saffronian success

you know that feeling when you've entered a project thinking, "there's no way in god's name this thing is ever gonna work out"?

and the amount of sheer ecstatic orgastic joy when you realize that, against every single possible odd in the universe, it does?

saffron by me (!)

ravelry link

rowan creative focus worsted (60g / 4mm)

i had absolutely no expectations of success when i cast on the stitches. i didn't even know how many i would need for a good fit. if you've read any of my previous posts regarding my giant trapezoid head, you know that fitting hats for my head is an epic exercise in futility. none of the supposed slouchy models work for me. i just end up with six tons of excess fabric in the neck. and a couple of self-inflicted broken bones.

but after approximately 15 years of making hats that don't fit it occurred to me to use short rows to make the front longer than the back. which i did. and added a nice braided cable to the side. and ended up with the single most awesome piece of headgear i've ever owned. it's so freakin' gorgeous that i'm in a compulsive need to get undressed and run back and forth main street wearing nothing but this hat and the curly winter hair on my legs. i don't know what else to do with these waves of completely unexpected pleasure rushing through me right now.

i may look calm but inside i'm going OH YEAH GIVE IT TO ME BABY

everything just went right with this piece. the yarn is awesome and has the exact right tone of yellow. blocking made it drape beautifully and smoothened the stitches except for some of the wrap&turn rows that are more prominent than others. but then again, hand-knitted items won't look as polished as machine-knitted ones, and why should they? this one screams "NO CHILD LABOR USED" from a thousand miles away.

ravelry has more detailed info on the construction. i will be writing the pattern out at some point so leave a comment or something if you're interested.

oh, and here's something i picked up at a local book fair.

http://pulpcovers.com/?tag=drugs

why yes, that is a picture of me taken around three weeks ago. although i'd be inclined to leave the question mark out.

props to miss M for the photos!