yarn Out: 6 (4)

Total: 4

I Don't Think This is a Dye Lot Issue

  I saw a skein of this at a Walmart when we were in Kentucky(bottom) and remembered that a rainbow yarn with short runs of color really does exist.  For some reason I didn't pick up one while we were there.  I checked a few Walmarts near me and didn't even see a spot for it.  Since I really wanted to make some rainbow octopi I ordered some off the Yarnspirations website.  I didn't see the jumbo, like I saw at Walmart, so I just ordered a few skeins(top left).  When we were recently at the cabin we needed to stop at Walmart to get a few things.  I swung by the yarn to see what they had and spotted something interesting.  They had three jumbo skeins of the Mexicana(top right) but I noticed something odd.  Going through all three I picked out the most vibrant one.  The other two looked even more muted and muddy.  I thought I possibly was remembering the color wrong or something, but it looked so very different.

  They look like two different yarns to me, they even pool differently.  The newest one looks like they mixed the colors with grey.  They even look like two different weights of yarn when put next to each other.

  After doing some more research, I discovered that the top right skein was made in 2022 in India while the top left was made in 2025 in Türkiye.  I did not take a detailed enough photo of the bottom one to tell when or where it was made.  I like how the older one works up, so I'm really hoping the newest one and it's friends on the shelf were outliers.

  With all the traveling we have done recently, I seem to come down with a bad case of startitis.  I may have also gotten it from one of the many doctors visits.  What you are looking at is a hexagon cardigan for Miss Spud, a Jester hat that I'm already planning on making a second one of, a Worry Worm, a Textured Cat Hat, and a test piece for a future dress for Miss Spud.  In the middle of all of this I managed to make the two rainbow octopi for the yarn comparison.

  Now, I've never claimed to be a monogamous crafter, but this is a bit much.  Luckily the beads for the Worry Worm will be dry before too long and that should also get another skein finished as well.  The Textured Cat Hat is the next closest to being done, I just have to close up the top and weave in my ends.  The test dress is one row short of dividing the sleeve caps from the body, so it will go quicker for a bit until the skirt starts to get full.  The jester hat will feel like it takes a while with the single crochet ribbing, but should go faster than I think it will.  The hexagon cardigan is barely started.  I plan to make it about the same size as her pumpkin sweater so we will get some wear out of it.

Yearly Yarn Tracker:

Yarn In: 10 (10)
Yarn Out: 2 (2)

Total: 8

Worms for Wise

  I managed to get a few more worms done before I brought them to the Church knitting group to be taken to Wise, VA.  I wish I had managed to get a few more done, but there is always next year.

  These are all the ones I have saved and will be going.  I think there are around 230 worms.  Everyone at knitting was impressed.  Jenelle said my timing was pretty good because these would make good stocking stuffers for Christmas.

  I'm starting to think this project is cursed.  According to my row count, I've done 24 rows of this project and currently only have 8 rows of ribbing to show for it.  I decided I should start making a list to keep track of everything I had to deal with.

  Here is a list of the things that have gone wrong so far:

• Twisted cast on ~ frogged
• Wasn't sure I wanted to make the size I cast on for ~ frogged
• Cast on was too tight ~ frogged
• Forgot to change to larger needles after ribbing ~ back to ribbing
• Somehow started working on my project inside out when the ribbing has a clear "right" and "wrong" side ~ back to ribbing
• Decided to change charts mid-eye for one section ~ ignored

   I think I might still be slightly off on my gauge, but I think it will be fine once I block it.  It's also interesting to see how my tension is slightly different when I hold the yarn in my right hand versus my left.  I don't think I've ever noticed it before.

A Shane Update!

Yarns: Red Heart Pooling, Premier Just Yarn, Red Heart Eco, unknown grey yarn that I really like

  Shane had been to see a bunch of specialists, but they all agreed that surgery would be the easiest way to see what was going on in there.  He had it two days ago and now he's resting up and working on healing.

