"Oakily" Dokily

Ahhh, a fresh, new year. Gone are the days of half finished projects and procrastinating. Bahaha! Who am I kidding! It's just a matter of finishing what you start before getting side tracked by another creation. That's a creative mind trying desperately to capture each idea that surfaces. Granted, not all are keepers...but you don't know til' you try, so why the hell not.

Speaking of set aside projects, here's one that was left behind many times, kind of on purpose. I call her Oak Leaf. This sweater was worked with 2 different yarns double stranded on a set of gigantic 11 & 15 "chunky" needles. I was in desperate need of a no notes, simple, clear headed project...and this was my result. There's more on my project page on Rav. Nothin' fancy here folks...a basic raglan pattern with some stacked ribbing. I used this sweater as an inbetweener from my pattern writing. It kept me from getting flustered from all the numbers, edits and rewrites going on all over the place...a rescue sweater if you will. =) Just in time for January shivers.

For those that don't know me personally, I'm not a real "girly" girl. I'm not one to fuss too much with makeup, jeans & tees please, and my hair, well...it's pretty much always "messy," or let's say tousled...that doesn't sound so harsh. =) Many argue blessed, but I'm what I refer to as "cursed" with a ginormous chia head of hair. My freakishly thick locks have a mind of their own. Pony tail holders & clips all have a very short life expectancy...few can actually withstand the bulk. Nevertheless, I've embraced the beast - no sense in fighting what you can't change. So, that being the case, you'd think I'd be more fond of hats. I've never been much of a hat wearer. An admirer of - absolutely yes, but this could essentially mask my monster serving as a nice alternative to my perma buns and ponies. In the spirit of BIG hair, I dabbled with a cabled hat design that has the name "Ireland" written allover it.  An aran cable stitch in a lush green...seems fitting. I had an extra hank of my tosh, as previously mentioned and thought this would be an ideal way to use it up. (Always buy an extra hank for dye lots - it can be painful if you don't.)

Yep, I learned that the hard way. It runs a little big for my small skull, but the hair makes up for any sizing issue. Ha! I'm halfway thru a second attempt using the old Caron SS with some tweaking - more slouch and a tighter rib...I'll see how it goes. My mission this year is to commit more of my time to finish writing, editing and testing my patterns to ready for release, even if at a snail's pace. Thanks much for the extremely kind inquiries, encouraging words and offers of helping hands! I may be needing you. =)