Testing...

I was given the opportunity to test a pattern for Inner Hooker this week.  It's a super-chunky, super-slouchy women's hat.  I ran right out to get this humongous P hook and some chunky yarn.  It worked up really fast, but I tend to crochet kind of loosely, especially with treble crochets, so it was HUGE.  I ripped it apart and started again and got all distracted and had too many stitches going on, ripped it apart again... then managed to get it finished.  I thought I was going to have yarn burn on my finger from keeping the yarn tighter.  It's a cute hat.

That's my super-cool coworker Kelli modeling the hat for me. 

My first attempt at the hat, the one that was super-huge, made Zoe cry.  I took it to the bathroom to try it on and she followed me.  I put it on and she started crying and saying "Take it off, Mommy!  You're not a doctor!"  (She's never been afraid of doctors before, so I don't know why it freaked her out so much)  The hat did  resemble some of the scrub hats the nurses wear at work.  That's the only thing I can think of as to why it reminded her of a doctor.

Anyway, I think the hat looks great.  I personally don't like to wear hats (I am a very warm person, even in the winter) so I may end up giving it away.  I love Inner Hooker patterns.  She's really creative and talented, and her patterns are well-written. 

And in other "testing" news... this blanket is testing me.  I got one panel finished:

My intention was to make a baby blanket, but this is much too long for a baby blanket.  I went with sock monkey colors and I really like this.  I think it would make a really cool scarf.  I was afraid that the panels wouldn't be uniform, so I decided to make the second panel with the zig zags the original pattern called for.  I'm not quite done with it, but I am pretty sure I like the straight strips woven better than the zig zags woven.  I'll finish it up, compare the two, and decide where to go from there.  Half of me wants to rip it all out and try a granny square blanket with the color scheme and half of me is still determined to make this work.  

I found a really awesome tutorial today for some lunch bags and I am going to try to see if I can knock three of them out before the girls start school a week from Thursday.  I think I can, even with us going out of town for a night on Monday - we're going to the Memphis Zoo Tuesday so we're going to spend the night in Memphis.  Needless to say, I have a lot on my plate in the upcoming week, with school starting, our mini-vacay, and the last-minute projects I'm piling on myself.  I like it that way.  I hate being bored.