Winter Hat For John: Finished Object

Well John has a new winter hat and it only took 3 years for him to get it. It's been extremely cold this winter, so this was a good time for me to complete it.

But you might be wondering why a simple hat pattern took three years to complete. Well, it didn't really - the knitting itself only took about 4 days of dedicated knitting. Unfortunately the motivation to knit it took a lot longer to pin down.

Here is the project as it was three years ago:

After completing the K2P2 ribbing, I got tired of making the hat. I also got distracted from knitting by my life and other projects, and it just sort of stayed on the needles until two weeks ago when I remembered that knitting is the best.

I spent an entire afternoon/evening knitting and knocked out a whole lot of stockinette rows.

I picked up the needles again last Thursday and then was able to do the decreasing rows and seam it on Friday. And done!!

The best part is that the hat actually fits him! I had made myself the same hat (but with a pom pom) and it was too small for him (I have a small head). I made his hat bigger by adding 20 extra stitches when I began the project. I'm a novice knitter, so I didn't really know if that would be enough or too little, but it sounded good. I also did some basic math to make sure the decreases would still work with the extra stitches, and I was pretty sure they would (they did!). Also, John has declined a pom pom for his hat.

Pile of Sweet Potatoes #FoodPicFriday

There was a sale on sweet potatoes and I got a pile of them. The ones I didn't already enjoy, I put in this serving bowl and took this nice photo of them. I love love love sweet potatoes and don't think I could ever have too many in the house. Most of these will end up mashed as sides to meals, but I'm setting a few of them aside to finally try making sweet potato pie. I've looked at dozens of recipes over the past few days and I think I've narrowed down the one I want to try. Getting excited!

Though not as glamorous as some of my other #FoodPicFriday contributions, this photo still brings me a lot of joy to look at it.

Testing Knitting Gauge

A few years ago, my Grandma explained to me all about checking gauge before starting a knitting project. And despite this passed down knowledge about gauge, I never tried it. I just haven't attempted a project where the gauge really mattered to me.

It's freezing cold this winter and I want to knit myself a balaclava. I found a pattern at my skill level and set about to make it. The pattern suggested chunky yarn, so I picked up some chunky yarn. Turns out there are different sizes of chunky, and the pattern calls for "5" (bulky) and I got "6" (super bulky). I wasn't sure if the super bulky yarn would still work on the suggested needle size, so this was an opportunity for me to test the gauge.

First step was to knit a swatch. I didn't time it, but I think it took about an hour to knit. Spending an hour on something I'm going to rip out anyway seems tedious, but if it saves me making a whole project that I have to rip out (because it's too small or too big) it's totally worth it. I didn't cast off my swatch, as I will just pull out the knitting and re-use it for my actually project.

Next I watched this video about checking gauge.



Then I used the "Knit-Chek" tool I bought three years ago but never used. The pattern called for 4 stitches + 5 rows = 1 inch.

Here is how mine measured up:

So it looks like I met gauge, which means I could proceed with these needles and this yarn and my project should turn out the proper size.

The swatch was also helpful for me to get an idea of what the end project will look/feel like. And in this case, I think the yarn is too thick and the knitting is too tight for it to be a comfortable and breathable balaclava. I held the swatch over my nose and mouth, and I am able to breathe through it, but I think I would prefer a little more space between the stitches. So I am going to switch gears and use this yarn for slippers or slipper socks, as I think this yarn would be perfect for them. It feels really warm.

So my first try at testing gauge was a success. I got an idea of the finished project and that helped me decide whether to proceed or not. My balaclava project is on hold, but now I'm super excited to find a slipper pattern!

Fun in the Snow

It was a beautiful sunny day today, but unfortunately it felt like -28°C (-18°F). I couldn't stay out too long, but I needed to see the sun. A little sun on my cold face was better than none at all.

I don't have snow pants but I went ahead and made a snow angel. It was quite enjoyable, actually.

I also became a scientist for a few minutes and did the experiment to see what boiling water does when thrown into cold air. There is a great summary of people trying it out here and here. Apparently some people who try it burn themselves, so if you try it, don't burn yourself!

Here is my attempt at it this morning. It was only -20°C but it still seemed to work.

I Live with a Magician

Around suppertime last night, I noticed there was leftover mac and cheese, but not enough for both of us.

John said: "You have it and I'll make something later."

We've been together long enough that I know full well that the 'something' he made later would be 1000x better than the mac and cheese. By that time, I would already be full of my supper and be extremely envious of whatever he spontaneously came up with.

I told him I wanted what he was having (I trusted it would be amazing), and we agreed the mac and cheese could become a side dish or a snack for later.

John asked: "Do we have chicken?" We did. Then the words "spicy chicken" came out of his mouth and he just does what he does, which is make something truly amazing out of nowhere. He doesn't use a recipe, he doesn't measure, and I am pretty sure he doesn't know what the final result will be until he is halfway through cooking it. He definitely has mad kitchen skills.

Which allow this to happen:

Spicy curry chicken

John also took the sweet potato I was going to steam, diced and spiced it, and we had curried sweet potatoes on the side, all served over basmati rice. Take that mac and cheese leftovers!

My spontaneous curry plate

The flavour combinations were all amazing and John said: "I just wanted to have something that tasted really good." We definitely did and I get to have the leftovers for lunch today. Mmmmm...