  While we were waiting for him to get his eye rummaged around in, another person was picking up a different patient.  The person was told to get the car and to pull up in front "like you own the place" and then they would bring her down.

  They found a bump, and some old blood under the retina from an abnormal blood vessel.  Dr. Chen thinks, to be on the safe side, that he should see a tumor specialist, but that will have to wait until he is healed from this ordeal.  The initial plan was to have him stay face down for a while, but since Dr. Chen had to add an air bubble to help some thinning, the plans were changed.  He gets to sit up and sleep on his side.  So far, he has been doing pretty good but gets tired easily.

  I don't know if everyone was starting to get bored with seeing me keep making the same few patterns again and again, so I'm continuing to mix it up.  I'm also trying to take more pictures of things that are in progress, so I don't feel like I have to wait until I finish something to start a blog post.

Bats, Furry Worms, and a Long Day

Pattern: Bat Hat by B.Hooked - Yarn: Red Heart Eco-Ways in 3114 Chamois (yellow) and 3372 Petal (pink) - Needle: US 8

   It might look like I made two hats with opposite coloring and the same pattern, but it's actually just one hat.  I tried my hand at colorwork double knitting again.  I spent the first part of the hat working it the hard way for me.  I forgot that I had gotten really good at using both hands to hold the yarns separately.  I hold the knit color in my left and the purl in my right.  It's easy for me because I can work continental knitting pretty well and then throw the purl like I normally would.  The wonky tension issues at the beginning aren't helped by the fact that even though they are the same yarn, the pink is a bit thinner.

  I really like the pattern and want to experiment with different ideas having to do with the double knitting.  One idea is to have half the hat have one color be the background and have the other half be inversed with a bat on each half.

  I'm back on the Worry Worm train.  It might be because I've done some fairly large projects recently, but I forgot how much I liked making them.

  I got another yarn from The Dollar Tree, some chenille yarn this time.  They are really soft and nice to touch.  The yarn wasn't hard to work with when doing the crochet part, but it kept wanting to come apart when I was trying to tie it at the end and weave in my ends.

  I've started another double knit hat.  I have enough yarn to have made another bat hat, but I wanted something with an easier chart this time.  I also wanted to try using a crochet cast on to see if that would help the bottom lay flatter instead of puffing out.  It worked better, but I think using a larger needle to cast onto would help even more.

  Now to get into the long day.  It's technically three days, but it feels like one long one.  On Friday Bill, Ryan, Shane, and I headed south to William & Mary college to see another Rocky Horror group.  Our friend Laila was the director of this show and we wanted to support her.  The show was a lot of fun and someone gave us a sealed bag of Insomniac cookies while we were hanging out afterwards.  Both Bill and I were tired, and we also both had to be up fairly early the next morning.  We got home about 4:35 am and though I got a bit of sleep in the car, it wasn't much.  I was then back up at 7:12 am to get ready to go into work.  My tire was low, so I refilled it in the rain.

  I didn't feel too bad at work, but definitely needed another nap before Heather and Jim's holiday party.  The party had a lot of good food and I got to meet new people and talk to some I haven't seen in a while.

  I had thought about possibly getting another nap in before our Rocky Horror show, but there wasn't enough time.  Shane and I helped Ryan get ready and we rocked out to Free Bird in the parking lot.  The show went well, and I think the audience had a lot of fun.  Bill and I didn't go to IHOP because we had to be up again before too long once again.

Click to see more details

  On the way out to the property we are considering getting, we had to try two gas stations.  Near the second gas station, near the Floor & Decor there was a mini car show.  I liked the color of the chartreuse one.

  We are looking at a vacation kind of house with a lot of forest around it.  The land used to be the water supply of Hopwood back in the day.  The house was very interesting.  They were a fan of carpet in bathrooms and sinks in every room, even the bedrooms.  There were 8 children, so a lot of rooms with connecting bathrooms.  There is even a rock feature in the living room with water around it.

