★ Happy Holidays from Portland! ★

The pretty tree in Pioneer Square

I wish I had thought to take a picture of the creme brulee we had before it disapeared!
It was delicious though!

I actually knit up two more gift hats, but was in such a rush to finish them before the gift swap,
I didn't take any photos!! ;_;
I made the Beehive hat from SNB Nation, and a clover lace hat..that ended up being woefully too short.

I received a bunch of yarn for Christmas, and now I'm thinking of things to knit.
I suppose I should finish the projects that were put on the back burner in favor of X-mas knits, and have been sitting in my "Making" list for the last couple months.

★ Happy Holidays! ★

Slightly Girly Hat 完成！

Yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in Cranberry
(only 1 skein! with about a yard left over)
US 6/4.25 mm circulars and dpns

Made up the pattern as I went along,
inspired by the cabled wrist of Fetching

CO 100, 6 cabled rows, decreasing from 10.

I've been feverishly knitting away at holiday gifts, so this hat was knit in only 3 days!
A new record for me, the world's slowest knitter. Speedy progress brought to you by Chappelle's Show Season 1 & 2 on DVD ^_^ One hat down, one more to go!

[Edited to add short pattern 7.30.2007]
I received an email asking for a pattern for this hat, so here it is!
(I really just made this up on the fly, so be gentle)

Slightly Girly Hat

Worsted weight yarn 110 yards (Used one ball of Knit Picks Wool of the Andes for the small size)
US 6/4.25 mm circulars and dpns
1 stitch marker
1 tapestry needle
1 cable needle ( or learn to cable w/o a needle!)

CO 100 (I used the long tail cast on o make it nice and stretchy)

Cable Repeat
Row 1-4: K4, P1, repeat until end of row.
Row 5: C4B [slip the next 2 stitches purlwise to a cable needle, move those slipped stitches behind the work,knit two stitches. then knit the 2 stitches on the cable needle], P1, repeat until end of row.

work this repeat 6 times.

knit 4 rows normally in the round

Begin decreases
Row 1: K10, K2tog, repeat until end of row.
Row 2: K, repeat until end of row.
[move stitches to dpns]
Row 3: K9, K2tog, repeat until end of row.
Row 4: K8, K2tog, repeat until end of row.
Row 5: K7, K2tog, repeat until end of row.
Row 6: K6, K2tog, repeat until end of row.
Row 7: K5, K2tog, repeat until end of row.
Row 8: K4, K2tog, repeat until end of row.
Row 9: K3, K2tog, repeat until end of row.
Row 10: K2, K2tog, repeat until end of row.

cut working yarn about 6 inches from work, and use a tapestry needle to thread through the remaining live stitches. Pull tight to form top of hat, and weave in the ends on the inside of the hat.

Happy Knitting, and let me know if there are any mistakes!

My 1st and probably last tapestry.

3 months, working 12-16 hours a week in the weaving studio,

and this tiny 14"x14" tapestry is the product.
I learned a lot from the class, but the time
commitment was so much more than I expected!

A sneak peek at some last minute holiday knitting!

It was just an excuse to go to Seattle.

I took the Japanese Language Placement Exam in Seattle on the 3rd of December. My brain still hurts to think about it. There is no hope that I passed, but it was fun times seeing friends from Waseda, and general excitement to be in Seattle.

At the base of the Space Needle
Yay for ramen! Excuse the tired faces all around,
all of us just came out of a 4 hour testing session.

The pretty view of Mt. Rainier across the fountain on the UW campus.

On the deck behind Ivar's Salmon House (the clam chowder is amazing!). You can see the Space Needle between us!