06 March 2007

Knock! Knock!

Who's there?
Odessa.
Odessa who?
O, dess a little girl.

My father used to love to tell that knock-knock joke. I don't know if it was because it really amused him, or because it really annoyed my mother ("Oh for God's sake, it's not even that funny"). But anyway, the whole time I was knitting my Odessa hat, I was thinking of that joke ...

And finally, Blogger, in all of its beneficience, has allowed me to post pictures. (Sheldon Jackson be praised!) And so without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, I present my finished Odessa, fetchingly modeled by a medicine ball:

I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out, given my problems with the pattern. The actual hat is more of a burgundy shade, I think the flash made this look more red (at least on my monitor).

Here's a (blurry) close-up of the beads knitted in, and the view of the top:

Once the pattern stopped giving me fits, it was actually pretty easy to remember. And when I finally got going, it really didn't take too long to finish it, which is a landmark for me.

So here are the details for any of you who may care:

Pattern: Odessa, from MagKnits, February 2006. Designed by Grumperina.
Yarn: Rowan Cashsoft DK, burgundy shade. The pattern requires only 1 ball.
Needles: US 4, 16" circular needle; US 6 16” circular needle; US 6 double-pointed needles.
Beads: Size 6 beads: approximately 150 (I got mine at a Beadworks store, but I know they have them at Michael's also - I just didn't see any that I liked at the one near me).

Of course, lovely though it is, it's too small for my head - actually, it would be a lovely beaded yarmulke, should I ever decide to become a Jewish man ... I *think* that I may try it again sometime, and add a couple of pattern repeats, and make it a little deeper. But that's a "someday" thing. Right now, I'm just pleased with the final product, and that I have a birthday or Christmas gift already!

And so, you are probably asking yourselves, What is she knitting now??? Well, as previously mentioned, sock #2 of the pair I started, and have been working on during lunchtime at work. That's still my "new" project (as in, for every new project, try to finish something that I started and set aside). I decided since it's March, and St. Patrick's Day is in March, I would revisit a Shamrock Shawl that I started shortly after St. Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland. I bought the kit from Catherine Knits, after seeing some photos of completed ones. At the time I started it, I had never really tried any lace knitting, and though it's not entirely lace, it was enough for me to start it over ... several times. Since I have been wanting to tackle some lace projects, now that I'm a somewhat more confident knitter, it seemed like a good place to start.

One thing that would amuse me, if it didn't annoy me so much, is that apparently at the time I started, I didn't know how to uncurl circular needles after taking them out of the package. As a result, the needle is going every which way, which I will have to resolve soon or someone will pay!! (Probably Tim.)

That's all for now. As you were.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh! Oh! That's just fabulous! And a Sheldon Jackson shout-out, too! I think I have the vapors.

That is one *fiercesome* hat. You should be more than pleased that the medicine ball, too, approves.

Carol said...

Gorgeous hat.

Except, why does your skin look so green in the photo?

teabird said...

Odessa is beautiful - I wonderwhy I'm seeing so many references to the size of bloggers' heads lately...

the wicked witch of the east said...

shelly praises aside...it turned out great...i mean it's not like those damn halloween socks you can't seem to finish...but i digress...i love the color, very stylish.

Carol said...

Perfect hat! Really nice! I love the different things we choose to model out knits;) I guess if one wants to play catch with you, we'd better have had our Wheaties!

Anonymous said...

You know, I WAS wondering what you were knitting next; thank you for telling me! (Although you'll be hard-pressed to create anything prettier than the beaded headpiece.)