Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Let the sun shine on me

In the past few weeks, life has thrown me some of the bad, the ugly and the just plain weird, but there is always a light at the end of the tunnel, and mine is slowly getting brighter by the day. Yesterday was my birthday, and though I'm usually a bit mum about it, I decided to fully enjoy myself, with all the bells and whistles. I haven't done much crafting lately, but there are still a couple of things that got done a while ago, but haven't been blogged about yet. First off my sunhat:
I don't even remember anymore when I actually finished this (a year ago?more?). But it was even longer from conception to completion. It all started out with Vogue pattern 7600, version A. Looks simple enough. But the crown part of the hat ended up having this ridiculous shape, sort of like a shortened bishops hat maybe. I couldn't figure out how to fix the existing pattern piece, and designing a new crown seemed to be a little over my not so math loving head. Enter my best crafting buddy yaiAnn and her wonderful mom. As we were fidgeting around with elongated triangular shapes after realizing that six individual sections (sort of like a beach ball) would make a better fit, y's mom donated one of her gardening hats for us to take apart. After making individual adjustments, each of us managed to get a perfect fitting and nicely looking crown for our noggins. I truly love this hat. Its wide brim, which is lowered in the back, is perfect for keeping my face and shoulders from getting sunburned and for making me feel like a Bloomsbury Lady and Paddington Bear at the same time. It's perfect for travelling, you can just smoosh it into a bag, and remold it into desired shape when you put it on.

Sunhat1

Sunhat3

Pattern: The brim from Vogue 7600, the crown from 6 individual segments.
Fabric: Plain medium weight cotton from my stash, interfaced brim, crown is lined with lightweight cotton.

On the knitting front, I just got the new Rowan Studio 8 booklet. There are some beautiful designs, my favorites being the textured cardigan, long waistcoat, flared jacket and double yoke jacket. Just until a few days ago it was still very cold here, and despite the welcome warmth and sunshine I still feel like knitting warm stuff.

Also, I wanted to thank the wonderful crafters queenofthefroggers, yaiAnn, a Mingled Yarn, knits, notes, etc., poshyarns and Nonnahs who have given me a "you made my day award". Thank you so much for enjoying my blog and putting up with my irregular posting. I'm not good with the mushy stuff, but I also wanted to say thank you to all my readers, you all make my day and inspire me. I will pass this award on, but if I tried today this post would never get posted. Next time :-)

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

that hat is so freaking cute on you!
happy birthday and I hope everything straightens out soon!!

Anna said...

I absolutely love that hat!!!

Happy b-day!

Veronique said...

Wow! That hat is awesome.
Oh, and happy belated birthday :)

maritza said...

Happy happy birthday Steph! The hat is lovely. Hope things get much better and fast. Wishing you all the best.

Adrienne said...

TOO CUTE!! Happy Birthday!

Terhi said...

Happy Birthday, Steph! You also made my day, a while ago already. :-)

Oh, and the hat is beautiful!

Heather said...

Happy belated Birthday!! I'm glad you had such a good one.

I love the hat, too :)

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday and best wishes for a wonderful year ahead! That hat, BTW, is fabulous!!

Anonymous said...

Love the hat. I wish the sun would shine here soon. Happy Birthday!

Anonymous said...

Happy birthday your knitting is just beautiful (the hat is cute too). Your mermaid gloves are what inspired me to want to knit something else besides scarves!
thanks so much!!

seedless grape said...

Happy birthday! You share the same birthday as my dad (and Abraham Lincoln). Hope you had a fun birthday celebration!

I love the hat, too--it looks perfect for keeping the sun at bay. Lovely!

nicole said...

Hey cool! We almost have the same birthday. Mine was on the 11th!

Happy Birthday! Here's hoping that this year brings you all bright and sunny things, and lots of warm and yummy knitting too!

a friend to knit with said...

love your hat.
Happy Birthday, a little late!
Glad you celebrated it! Mine are always a week long! :)

Linda said...

Belated birthday wishes to you,I am glad you celebrated it. The hat looks great, you have a lot of patience! Irregular blog posting doesn't matter, its quality not quantity you see! :)

kris said...

happy belated birthday, steph! love the sunhat and oh how i miss the days when such an item is actually needed up here.

Melissa said...

happy belated birthday!

yaiAnn said...

Great! Now I have to post mine too! ;) Happy buh-buh-buh-birthday, again!

Unknown said...

The hat is beautiful, I really like the elegant shape.

nuttnbunny said...

I covet that hat!!

Anonymous said...

alles liebe zum geburtstag - nachträglich!
der hut ist wunderbar!
lg, sab

gabriella said...

very cute, steph! and that erika knight V is looking awesome - i may have to dig around in my boxes for my half-knit version and finish it up. hope you're enjoying the lovely SF sun we're getting now that you have a brim! :) gabriella

ofpinsandneedles said...

You made my week with '... a Bloomsbury Lady and Paddington Bear'! I *love* that idea!

Happy belated birthday! I hope this year brings you lots of good things you've wished for, and some unexpected ones too.

OLGAJAZZY said...

This is an adorable hat! Congratulations... I have always loved the soft brims .. there is an old YSL hat that I have been wanting for years.. Love
this one on you, worth all the effort!