Finishuary - the gift hats

Alright, so it's the middle of the night, but the fiancee isn't home yet and I'm having a break through. That's worth recording, right? So I actually got out  my camera and made an attempt at lighting so I could take a picture.

BUT FIRST! The finished cowl (it is Finishuary, after all, and I have been talking about the fact that it's done for something like a week now)(almost)


So here is the Cowl for M. in all its glory. It is was done in Zauberball (teal and black) in the Spirogyra arm warmer pattern from knitty. I simply adapted the pattern to being on bigger yarn/needles and being the circumference of a cowl.

And now - the break through!

Ok Ok, it doesn't look like much now, but IF YOU ONLY KNEW what I'd been through with this hat!

Here's the back story: I had a best friend about 6 years ago - we were best friends for a long time. We were best friends through her stint in the peace corps, her wedding, my various break ups etc. Now, I wasn't her only "Best Friend" - but we were very close.  However, I went into grad school - then she had a baby and moved 45 minutes away - then I moved an hour away - then she moved to north carolina - then I had a hectic work schedule....etc. etc. Long story short, I love her as much as ever, and I feel like she loves me the same, but we're farther apart than we used to be. (And by that I mean, I no longer spend EVERY WEEKEND) watching home improvement shows and crafting with her. She has closer friends to her, no doubt, in proximity and in emotion - and I've grown as a person and am looking to start my family soon (ish) (don't get any ideas). But I still care, and I have some things to send her (FROM LAST FEBRUARY) which I've been sitting on.

Why?

Well....first it was because of her husband. I love the man - he's a gem. But I made him a devil ear beanie and he kind of ruined it and I kind of didn't get around to making a replacement and he really wants one. I kept saying I'd get to it, but I never did. Then - 3 or 4 months ago she posted something online about needing hats for her family from her knitter friends.  I ran out and bought colors I knew she liked and would look good on her and her kids in a nice sport weight(ish) cotton (she's allergic to animal fibres). Then I started getting my house and re-enacting for fair, and I kind of let it go. After all, one of her other best friends, Fluffy, is an amazing knitter and seems to be able to churn stuff out even faster than me! (I don't know how she does it!) Surely she would have done it already, and nicer than I could. What good would my hats be anyway?


But it's me, so I wound one of the balls and cast on. But it looked like crap. And I know she's of the larger head variety, so I was having trouble with sizing (I am of the smaller-head variety). And then I couldn't decide on a stitch pattern. I have literally started and ripped this hat back 4 times at least - probably more like 6. Then I gave up and started it into a blanket - figuring that at least she could use the throw in her house.


But then there was tonight. Remember how I'm getting married? Well, I hit a dress snafu. The original plan turned out to cost about 4K (and I just can't spend that). So, I was looking at other options. I did not ask her to sew it. She's an amazing seamstress, but she's also got two small kids and is in grad school. I decided on my own that it wasn't worth her time and didn't ask her. But she volunteered regardless and sent me to where I could find the patterns I was interested in - figured out how we could do it and make it fit long distance, and was overall perfect.

She always is. Let me tell you - if you ever get arrested, need to come up with a plan, or just need someone to make you smile, it's her.  (and any plan where you loose your hat is bad plan).(Did I mention that, until we got gummed up in buying a house, we were going to get married on her wedding anniversary?)


While I don't know what's going to happen with The Dress, it made me think of how I've been sitting on this box, unable to send it, but unable to move forward on the hat-turned-blanket. So, I came home after working a little late and did some math, pulled up several patterns online and in books for reference for stitch count, and decided on my own pattern after trying several different types of six stitch cables while working on the hat. That's right, I practically swatched for her - That's love! So, in the picture above, you have the 4 failed hats and 1 failed blanket turned into 1 successful hat. I'm proud of myself and I'm thinking I may even get to send that box after all. If doing these hats further puts the nail in my wedding shawl coffin - I won't regret them. Maybe I'll make a honeymoon shawl instead.

All I know is that she gave me the peace of mind I needed while I was panicking, like she always does. She was there to support me, like always, and she'll love the hats I make and treat them right, just like everything else I knit for her. She is, after all, in some of the very first pictures on this blog.