Instant Gratification Toque!

Okay, so I actually have a ton of finished projects to share (including the dress I made for my cousin's wedding).  But for some reason, I can't seem to get photos taken and post on here.  I open a new post window, start typing a few awkward words, try importing a picture, then close the thing down.  I think it's that whole oh-man-I-haven't-posted-in-forever block.

Just like with crafting.  I have a ton of projects on the go, but I haven't felt like touching any of them lately.  I pick them up, stare at them awkwardly for a bit, then put them down again.  Repeat...often.

How did I deal with this?  I made an instant gratification hat.

BAM, crafting mojo is back!  (Plus I really needed a new hat.)

This pattern, or rather "knitting recipe" comes from Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (aka the Yarn Harlot) book, Knitting Rules.  While there's a few patterns inside, she really just guides you through the basic steps of making various types of projects, encouraging you to work out the right fit for you based on your gauge*, regardless of what yarn you use.  (The "pattern" for the sock I'm making is also from this book).

ANYWAYS, this is a just a long way of saying that I played with my pretty ball of yarn for a bit, did some Math (yikes!), and whipped off this hat in a day while camping last weekend.  Good thing too, because it was damn cold out.

I love this hat so much!  The yarn is Noro Nadeshiko, and I love how the self-stipes came out.  The yarn is a wool, silk, and angora blend, and boy is it fuzzy!  I find myself petting it often, especially when it's on my head.  These aren't colours I'd normally gravitate to, being more of a jewel-tone lover myself, but there was a sample hate just like this made up in our LYS**, and I had to have it so much, I couldn't even choose another colourway.  Go ahead and bask in my originality.

I'm kind of hoping that this post, as with my hat, will get me out of the blogging funk I've been in lately, and actually get some of these pending posts published.  I have a finished crocheted sweater that I'm dying to share with you all!
 
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* Gauge, for you non-knitters, is the number of stitches per inch (or cm!).  Gauge is super important and can be the difference between a well fitted sweater, a monsterous beast or something only your Barbie could fit.

**Local Yarn Shop