DisKnit: March Learnings

A beautiful spring day here in Washington and I've had a hard time motivating to a particular task or fortune. Last weekend, as the picture above shows I wandered through the wonders of Dumbarton Oaks Garden in early spring. Absolutely amazing. Like most other "non-Easter" visitors, I was intent on photography. I'm found of the one above. But I also really like the one below though it is more abstract:

And here is the mystery test for you far away from the East Coast spring. What kind of blossom?

Tomorrow I go for yarn pleasure at a yarn sale organized through the usefulness of Ravelry. You can read all about it at the Homespun Yarn Party website: http://www.homespunyarnparty.blogspot.com/

The big accomplishment of my knitting life was learning this super cool cast on for toe-up socks. Many of the knitters in my raverly-organized Knitting Group are fans of circular needles and toe-up socks. I've been doubtful because I learned socks on dpns and didn't really see the hype. But I was weary of my father's second sleeve last night and decided to ball this lovely yarn I bought from Woolarina at a craft fair. And then I decided I wanted to learn this toe up method. I found this pattern called Lifestyle Toe Up Socks which is more of a formula for knitting socks then a pattern. Since I love formulas for making sweaters, this appealed immensely. But the first thing she starts off with is the miraculous "magic cast-on" by Judy Becker. You can read all about it in Knitty, but it involves twisting the yarn around the points of your circular needle. It is easy, rhythmic, and means the sock starts off with its toe sewn shut. It made doing the "magic loop" on few stitches much more steady. I know I am gushing, but it was cool to learn something so useful so quickly. Here's the progress so far:

While I did this learning, I watched Brother's Keeper, the odd story of a quartet of elderly brothers in upstate New York. One of whom was accused of killing his other brother. They all lived together with little education, tending to cows, birds, and rarely doing much else. They didn't wash, their neighbors tended to leave them alone even when in town for their hamburgers. But when the "state" accused the old man, the people rallied around him, holding dances, hiring a lawyer. Less than the legal drama, I liked the look at how eccentric people shape their lives. I've always have like that kind of viewing experience. But I'm not that eccentric.

However, last Wednesday night I did wear the below hat to the Easter Bonnet party at the restaurant next door. The party wasn't as fun as it might have been since most people were hat-less, but I got some praise for the Peeps Hat and enjoyed the half-price wine.

Here's me:


Here's a close up of the hat in construction mode (note glue gun, poor peeps):