Family Expansion

Exciting times are afoot for the NerdGirl extended family! Today, my niece gave birth to a baby girl!! I was at the hospital most of the day yesterday while my niece was in labor but the wee one wasn't quite ready to make an appearance. She waited until 5:57am this morning (her actual due date) to make her entrance. I'm told that mom and baby are both healthy but right now I can't visit because I woke up with what feels like the start of a cold. I'm very sad for myself but I'm not about to spread my germs to a new mom and baby.

There has been knitting chez NerdGirl...but not on the project that needs to be finished by the end of the month. I am completely stalled on my Hitchhiker. The SAL/KAL finishes on February 29th but I doubt my project will be finished. The yarn is gorgeous but I'm just not enjoying knitting with it.

I have had some knitting success this month. I finished a hat! The hat is made from Lorna's Laces Shepard Worsted in the Amy's Vintage Office colorway. I learned a new technique for the cast-on: the knit and purl long-tail cast-on. I had never heard of the technique but that's what I love about knitting: there's always something new to learn. I used a really good video tutorial from ThePassionateMind that I'm going to embed so you can learn this nifty trick too!



The hat (Ravelry project page) will make its way to a charity so I used a pattern that will stretch nicely and fit a wide variety of heads. The hat is the 2x2 rib (triangle on top) and although I love the look of the triangle formed from the decreases, it makes for a somewhat pointy hat.



There is some more knitting but you will have to wait until next time to see it because I still need to weave in the ends and take pictures. Later, tater!