FO: Hoodlum

I wanted to make something quick and on large needles, so I made a hood/hat-type-contraption. It’s delightful.

Pattern: Made up as I went. Might do a pattern, but I’d have to knit up another one to work out the kinks.
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted, a full skein (like, a foot left over) in Noviembre
Needles: US 10/6mm

I started out wanting to make Riverbanks from Knitty, but I only had the one skein of yarn, so yardage would have been tight. I also didn’t want the lace, which would have been easy enough to take out. I figured I might as well just make things up as I went.

I’m pretty pleased with it. The Malabrigo is incredibly soft and warm. I tell you, all the things they say about the magical softness of Malabrigo are completely true. I wish I could afford to knit with it all the time. But I can’t. Sad face.

Anyway, the hood. It came out pretty well for a prototype. And yes, I could rip it out and reknit it to fix the problems I’m about to talk about, but I don’t want to, so there. Anyway, problems. There are some, owing to the made-up nature of the pattern. The hood part is a little too long and I would prefer the cowl part to start sooner. There’s a weird bulge in the back unless I tip my head forward, but that’s due to some short rows. I put some in at the beginning and then didn’t need them, so I balanced them out with more short rows and yeah. The hood is also a little pointy, but I’m not sure how to get around that short of starting in the corner like a beanie.

I will definitely be making at least one more out of something equally lovely. Maybe I’ll use the skein of Lorna’s Laces I’ve been hoarding (I got it in a swap). Or something else lovely.

In life/fandom news: I am working full time now. It’s exactly as awful as people make it seem, although I’m lucky to be working in a fairly quiet office (for the time being anyway). I’ve been watching a lot of the cooking show Good Eats since I found it on YouTube. I used to watch a lot of Food Network and I always loved this show–it’s about cooking, but it’s also about science. Why cooking things different ways works, why components of food cook the way they do. Very interesting. And great recipes too–I’ve made a couple. I’m also reading The New Rebellion, a Star Wars novel. I’m still making my way through the Expanded Universe, occasionally ploddingly. Joe and I are still reading I, Jedi, although that’s going pretty slowly. Maybe we’ll get back into that this evening.