Here, especially for Becky (she

Here, especially for Becky (she of the Bucket-along) is the bucket hat photoshoot we cooked up especially for her!

Click on the pic for dancing ballerina in a bucket photos! :)

That's the most recent bucket hat I finished, in Blue Berry Cottontots. My cottontots hat went along beautifully, this one gave me some gauge issues. After a ripping session or two, all went well.
I'm knitting Em a felted wool one now, with a fluffy brim, as per orders ;)

And one more picture for Becky... A bucket, a ballerina and a bunny :)

Damn, I knew my

Damn, I knew my gauge was off! ;)

I finished *my* bucket hat.

I finished *my* bucket hat.

Yay! it's made with Bernat Cottontots, which I love for bucket hats. It's firm enough to hold the shape reasonably well, is nice and soft to the touch, and isn't too bad to knit with. I did the whole hat on 4mm needles though, because that's how I came close to gauge. Notice that I didn't actually get gauge, but I was close. :)
I loved this hat enough to wear it all over town today while we fought the pre-Mothers Day Shopping Mall madness.
So now I'm going to knit Emily a blue Cottontots hat. We'll have a complete fashion wardrobe of bucket hats soon ;)

Here's Em's Sugar Babies Bucket

Here's Em's Sugar Babies Bucket Hat

I'm pleased with the result, and she likes it :)
Here's a side view, please ignore the messy sewing area that used to be my dining area ;)

And a view of the back and top.

I didn't knit an awful lot today, just a little on my bucket hat, which I'm liking very much. I've been sewing dance costumes. Sometime between now and November, I'll sew far too many costumes.
A word to the wise. If you are the mother, grandmother or other relative of a child who attends dance classes, theatre group or anything else requiring costumes, if you can sew, never, ever admit it.
You'll kick yourself over it every year. ;)

Very Wet Cotton is not

Very Wet Cotton is not quick to dry in cold weather. Em's hat is still damp, so no pics yet. Sorry Jill :)
So I knit a bit of Gigi, then I decided to cast on a Bucket Hat for me. I'm using the white Cottontots, and I am liking it so far. It's still not easy to work with (but I find that few cottons are). But it's much softer to touch than the Sugar Babies. It will be most interesting to see how it holds the shape compared to the Sugar Babies. I made the 18" for Emily. Her head is 21", but I felt that the 20" hat was too big. My head is 23", and I'm making myself the 20".
And I'm sure I was quite a sight yesterday, rummaging through the tupperware cupboard seeking out the perfect blocking form. I finally ended up with a round gift box that holds 2 of Em's 7 tiaras. Yes, 7 tiaras. Spoilt? Em? You bet ;)

Has anyone been over to Black Dog yet today? Rob has posted some gorgeous yarns. I sat for some time drooling on the keyboard. Much as I keep saying that I'm not overly keen on novelty yarns, the Crystal Palace scarves look fun, don't they?
And the Lorna's Laces yarns come in the most luscious colours. I love Uptown and Happy Valley. And Bittersweet and Daffodil. I'd love to try the sock yarn, I keep hearing good things about it.
When I win the lottery (ROTFLMAO!!!), I'm going on a yarn crawl of the USA. I'll start in one state, and cover the country. Then I'll open my own yarn store here in Australia, and import all the gorgeous yarns that I find on my trip.
Maybe I better go buy a lottery ticket.