The beanie saga continues...

Thank God for Chauntel! Seriously, if not for her help (and moral support), I would probably have given up by now.

BUT, I have finally figured out what works for me. It's a combination of the "Secret Method" and Chauntel's Beanie Theory. I crochet a bit tightly in my single crochet stitches, apparently, so I had to go up a hook size and add in some all sc rows for the beanie I'm making out of Caron Simply Soft.

So, I started one beanie in woolease. The gauge is a bit tight, but it evens out when I try it on my head, so I changed up a hook size when I got past the increase rows so that there's enough stretch. If it turns out that it's too small, well, my brother is getting a beanie for Christmas and at least one BIL will have to wait a little longer.



The beanie I'm working on now is definitely a good size for a man (although I hope it's not *too* big). The only thing is that I'm realizing that in-pattern, this yarn may not really be either BILs style. So, I can either risk it and give it to the one who might like it more, or else I'll add a girly embellishment and give it to one of my sisters.

Also, yesterday I made it over to Knit & Pearl downtown for a book-signing. Mel Clark (who wrote Knit 2 Together with Tracey Ullman) came up to our little hamlet and signed books and chatted away with fellow knitters. I bought the book and chatted with her for a few minutes. I wish I had been more familiar with the book beforehand because I've been reading through it and it's delightful! I'm so glad I splurged on it (and supported K&P in the process) because it's got a TON of great patterns (in other words, I would actually make and wear almost all the items in the book, rather than just a few of them) and it's definitely going to inspire me to expand on my knitting skills once I'm done with Holiday projects (especially if I get some circulars for Christmas!)

And finally, I am feeling better! I've still got a little bit of congestion hanging on, but not too much. I also ended up getting food poisoning or something Saturday night (and slept it off for 16 hours), but that seems to be over as well. My tummy is just being a little sensitive since I didn't eat much since then.

Man, what a week THAT was! *whew*