Moooozzarell, Marilyn's Onion Soup, Martilyn’d Creamy Garlic Chop, and Ithaca Chai Pumpkin beer.

  After a small hike around the property we stopped by Marilyn's on Main for lunch.  If we do get the property, I think I'll want to come here fairly often.  The house is a little weird, but the forest was really pretty.  I did a check and there is a Hobby Lobby and a Michaels not too far from the house.  Next weekend Bill and my dad are going to check it out and see how he feels about it.

It's Still Spooky Season To Me!

  Back on November 4th, it was the last day for Fear Deluxe Admission so Ryan, Bill, and I decided to go to Cox Farms.  We wanted Shane to come with us, but he was busy.  To help stagger people in the attractions we got a card telling us what time slots we had for each event.  We started with The Forest, then to the Cornightmare, and finished with the Darkside Hayride.  I did like the hayride the best because there were a lot more haunt actors appearing from almost nowhere.  The party barn was my favorite part, along with the falling fence bit.  I'm glad we all went together.

Pattern: Swirling Drop Hat - Yarn: unknown blue cotton dk - Needle: US 6

  I thought I had finished this a while ago, but had left it halfway through the last row.  I thought by using a smaller hook and slightly thinner yarn that I could make the hat small enough to fit on Bill's head, but it's still a bit loose.  I know it will fit someone, but I don't know if it's too big to be a size made by many people.  My new thought on it is to use a bigger yarn again and make one size smaller, so maybe it will be the dimensions that I was hoping for.

Pattern: Feather and Fan Shawl - Yarn: Sundance Classic Elite Yarn in 6220 (Celery Spring) and 6250 (Straw Hat) - Needle: US 6

  I only had one skein of the green and used most of six skeins of yellow for the body.  I wanted to try making the pattern with random amounts of yarn instead of working up to a certain row like I did when I designed it.  I already made a change to the pattern, but I still need people to test it since I've been the only one to knit it so far.

  At one point Ryan showed an interest in trying to learn how to do some knitted colorwork.  I did a quick search for spooky colorwork patterns and found this Bat Hat.  I then remembered it later and wanted to make it as well, but for some reason couldn't find it again.  It took me a few hours over a few days, but I was finally able to find it.  I know it's supposed to be a spooky themed design, but I like the idea of it being in cute pastel colors.  It's been a while since I've done any colorwork, so my tension is wonky and I'm pretty slow at it.  I am having a lot of fun though, so it should be done soon.  While searching for the pattern I did find a bunch of other Spooky Knit Colorwork patterns.

And Back We Go!!

  Shane's car was technically ready on Friday, but he and Ryan had plans later that day, so getting the car was put off until Saturday.  It was a late night for some of us, but we managed to make it to the train station right as they were boarding.  We all got hotdogs and chewy marshmallow treats on the train.

  We passed through Ashland again, so I saw Center of the Yarniverse once more.  Last time they were closed at least, this time it just wasn't an easy option.  Bill would also argue that I don't need more yarn.

  We stopped back at CookOut and HobbyTown.  It was like we were finally getting last week right and going home in the car we arrived in.

  Once we were home we had to get ready for the show.  I was back lights again and Shane got notified earlier in the day that he was going to be Brad.  It was a bit of a tighter timeline than we usually use to get ready, but not so much we had to rush.  The laryngitis part of my cold had kicked in at that point.  I said I wasn't going to do any callbacks, but I did some anyway.  On the way out of the theater I was figuring out how to lock the one tricky side door and Shane tried to close the other door on my arm, which broke my Fitbit band a little.  Seems he is not having the best month.

I Don't Know How Either

   It's been a bit since I've gone out to just knit and sip on a warm beverage.  It was a rainy day, so it seemed like a good day to start again.  I got a lot of that worked on during the drive back from Kentucky.  I've already changed the pattern some so that I like how the stitches lay a bit better.  I'm not sure how I'm going to get it tested since the Ravelry group I usually use seems to not exist anymore.

