Almost There

Well, it is almost spring (yay!) and I am almost finished with my son's sweater. I am this close to finishing and I ran out of yarn. Don't you just hate when that happens? The yarn store that I bought the yarn from is also out. So now I am on the hunt.

I'm not really sure why, but I feel like it takes me longer to knit a little sweater for my son than it takes me to knit one for myself. Why is that? Maybe its the extra amount of love and attention I put into it. I would like to think that but I think I'm just slow.

RL 2010 Olympic Ski Cap

I am finished with my 2010 Olympic Ski Cap! And here it is:

Pattern: Olympic Reindeer Hat by Helena Bristow (originally Ralph Lauren)
Yarn: RYC Cashsoft 4 Ply in Navy, White, and Red
Needles: size US 2 and 3

I modified this hat from the original pattern written up by Helena Bristow because after viewing quite a few of these on Ravelry, it looked like it was turning out too large and too wide. So here are some of the changes I made: I used fingering weight yarn instead of worsted weight and used size 3 needles (size 2 for the inside of the brim). I also increased the number of stitches I cast on from 110 to 130 and I added another tree motif. I also made the trees bigger so that they were more like the original Ralph Lauren hat. I cut out a lot of the white rows above and below the moose. I also knit the moose and trees in intarsia (in the round) and stranded the rest. I found a great tutorial here on how to knit intarsia in the round and then I used this source for the top decreases. They were both very helpful. And after all that.... it fits perfectly!

I love the way this hat turned out! I think it is so cute..... and it matches my vintage Ralph Lauren duffle coat! Bonus!

Inspirational Stitches

Last week I caught that terrible 24-hour stomach bug that has been going around. While recovering in bed, I streamed Valentino: The Last Emperor on Netflix, about the fashion designer, Valentino. It was inspirational, no matter what kind of stitches you make. Just to watch those seamstresses hand stitch every little sequin and ruffle and get every detail just perfect.

It also made me think of the time we were in Rome and went to the Valentino retrospective at the Ara Pacis, which is featured in the film.

This is one of my favorite pictures from that visit. My husband took this of me and my son as I was descending the steps. I can't tell you how unglamorous I felt wearing jeans and a plain white shirt and carrying a barefoot 11 month old and being surrounded by all of those gorgeous couture gowns. Quite a contrast.