féileacán hataí

I consider myself quite lucky because just as my tempermental junior divas grow increasingly weary of my FO photo shoot requests and start to try to write riders into their contracts with me (iTunes gift cards & the Justin Bieber perfume in exchange for modeling a hat, are you kidding me?), I have new talent rising up through the ranks. We had the good fortune of hosting the Ireland-Brooklyn-Moroccan contingent of our family for Thanksgiving which meant that the younger siblings of my daughters would be available for action. The older sister here is quite fond of the camera and the younger one can't speak yet, so no protest from her at all!


The Specs
Pattern: Butterfly hat by Sofiya Cremin
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Uva and Tigerlily, about 60% of each skein
Needles: Sizes 4 and 7
Mods: none


I originally made the orange hat for the big sister. She quite craftily let me know that "...this hat is for the baby, MY HAT is purple". I mean, how can I refuse a sly request like that? You better believe I was off like a shot to rifle through my stash to find the perfect color.

The older sister noticed the butterfly motif right away and exclaimed "Féileacán!" (fail-uh-con-- butterfly in Irish) in her excitement. The butterfly stitch is gimmicky for sure, and it's definitely a one-trick pony typa deal, but for kids it's a super cute idea, right?

Malabrigo is a dream...for certain projects. I would never be so foolish as to knit a sweater out of it, it's an accessories only affair in my opinion as the pill factor is a little out of control. But the colors, the colors! Honestly they are quite unreal. I used to wax poetic over Frank Ochre and Bobby Blue, but this Tiger Lily is pretty dazzling. What's your favorite shade? Let me know in the comments and I'll set up a mini Tombola. I'm going to the post office on the last day of November, so leave your comment by then and you might be a winner!

Effie!

Seeing as I seem to be acquiring "special order" yarn like it's my job, I figured it was time to actually knit with the stuff. What good is stoking an Internet yarn sensation if you don't actually knit with it? I had the perfect pattern ready to go, so I made myself a cocktail (unrelated), got out my X-acto knife and tore into my box of shiny new yarn. Hot tip: don't use X-acto knives around boxes of yarn unless splicing and dicing is your game. Yarn carnage aside, all I can say is I was so pleased with the Internet super shopper me that had ordered the assorted Quince and co. yarn ten days previously because WOW. Soft. Colors for days. Gorgeous hand. Swoon.

The Specs
Pattern: Effie by Melissa LaBarre
Yarn: Quince and co. Osprey in "Twig", .85 of a skein
Needles: size 9
Mods: why?

I love the ribbing action on this hat. Cute! Classy! (Just kidding, I hate that word). The shaping is perfection and the knitting couldn't be more pleasingly mindless. I am so happy with how this hat turned out. And the yarn is so unbelievably plush. I strongly urge you to fondle it soon.

This hat is a long overdue donation to a local charity. Over a year ago I became inspired (first warning sign) to donate a knitted hat to a charity auction (they should have run screaming) A very nice lady had the misfortune to bid on my hat THINKING she was getting a wooly garment that would keep her warm during a blisteringly cold winter. BWAHAHAHAHA! Oops. Somehow this one got away from me and the guilt started to fester. But now it's done, so...there's that? In any case, I should not be permitted to ever volunteer my knitting services for any charity function whatsoever. If you are soliciting knitted donations for your (probably) worthy cause, please don't ask me to knit for you unless you want to engender Bad Feelings toward you and your organization. Just go ahead and mark me down in the "will make a small token cash donation" column permanently for life. Thanks!


Also, I can't hear the name of this pattern without thinking of this song and my previous life in the swingin' town of Athens, GA...

Horatio Hornbobber

Of one of the pure joys of fall is being able to fire up the hat assembly line and crank out hats in pure Fordist fashion. Nothing is more exciting to this knitter than making hats. Sweaters are fine and dandy but oh when you have a lot of real estate to cover they're decidedly less exciting--can I get an amen from the XLs among you? Scarves start with a bang and invariably lost their luster when it's clear you're in it for the long haul. Mittens and socks are fun and games until you have to replicate the whole thing--suddenly not so fun! But the hat is a perfect project, from start to finish. No time to fizzle out, you are just going great guns from start to finish.

The Specs
Pattern: Horatio by Knitting Kninja (Kristen Hanley Cardozo)
Size: Adult M/L
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted Merino in "Vaa", .85 of a skein
Needles: size 7
Modifications: None except accidentally doing slightly more on the brim that was called for in the pattern. Oops!

I have pure, unbridled enthusiasm for this pattern. Is saw Kristen post it on Flickr and was immediately hot to trot for it. I shamelessly asked when the pattern would be ready because I was dying to make it and luck would have it, it was ready earlier than expected. I am leading such a charmed life.

The pattern is loads of fun because it's composed of the semaphore stitch which keeps a potential stockinette snoozefest interesting and visually appealing. The Malabrigo knit-up on a 7 gives such a nice, tight gauge. This hat is going to be a warm one, folks.

I have dubbed my particular version of this hat Horatio Hornbobber to fit the individual you see pictured here. Similar to the Little Girl with a Curl, when he is good he is very, very good but when he is bad, he is...a hornbobber! This is term that we have invented amongst ourselves and are trying to have gain traction and become a term for general usage. To hornbob is to ceaselessly complain, belly ache and generally grouse about insignificant details that one has inevitably blown out of proportion. It is a behavior that does not endear the hornbobber to those around him. The individual you see pictured here is the person most likely to hornbob in our household, hence the masculine pronoun in the previous sentence. This photo shoot was done post-hornbobbing fit, the topic of which I honestly can't recall, but it is likely that the complaints involved the number of lip balms owned by your truly, the mounting number of yogurts in the fridge and their impending expiration dates of doom, or some other matter of great import. I'm sure you might know a few hornbobbers, please do not hesitate to categorize them as such and let them know of their horrid hornbobbing ways. Hornbobbing will only be tolerated in small amounts!