Stripey Hat Mania!

Been sick on and off for the past two weeks. It has not been my favorite. Mostly just cold stuff, but a couple of fevers, a migraine... super fun. Rehearsals for the musical I'm going to be in have started, too. It also seems like a couple of big life changes are headed my way come summer... It's been a hectic couple of weeks.

It HAS meant that I've had some quality knitting time though. =D I've reorganized my yarn in an effort to try and use up a chunk of it, (The big life changes headed my way may also include another move, and when that is the situation, less is always more!) notably that from my trip to Scotland last year and the North Jersey Fiber Fest from this past fall. I've been doing well so far! I used up two scarf quantities that I bought, but not for scarves. I just couldn't come up with any patterns I liked, so there's the Norse series...

A nice chunky cowl, an adult-sized hat, and a child-sized hat, all from 4 skeins of Wendy Norse Chunky, a lovely single-ply wool/acrylic blend, that I bought at the Wooley Brew in Pittenweem, the most adorable little town ever in the heart of Scotland. It was pleasant to work with, for the most part, though it was one of the most loosely spun single-plys I've ever worked with and splityness was an issue for me. I probably wouldn't buy it again, but I love the end result. 

I also just finished (this morning!) a set of five hats I've been calling the "Scottish Stripey Hats". I bought 5 skeins of Rico Kids Classic Aran to make a stripey scarf, but again, I couldn't come up with a pattern I both liked and felt like doing. 

So instead of a scarf... five hats! I'm super pleased with them. The first three (white, blue, & brown) are regular adult-sized. The fourth (pink) is child-sized and the last (purple) is larger adult-sized. And I have enough left over to make a kindle cozy! I'm going to CO that once I'm done writing, before the start of Mal Madness tomorrow. These two sets have also given me the chance to start some basic colorwork. Really really basic, but it made me happy anyway. =)

Excited about Mal March Madness. I've got plenty of Mal laying around, so my recent reorganization of yarn and plan about which to use may have to wait. I tend to hoard the Mal because I love it so much, so this should give me impetus to actually USE it. This does mean I'll have to get my swift back from my father asap though. 

I'm so tired. Honestly, my knitting is about all that's keeping me sane right now. This is a weird time, I guess. Boyfriend is busy busy busy with work & it's making him very unhappy. There's no real holidays for awhile, so no diet ditch days to look forward to. We planned a little vacation for the beginning of April, but it seems like a million years away. I was SUPER excited about it for a few days but it's hard to maintain that level of enthusiasm with so long to go. I'm just kind of coasting along right now... The doldrums shall pass, as they always do, just gotta keep rollin' along in the meantime. =)

Pittenweem!