Amusing the muse

You hear that?

That endless noise like cosmic giggles?

That's the knitting muse, laughing her head off as I knit the first row of a 250-stitch-wide afghan, only to realize I started knitting with the cast-on tail. Try to ignore the noise; she's probably going to be cackling for a while.

The Harry Potter House "Sweater" needs two more things:

A left armhole and a really good blocking. I promise, that picture is not distorted; it really is that wide. I also promise that I am definitely not that wide.

It turns out I didn't have anywhere near enough yarn to put sleeves on this thing. Turns out, I have just enough yarn to finish that armhole. Fortunately the pattern was written with unbelievably huge amounts of ease, so I'll be blocking that dubba-wide vest thing into something with recognizably human proportions. That's tonight's project: tomorrow, the show!

Speaking of things in odd shapes, would you believe that this...

...is a hat?

It's a pattern I'm test driving for the fiber arts ministry I'm hoping will get going in August. The pattern will come with beginner's kits:

... so that total newbies won't have to suffer through the misery of a garter stitch scarf. Unless they knit the largest size hat, which is roughly equivalent. Instead, they'll have something hat-like and not rectangular at the end, which is definitely more interesting than a scarf. That's the theory, anyway. I'm still, er, fine-tuning the pattern.


Meanwhile, on the Dark Side: the Death Star strikes again.


The one blanket just wasn't enough, so I pulled out all my [s]crap yarn and... ended up with another WIP that looks like a [s]crap yarn blanket. At least it's not bland.

And, as though I didn't already have way, way too many WIPs, the Silky Wool got Hooked.

I'm not even going to tell you what it is yet. Look at that. Look how lovely it is. I don't think you could make a bad project with that yarn. You could knit up a trash can cozy or crochet the world's strangest toilet lid cover, and the Silky Wool would be like, oh, I'm so glamorous in an understated and elegant way, I totally transform any tacky purpose you put me to into something noble and glorious.

Revere the wool. Pray that it never turns its powers against you.