new hat model

before we get to the hat pictures, i just want to say that i've never wanted to knit a snail before but now i do. i just love to see what the girls over at kathrynivy.com knit up and this is just too cute. i know its not their pattern, but they always make such perfect yarn and color choices. they make me want to knit toys.

i finished my koolhaas and i love it. in fact, i'm wearing it now. yes, i've been home from work for hours and have changed into my pj's but still haven't taken my hat off. this is the softest, squishy-est yarn ever. i LOVE it. and the yellow makes me happy. (seriously, what kind of person says yellow makes them want to vomit. sheesh)



but unfortunately there was no one around this morning to help me take pictures so i was forced to resort to nizhoni. as you can see, she was really pleased to help...

pattern: koolhaas hat by Jared Flood (IK Holiday 2007)
yarn: malabrigo worsted in pollen
mods: went down to size 5 and size 6 circs, ribbing done with twisted stiches

i will say, it fits me far better than it fits her. its just a shade longer than it probably needs to be and i didn't "block" it (in so much as you block a hat). i may do the same as i did with kens and wash it then dry it briefly to see if i can shrink it up just a bit. makes me nervous though because i will probably get distracted and forget i left it in the dryer and end up with a tiny tiny hat. i don't know how people knit this hat on size 8's without ending up with gi-normous hats.

wedding goodies

mr. z printed the invitations a couple days ago and i've got the corners punched on about half of them. i realized partway through that since had turned the punch over to make sure the corners were lined up that i should be turning the paper the other way so that it was still punching front to back to keep the edges nice. whoops. its not really a huge deal, and probably not something anyone will even notice... but i probably should have noticed it sooner. regardless, i am super excited about how they look.

the specifics... chocolate brown cardstock with metallic bronze and cream colored cardstocks all purchased from a local paper shop. the corners were cut with a fiskars corner punch. the text was designed in photoshop and is pretty basic, and the gold leaves are stickers from martha stewart's website. i love them.


the rsvp's are postcard style and are the same cream cardstock as the invitations. they are kind of plain and i'm not absolutely thrilled with them but i'm happy. i just wish we'd been able to put a little color on them. but no biggie.


aren't they all lovely? punching the corners and gluing will probably get old after a hundred of them. but for designing them ourselves and putting them together, i think we did a darn good job.

his and hers hats

finally! some crafting pictures to update with. i was doing so well over christmas break and into the start of the quarter but i really hit a wall. and by wall i mean two rounds of midterms with a week of the flu crammed in between. our apartment is pretty much a disaster. the laundry is piled up, there are papers and crap all over the coffee and dining room tables, and i just finally swept the floor today. its like i got so far behind that now i can't figure out where to start. even all the wedding stuff that has arrived is just piled in the corner of the dining room.

i'll start with the knitting... i finally finished mr. z's koolhaas hat and he seems to be pleased with it. i held the yarn double and went down to size 5 and 6 needles to make the size work. this is a really easy pattern and it looks much more complex than it is to knit. however, if you are planning on knitting it, learn the cabling without a needle technique. just my two cents.

Pattern: Koolhaas hat by Jared Flood (IK Holiday 2007)
Yarn: Reynold's Whiskey (held double) in 504
Needles: Size 5 circs for the ribbing and size 6 for the hat

then i decided that i needed one too. and i'd seen so many beautiful versions on ravelry knit with malabrigo's worsted, that i thought i should check out the yarn. i found a lovely little shop called ewe-phoria that sold it and got a skein of a lovely mottled yellow called pollen. it reminds me more of buttered popcorn. its so soft and lovely. i'm glad i ventured out of my usual color choices and went with the yellow. its knitting up beautifully.




in terms of wedding stuff, i think i have most of the decoration stuff decided on and ordered. we have gossamer in brown and cream for swagging, tissue paper in fall-ish colors for pom-pom decorations and some beautiful wired ribbon for pew bows and other decor-y arrangements. perhaps i will try to get some pictures of all the colors and such tomorrow. oh! and mr. z printed out the invitations so i'm trying to do the leaf punch on all the corners without ruining them all.

sigh of relief

*ah* as of 7pm this evening, one of the biggest stressors in my life as of late is over. i was foolishly talked into participating in a competition at school last november and tonight was the presentation. i primarily agreed to take part because it counted for the last two hours of elective credit that i needed. had i known what a clusterfuck it was going to be, i would have run screaming into the night. however, my team presented tonight and we actually did pretty well. still keeping my fingers crossed that we don't win, but at least i don't think we looked like idiots. so this weekend is being devoted to destressing... i'm going to park my ass in front of the tv tonight and knit my heart out.

on a wedding note, my jewelry arrived in the mail today from etsy's opheliax. i can't begin to describe how fantastic this jeweler has been. she made me a custom necklace to match a pair of earrings in her shop. and she had a bracelet in her shop that i bought on impulse when i was getting the necklace and earrings. they are sparkly and beautiful and absolutely perfect. i now have all the components of my outfit for the big day. dress... check. undergarments... check. shoes, jewelry, veil... check, check and check. i busted everything out today and put it on and it looks fabulous. i've recolored my hair so its pretty dark again and everything just came together and looked awesome (i think). i even did a test hair do that i'm pretty happy with and i think is how i will do mine, maybe with some curls. i'm super pumped. only eight more months! ;)

no knitting pictures or wedding shots today so i'll leave you with this one of kodiak. because i think he's too cute for words.


he likes to look out the window.

try, try again

i'm pretty sure i'm the only knitter on the planet who hasn't finished at least one koolhaas hat. i've seen some really lovely ones out there. mine, on the other hand, is looking sad and neglected. i've been working mainly on the wraps, when i've had time to knit at all, but today i picked up the koolhaas again. i figured, if we're moving to texas, then i need to finish it before this winter is up or there will be no need for it anyway. here it is, in all its tiny glory. you should see the giant bag of crimpy yarn that serves as a constant reminder that i've already knit this hat... twice.


and i spent a good long time on the phone with sister the other night. mainly gossiping and chatting, but there was some good wedding discussion. we've made some progress with decoration ideas, and she approved both the tissue paper pompoms for the reception and the fabric roses for bouquets. and we discussed ribbon and gossamer and twigs and all manner of other crafty notions. so i did a test pompom and it seemed to work nicely, and i ordered some tissue paper in appropriately fall colors. and tomorrow i am going to call the gossamer place and see what they have. this weekend i may go to michael's and look at the fake flowers to see if i can put together something i like, or if i really should go with the fabric roses. i do feel better though... i feel like the decorations are finally coming together into some sort of cohesive thing.

here is the pompom test run. they are really simple to make, and i think if i make them small and in dark colors they will look more like just decorations and less like giant spring-y flowers.



this was done in an ivory tissue paper i got from cvs for the sole purpose of testing these out. i ordered more ivory, dark brown, a dark golden-yellow, and a dark orange. they should hopefully come this weekend.

reception ideas

i really like these giant pom-poms but haven't decided whether or not they'll work. they seem like a cheap and easy way to decorate. but do they look to spring-y??


i found a website that has ivory and dark brown tissue paper, and another that has some dark oranges that would probably match. and i don't know how else we'll be decorating the tent. i don't know if they will look mismatched with the centerpieces... or if i should stick with draping things with gossamer, assuming sister finds some in ther right colors. i also have some leaf garlands but i don't know if those will be used in the church or the reception. i need some creative decorators.