  While I was knitting, Ryan was having an interview and got a promotion at work.  It's really exciting and we celebrated.  During his interview their nitro pot exploded a little and there was a "fun" coffee fountain.

  To keep the celebration going we went to a concert.  We are going to ignore the fact that we planned on going to the concert before the interview even happened.  I most likely would have never really gotten into iDKHOW on my own, but I do like their music.  I just tend to either listen to the same few CDs or true crime/paranormal podcasts.

  Since we didn't feel the need to get close to the stage, we stopped off at The Silver String for a drink before we went to The Fillmore.  When we first got there, Savannah Conley was still playing.  The opener we had gone to see was Joywave.  I was surprised that I had heard some of their songs before.  iDKHOW was a lot of fun, even though I kept getting distracted during the concert.  I feel bad for that part.  I would go to one of either Joywave's or iDKHOW's concerts again.

Hat Problems

 

  I have found a mistake in the pattern.  The second to largest size tells you to cast on 94 stitches, but you won't have the right number to work the 3x3 ribbing.  The rest of the numbers 67, 78, 84, 90, and 96 work for the ribbing.

  I'm also questioning the gauge on the band.  The ball band says I should be getting 19.5 stitches per 4 inches with size 8 needles.  In the colored yarn sections I am getting only 17 stitches and I'm up to 18.5 in the plain white section.  I have no idea what I'm getting in the sparkle yarn sections.

  It's always fun to match your nails to your project.  The hat is mostly finished, and it is a hat.  I'm not the happiest with how it came out.  I didn't stick to the pattern because when I tried to, I ended up with a one-inch gap at the top.  I took out one more plain row and did a row of k2togs and then a plain row.  I repeated that until I was almost out of yarn and used my small tail to cinch it closed.  I'll get a picture of it once it is done blocking and has the pom-pom on top.

  I started the crochet pattern and ran into problems straight away.  We will ignore that I won't like how gathered the top is.

  This one started with the novelty yarn too, even though the picture showed me otherwise.  I chained around a knitting needle so I could find the chains and I had hoped that the single crochets would stand out enough for me to see them.  They did not, all I see is a fluffy strip.  I think all three of these will have to be knitted since I do not have the skill to crochet them.  I have seen pictures of other people's projects where they did it in crochet, so it can be done.

  The pattern tells me to work in half double crochets after the brim and I wanted to see if people just worked into the top in the front two strands, or something else.  I did find a link to the pattern, and it seems they have a newer version out.  They took off the largest size but didn't change the gauge.  From the pictures on the website it looks like I'm either working with too tight of a gauge or there is a chain one that they didn't include in the pattern.

  The knitted hat was similar in that the newer version knocked off the largest size, but they also have a new gauge listed and changed a bunch of the cast on numbers.  Both still have the super gathered crown I don't like.  The changes don't account for the yarn variations, so I don't know if I will even be able to get the new gauge on the thicker ones.

• Jazzy Knit Hat Pattern (PDF)

• Jazzy Crochet Hat Pattern (PDF)

  While it's nice to know that I'm not the only one having problems, I feel like they should have had it all tested more to avoid having to keep changing the pattern.  Right now they are on version four of each craft.

Woven Lattice Hats Galore!

Pattern: Woven Lattice Hat B (small) - Yarn: Red Heart Eco-Ways in Cinnabar - Needles: US 8

   I'm almost done with the revisions on the hat pattern.  That means that I only have to make the XL size to figure out how much yarn is needed.

Pattern: Woven Lattice Hat B (x-small) - Yarn: Caron Simply Soft in Dusty Rose - Needles: US 8

  I think one of my sewing machines is haunted.  The person who had it before me said that the part that connects the arm to the needle just disappeared one day.  Then the shop lost the bit that holds the thread onto the top when I got it fixed.  Now I can't find the cord that powers the machine and has the pedal.

