Regarding Hats -- Yarn for Thought

"There should be genuine harmony between your hat and your personality. To look good in them, you have to wear hats as naturally as if you were born in them. If you're not 100 percent comfortable in them, you're better off avoiding them altogether. " -- Does this make me look fat? by Leah Feldon


I don't know why, but I really, really like this quote.
Have a great day and happy knitting to all!

Cactus? YooHoo! Cactus!!!! Where Ya' Been?

Here I am! Ever since I made those cowgirl outfits (which looked wonderful on those two lil' cowgirls), I've been seduced by this:

Yes. A sewing machine.

I made this skirt (with material enough to make like four more).

This great tote bag.

And this bag for my MIL's birthday!

But...I've still done some knitting!The back of my CPH! Hopefully by the end of today I'll be at the shoulders and can start the fronts tomorrow! (That's my goal anyway!)

The skirt pattern is from Butterick #B4461.

The bags are both from New Look #6467.

The sewing machine was my mom's! Still works great!

Check out this contest at knittingal's blog!

Them's Sure Gonna' Be Some Purty Cowgirls!

I think this came out fantastic!

A close-up of the trim!

And, I also made this version for one of the LittleOne's friends!

Isn't it funny how the same pattern can look so different with just a change of fabric?

I think they both came out great!

They're going to be some 'purty cowgirls'.

Happy Blogiversary to Me!

All day long I've been wondering if today was my actual blogiversary (I was thinking it was the 15th), and it is today. A year ago today, Cactusneedles was born! Well, not really, but you know what I mean. I can't believe how fast this year's gone, and how much knitting I've accomplished this past blog year.

I've "met" some great blog friends along the way and for all of you out there who checked my ramblings out after I left some first tentative comments on your blogs, I thank you very, very much!

So, I have some blog and knitting goals I'd like to write down here. (I don't really do new year's resolutions, so these are I guess sort of like my new year blog resolutions.)

1. make a complete sweater for me (finish it, don't frog it, and wear it proudly)
2. branch out of my comfort zone, ie: colors, patterns, color work, etc.
3. knit a skirt
4. create some of my own patterns

Those are just a few I can think of off the top of my head!

Happy knitting and may your day be bright (or your evening).

So Much to Do...So Very, Very, Very Little Time

I've got so many things I want to get done in the next month or so, but got sidetracked by these:

When I saw this (thanks Tiennie), I just had to cast on my own!
Pattern: Evangeline
Yarn: Cascade 220, colorway of sapphire (it's like a light blue, almost denim color).
Needles: #7 dpn
Modifications: I, like Tiennie, did an extra pattern repeat above the thumb opening. If I did these again, I'd make the thumb opening bigger. It's a little tight for me, but it'll work. I would also move where the opening is over by two stitches. It was difficult to pick up the thumb opening stitches and make it look neat on the side. I also did 9 rounds on the thumb, and purled the 10th, and did a purl bind off. But they were a quick knit.

(Edited: I just wore these to walk Ella this morning and they were great! They kept my hands warm, but not overly so as it's not too cold here this morning.)


Now, what's all this yarn you ask?

Don't you just hate it when you go into a store, say Michael's for instance, on a totally unrelated errand and you just happen to walk by the yarn and see that it's on clearance! Yes, I had to buy all seven of these! (They were $2.oo!) I think they will become this after I finish this! It's Patons Classic Wool Merino in burgundy.

Now, this next picture is what I have to get done this week.

Out here there's something called Rodeo Days. Yes, the schools close for two days for the rodeo! Weird and strange, I know! But anyway, the kinders at my LittleOne's school do a rodeo program. They're supposed to dress up in western gear. So, I'm going to sew up the cowgirl outfit for her, but instead of the traditional brown (as shown on the pattern cover), she wanted pink! So, the fabric in the back will be her outfit. And the ball trim will go on the bottom of the skirt and the vest instead of the fringe. I'll let you know how it comes out!

(Man, the spell chekc sitll is'nt wroking!)

Dogs on Thursday (all day).

Today I'm going to send you all to the Dogs On Thursday site.

Why? You ask?

Well...Ella is the spotlight dog! (and she's very, very excited about that!)

And for those of you who are wondering, we think Ella has some Australian Kelpie in her (a sheep dog for a knitter without sheep!). A goggle image search shows some of her great relatives!

Happy DOT day!!!

CPH Yarn

Okay. I've gone and done it. I bought the yarn for a Central Park Hoodie today!

Isn't it pretty?

Six wound balls (the un-wound is an extra, a just to be sure I have enough) of Cascade 220 wool in a lovely butter yellow. They call it lemon, but it's a little more buttery (to me anyway).

I wanted something different. I was originally thinking of using a dark red or something, but I saw this and went way out of my color comfort zone. I'm ususally gravitating towards the purples, blues, teals range. I think it's going to be a great color change for me!

A Strange Weather Day

Today was some of the strangest weather we've had in the desert for quite some time. It rained most of the morning and the sun came out for about ten minutes, just long enough for me to take these two pictures of the mountains and the snow.

This is looking north east from the kids' school parking lot.

So, the sun came out for this little bit, I went inside to give something to the LittleOne's teacher, and came out and it looked like it was snowing! It was sleet/rain! (No picture of that!)

These are my geraniums with the pea sized hail about an hour after we got home from school. (Oh, yeah, the sun came out for about 15 minutes and then hail!)

Now the sun's out again! What a strange weather day.

I Got Mail

This lovely package came in the mail on Thursday! Yes, that's how the package came out of the mailbox. What happened you ask? I don't know. Maybe the postman got attacked by a coyote or a bobcat on the way to my mailbox. Or maybe a moose stepped on it! I say a moose, as my great-aunt in northern Maine sent this to me. (What is the USPS doing these days?)

This lovely shawl was in that package. With no damage done! I did wash it and let it dry. My great-aunt knit this, when I'm not sure, but it's probaby, at least, ten to twenty (or more) years old.

A great surprise!!!

Fab Finished Object Friday

It was really difficult to get a good picture of this hat! But there's a great cable pattern right down the front (four of them actually) of this hat!


The top is great! This picture is really bad, though.

Pattern: Rivendell Hat from Mag Knits. (Their picture is a lot better than mine!)
Yarn: Cascade 220 wool, red.
Needles: #3.
Modifications: I made this a little longer than called for in the pattern. I like hats to cover my ears. However, this one is a little tight. Next time I'd probably go up a needle size even though I had the guage on the #3's.

This next hat was finished in December of '07 and I just never took a picture of it, nor really posted about it. So here it is!

The top is a nice swirl design that is flat when you wear it!

Pattern: Stella's Hat from Knitting School Dropout.

Yarn: Cascade 220, superwash wool in a bright purple.

Needles: I think I used what the pattern called for! (I can't remember!)

Modifications: Again, I made it longer to cover my ears!

These are two great patterns! The Rivendell Hat took me a long time as it was on smaller needles, but I like the hat. I think everyone needs a red hat! The Stella's hat is a quick knit and I tend to wear that one a lot on these cooler mornings we are having here in the desert!

Hope all have had a great week!

Edited Sat. Morning -- For Stella's hat I used #8 needles (got to love that Ravelry when you enter your projects!).