Sweet Honey Beret

A slouch hat was on my "want to knit" list.  I found one, and downloaded the PDF file for just $5.50. The hat was designed by native born Russian Faina Goberstein. It incorporates a honeycomb brioche stitch in its design.

Picture courtesy of Interweave Knits, 2008

This from Faina Goberstein's blog:

My neighbor, whom I called Aunt Nina, lived alone and loved me as if I were her own daughter. In the dark Russian winter evenings, when my parents would not let me go outside, the two of us were sitting in Aunt Nina’s room and knitted together while listening to some plays transmitted on the radio from Moscow theaters. The only knitting that Aunt Nina knew was how to knit socks, and naturally, my first project was a pair of socks. I loved it, and made a few pairs that winter. I often recall with gratitude aunt Nina and those warm and cozy evenings that we spent together. From that winter, the knitting became an important part of my life.

This design was a bit more complicated since it incorporates a brioche honeycomb stitch, with a video tutorial found here.  I tried and tried, and could not replicate this stitch.

So I went here. No luck trying to replicate that, either.

Finagling around, here is how it is coming along, although I'm not convinced the brioche stitch is turning out like it should:

Ah, well.  Live and learn.

The Pink Glove Dance

There have been over 3 million hits on this YouTube video!  From this site:

...more than 200 doctors, nurses, lab techs, administrators and kitchen and janitorial staff getting down to the appropriately named R&B song by Jay Sean called “Down". The touching video was filmed all around the hospital Nov. 4 and was created to raise funds and generate awareness about breast cancer; A portion of the sales from the Generation Pink synthetic exam gloves will provide mammograms for uninsured women thanks to Medline Industries Inc., the company that makes the gloves and produced the video.

“Breast cancer is an important cause for the employees at our hospital, as well as the entire community,” said Martie Moore, chief nursing officer for the hospital. “The video was a really fun and creative way for our employees to help spread awareness about breast cancer.”

Yet the video is more than a public service announcement. Thousands of comments that appear below the video on YouTube profess how touching, uplifting and heartwarming it is to watch Providence’s staff joyfully swing and line dance, do the monkey and the twist all around the hospital – an environment most commonly associated with sickness.

Nostepinne: a yarn winding tool

Here is my new yarn winder (made in Poland by Kromski & Sons), purchased at the Hatchtown Website:

It was hand turned, all wood, with a natural finish, available for less than $15. 

You can go here to a video of how to use it, courtesy of Designed by Kristi.

This should make crafting with yarn a bit easier, insofar as winding goes.