Pattern: Woven Lattice Hat B (medium) - Yarn: unknown - Needles: US 8

  PT Fred visited my mom again.  She told me that he made some adjustments to the brace itself.  Turns out it hadn't been fitted to her body height in the first place.  He thought maybe it had to do with swelling, but he had to adjust it down, and last time I checked swelling doesn't make you taller.

  Went to Stitch N Bitch at Santinis because the group has decided to start meeting there again!  There were 7 of us in total, one who was a new person who had just moved into the area this last Friday.

  It's times like these where I get grumpy when people donate yarn with no bands or any way to identify it.  I have found some great yarns that look really good, and feel really good to work with and in the finished item.  I want to be able to find more and keep using it, but I have no idea what it could be.

  I posted about the yarn to the group on Reddit called What Is That Yarn and they have given me some ideas that I am going to check out as to what it might be.

• Red Heart with Love: wrong skein shape, more puffy feeling

• Loops and Threads Impeccable: sooo close, twist is a bit less tight and isn't a big enough skein

• Big Twist Soft: I would think this is it, but I can't find it in brown anywhere

• Lion Brand Vanna's Choice: also pretty close feeling, but too small of skein

  More worms, they are just so fun and easy to make.  I saw someone post some with ears on the Random Acts of Crochet Kindness Facebook group.  They tried to post about how they did it but must have put too much of the pattern in their reply because it got taken down.  I have figured out a way, not sure it's how they did it, but I like the outcome.

But Without Chicken

  We ordered chicken from a place that went by Rotisserie Roast and also Boston Market a few nights ago.  We ordered the rotisserie chicken bowls and they came without any chicken on top or any in the bag.  The nice lady at GrubHub got us a refund for those and we placed a second order for just chicken.  We got the smallest piece of bread with it.  I don't think we'll be ordering from them again.

  I took Nezumi to get some of the mats shaved off of her on Friday and did some grocery shopping.  When she got back, she ate almost a whole can of food in about an hour and was walking around like she was very drunk.  She tried to jump onto the stool and barely made it, I had to lift her the rest of the way.  Turns resulted in her falling over and she was iffy on standing still.  After a lot of coaxing and half carrying her to different places around the house, we finally got her to settle down.

  It was 60°F yesterday and somehow 28°F today.  Went in for a chest x-ray to keep an eye on the bubble in her chest and to see if she has been turning her lung raisins back into grapes.  The day nurse at the hospital said that you have "grapes" in your lungs and when you get banged around that they can turn into "raisins".  The breathing exercise device can help you to change your "raisins" back into "grapes".  My mom has a fracture at C7, compression fracture Th4 and L1, a small hole in the outer layer of her lung, two cracked ribs, and a cracked sternum.

  I got the Chromecast hooked up for my mom and showed her how to watch YouTube on her TV.  We've been watching a lot of knitting and crochet videos on YouTube and some Nailed It on Netflix.

Melbourne Marathon 47 

• MKmaineknitter 6 

• Hollive 3 

• companion42 6 

• gmilor 7 

• RLknitter 15 

• MinnieMay9 5

• Craftistic 1

• DebO31 4

  The numbers are in from the Hatathon!!  I'm so proud of my team!  We didn't get the most hats made, but it was pretty close, team London got 49 made.  It was a lot of fun and I am going to try and do it again next year.

PT Fred

 Pattern: Woven Lattice Hat - Yarn - Red Heart Unforgettable in Gossamer - Needle: US 8

  The Red Heart Unforgettable really reminds me of the Universal Yarns Classic Shades.  Both are super soft and great to work with as long as you are comfortable working with a 1-ply yarn.  1-ply, or single ply yarns are a bit more delicate because the twist is what gives it stability.  Most yarn takes a few 1-ply strands and twits them around each other.  That makes the yarn sturdier because the plies can hold the twist better against each other and it can also be springier.  However, the number of plies has nothing to do with the thickness of the yarn.

