My very own Jayne Cobb hat is almost finished! It just needs earflaps and a pom-pom.

The first one I made came out too small, so I gave to the son of a friend of mine. The kid is (almost) five. That should tell you how small the hat was. This second one is much better. I tried it on last night and it was perfect. I’ll finish it up tonight and I’ll actually be able to wear it before it gets too hot.

The dad of the kid who got the first hat has asked me to make one for him as well — I guess so they can wear matching hats? He’s springing for the yarn and now I know I can knock one out pretty fast, so it should be no problem. I don’t think I’ll start making these hats for everyone, though. I’ve got to learn to make sweaters!

Oh, and I have other things I’m supposed to be making, too.

Well, it will be, once it’s assembled. It’s going to be a pirate teddy bear when it grows up.

All the parts for the bear are there. I just have to get fluff to fill him. Right now I’m digging through the odds and ends of yarn that I have to see if I have what I need to make his little outfit.

I really have more than enough stuff for another bear.

Hmmmmm.

I’ve got this bad habit of getting into craft-type things and then falling out of them after a short time. I did counted cross stitch for a while when I was really young, and then got bored with it. I’ve had model kits, electronic kits, clay, sketchpads and pencils… you name it, I probably tried it. The whole family is crafty. I figured I was crafty, too. Somewhere. Somehow.

I tried knitting several times. Always motivated by the same thing — Tom Baker’s scarf from Doctor Who. I wanted one. I wanted my own. I wanted to make one. But I never got the hang of knitting and I never had the follow-through to really learn it.

Until Halloween, 2007. My friend Sam came for a visit to see Morrissey and he taught me to cast on, knit, and purl. After that, there were a lot of slightly wigged out phone calls and he talked me through purling. He got me through casting off via text messages (because he is Just That Awesome).

I made half of a Season 12 scarf. Only half because Kitti wanted to actually wear it. I keep saying that one day I’ll pick from where I left off and use the rest of the yarn to make a second scarf, and I will, too. I’m very slowly starting to branch off into things that aren’t scarves, though! I’ve made a small blanket — sort of a lap blanket or throw kind of thing — for my mom. Everyone’s getting some sort of a knit thing for the winter holidays, too. Including some kind of tricky stuff (ie: not just flat blankets and scarves).

Dear cousins what live in Cali-for-ni-aye: Yes, you are also getting knit things for those two or three days in the northern end of the state when it’s actually necessary to dress warm.

I’m still working on figuring out socks. It’s partly a plot to get Sam to visit again so he can show me how to actually go from the heel to the foot of the sock (hey, I got through the cuff and the creation of the heel by myself, so that counts for a lot!). It’s partly because I don’t really learn well from pictures. I need to actually see it done (the youtube videos aren’t helping enough — I think what I really need is someone yelling “Oh god, no! Not like that!” every few seconds).

So far I seem to be sticking with knitting. Although I’d like to learn how to crochet, too. There are times when you need both skills. Because what if I’m ever held prisoner somewhere and need to make a rope with which to scale down the side of a building? I figure I could knit my way out. Also, I bet you that knitting needles (or crochet hooks) would make a pretty good lock pick.

Drawbacks to knitting: The dog is obsessed with the yarn and the cats want to play with the needles. I think they have their stereotypes backward, but that’s normal in my house.