Last post, I mentioned that I wanted to avoid casting on a second project until I finished the project I was working on. Since this project was crochet, it wasn't cast on. How about only working on one project per craft at a time? Regardless, I think this hat was worth it.
My father is a die hard Vikings fan. One day, while the family was driving around, we realized that my nephew did not have any Vikings paraphernalia. I decided to correct this egregious oversight. I decided to crochet it so that it had more structure to support the horns. Unfortunately, since I made this ad hoc, I forgot to write down the instructions. Apparently, the little horns are a hit with my sister and her husband, which is good because they are not Vikings fans. I'm hoping the hat is cute enough that they let him wear it frequently anyway. :) Though truth be told, I think he's pretty darn cute with or without the hat.
He may not need to wear a hat much longer. The weather is warming up and we are starting to get more rain than snow. Yesterday was nice enough that we managed to tackle some gardening projects. I planted pea seeds in a pair of containers. My father and I managed to wrestle our rhubarb plants out of their pots and settle them in the ground. We've had these plants for a few years now so I'm hoping we finally get some usable rhubarb out of them this year.
Yesterday also provided time for us to go to the Capital Home and Garden Show. We came back with a garden stool and a neat little product called Rainbow Crystal Soil. It works like this. You start out with the packet full of little beads about the size of the head of a sewing pin.
You then soak them in water over night and they swell up to the size of marbles and feel a bit like the tofu balls in bubble drinks.
Then you can use them as soil replacement. I'm unsure how they will work with plants that require more nutrients than they get from water so I'm starting with some philodendron cuttings.
This plant can actually grow in just water, so I am certain they will do well in this new medium. The Rainbow Crystal packet also gives directions for use as an air freshener. I may try that next. All in all, I find them to be an interesting novelty and look forward to experimenting with them.
My socks are coming along nicely. I like the cable pattern. It's involved, but I was able to figure out the pattern enough that I no longer had to reference the chart about halfway through the first repeat. I've reached the gusset section. This is the first sock I've done with a gusset so I hope I started it at the right place. I'm supposed to continue increasing until I have twice as many stitches on the sole as I have on the instep. That's going to take a while. I love this sock patten, especially how delicate it looks, but one of the drawbacks to knitting something this fine is that it is time consuming. I try to work a few rows a night while I'm just sitting watching TV with the family, but it will still take a while before they are finished, especially if I tweak the design to make them knee highs. But one hurtle at a time, I have to finish the foot and heel before I start worrying about final length. I love that about toe-up socks!