  I took over on Mom-duty on Sunday.  She had been feeling fairly fine overall.  The back brace is in the way of her left shoulder blade.  The foam that we added and have moved around has helped some.  The only times the injuries from the accident hurt are first thing in the morning going from laying down to sitting and when she has to cough.  I've been instructed what to make for various meals, and what chores to do.  I have been following orders very well.  Nezumi has been liking the extra lap-time.

  We got a visit from her physical therapist, Fred, and he helped move some stuff around and said that the back brace might be too much.  Otherwise he says that she is doing good and needs to make sure to keep walking around and to not lift too much with her arms.  He asked about the accident and got to hear the history of her van.  He also asked if we were sisters.  She has been left with the orders to keep walking and to push the body brace down throughout the day because when it rides up it gets in the way.

  I've been trying to work on this hat and it wants to resist.  I've ripped it back to the six rows of ribbing about three times so far.  Hopefully I've gotten it figured this time.

  My mom liked the way I did the decreases on the hat at the top, so once I get this one figured out and off the needles she says that I should write out the alternate crown style to the pattern.  I don't want to lose all the work that went into writing the pattern the first time, and I also don't want to sell the alternate version as a completely separate pattern, so I think I'm going to have A and B versions.  When you buy the pattern you will have both, but they will be different files.

A Whole Chair and Almost A Hat

  I found this fancy shower chair for my mom to use.  I had to put the legs all the way down for it to fit in my small car.  My dad thought that it was going to be too big for the shower, but once they got it in, it worked out really well.  The back lets my mom lean on it and the width allows for the shampoo and body wash to just be there within easy reach.  She can also turn off the water without having to reach too much.  It was a very good find.

  I got to hang out with Steven again on Friday for dinner.  It was a lot of fun because it's been so long since we've seen each other.  I was able to finally give him his Christmas present.  Bill and I had even seen a movie with him on Christmas, but I had forgotten it at home.  He's one of the few people where we can just talk about whatever for hours and easily lose track of time.

  I had planned on finishing that hat for the hatathon but didn't make it.  I'm still waiting to see the final numbers for each team.  I don't know if they are going to count the 1/3rd of a hat I posted on the last day or not.  I hope all the teams got their numbers, but I also hope my team made more hats.

When Your Weekend Is Too Exciting

Pattern: Slippy Hat - Yarn - unknown - Needle: US 8

   I finished the last hat I said I would make for the Hatathon.  I'm going to try and get one more done, but I don't know if I'll manage to by the end of the month.

  I got a text and then a call from my mom on Friday evening that she had been in a car accident.  Some 16-year-old girl didn't know that you are supposed to yield to people going straight if you have the blinking left turn arrow.  My mom has two cracked ribs, a cracked sternum, and some cracked points in her back.  They have her in a neck brace and are waiting for the body brace.  I went to go visit today and brought part of knit group to her.  She couldn't move her one arm much because they needed the port for the dye for the MRI and she has tricky veins.

  They had planned on doing the MRI in the morning, but it didn't actually happen until about 4pm.  Once she was back they put her bed off to the side from where she had been before.  The nice trauma guy who came to give some poke and resistance tests was nice enough to put the bed back in the right spot.

  The day nurse was nice and came to check in a few times.  My mom complained about the lack of TV stations, and it seems that a lot of the TVs in that section weren't even working.  The visiting hours were 1-5pm but the trauma guy said that on the weekend there was some leeway because it's less busy and told me I could stay until they kicked me out with a wink.  I got kicked out when the night nurse came in to take over.  I left a bit after 7pm.

  She isn't in pain right now and is complaining more about how her 2002 Honda Odyssey is totaled and how inconvenient things will be at home with the braces on.  She is also concerned about Nezumi getting enough food and her medicine at the appropriate times.  I offered to leave some knitting for her to work on, but she declined.

  No one was sure when she would be released, so I left mine and Bill's cell phone numbers.  My dad is teaching again tomorrow and we want someone to be able to go get her if they discharge her when he's busy.  There's a good chance I'll go visit again tomorrow anyway.

Third Hat Done and The Fourth is Looking Pretty Good

Pattern: Show Time Crochet Hat by The Crochet Crowd - Yarn: unknown - Hook: 5.5mm

  Apparently the ten extra stitches make a lot of difference.  On this one I did plain rows even with the single crochet between the drops, a row of double crochet drops with no singles between, a row of around the post half doubles, a skip every other half double around the post round, then sc2tog all around.  It's still a bit more dramatic of a decrease than I wanted, but I didn't want the top to look too open.  I think this pattern would also make a nice cowl if you put the same half-double crochets on the top as well.

  The shorter tan/cream one with the dark eyes in the middle is only shorter because I wrapped the spiral the other way when playing with it.  It also appears that I had three different purples that I was working with before.  I have started working on a post about yarn and hook combinations so that way it will be easier to keep track of all of that.  The post is also going to have the tutorial on how to add the beads for the eyes.

  I got a lot done on the fourth hat between the K&CC Group and going to a bar later in the day.  I should pack some headphones or something in my knitting bag because we were not expecting karaoke to happen, and it was pretty loud.  I was able to get some mental breaks from the noise by going outside, but I hadn't dressed for that, so I got chilly pretty quickly.  The Habanero Bloody Mary wasn't as spicy as I was expecting and was oddly sweet.  The Old Firehouse #3's hummus platter was pretty good though.  I'd go back, but more prepared next time.

One Down, At Least Four To Go!

Pattern: Purl Brioche Hat - Yarn: Red Heart Soft in Vanilla Swirl - Needle: US 8

   I know it's not a relay race, but that's how I picture this going.  I picture all of us on the sidelines cheering as MKmaineknitter is knitting/crocheting as fast as her hands will go, throwing hats into a basket next to her.  Once her third hat is in the basket she would then leap from the chair and we would pass her some sports drink and a cookie while Hollive then sits down to work on her two hats.

  I also almost had tragedy strike, so I hope it isn't setting a tone for the challenge.  I finished binding off and saw I had a strange loop.  I thought it had something to do with the way I did the bind off until I looked at the other side of the work and saw a live stitch poking up at me.  I didn't feel like undoing the entire bind off so I used the tail to secure the loop.  If you look really closely you can see where it looks a bit odd, but otherwise it looks fine.  I tied a quick knot, so it shouldn't come undone either.  I've tugged on it a few times and it seems pretty secure.

  I want to get the pattern published before I finish the hat so I can link to it when I post about it in the Hatathon thread.  I feel so silly for the pattern not being done sooner.  I finished at least one hat in each of the main sizes, weighted them, and then donated most of them back in April 2021.  I made note on the pattern of how much yarn I used on the sock weight, the worsted weight, and the bulky weight.  I completely skipped over the dk weight somehow.  I'm glad I noticed that it didn't have numbers in the materials section for that weight before I published it and someone who purchased it had to point that out.

  The purple hat from the previous post was made to get those numbers, which is why I wanted to get it done as soon as I could.  I have weighed it and have the numbers that I need, I just need to update the PDF and to make the pattern page on Ravelry.  I'm also considering putting the pattern on Etsy as well, but I don't have to worry about as many fees with Ravelry.

  I couldn't miss the special Meatloaf show!  I took a ton of pictures and will be getting them to someone on leadership who can decide if any are good enough to share at some point.  Some of the people who hadn't done any of the guest shows or the December show were really rusty, but we got through.  It was a lot of fun, even though I didn't know I was supposed to be there to do props.  Oopsies.  Maybe I should check my e-mail more, but I also haven't officially joined cast.... oh well.