Today I had a doctor’s appointment.  It’s not the kind of appointment that most women look forwards to- think cold hands and torture devices.  In fact, the only plus side to these appointments is that my doctor can, and usually is, called out to deliver babies.  If she’s not bringing new life into the world, she’s hopelessly overbooked with at least an hour’s wait past your scheduled time.

So it was actually with eagerness that I set out this morning for my visit.  Sure I had to miss sleeping in on my “late morning” and drive into town, find parking and schlep through the snow.  But I got to bring my Vegas Scarf with me, and was SURE to get in at least a dozen of those long, long rows.

Not.

I got there, 5 minutes late for my 9:45am appointment, and checked in with the secretary.  “How’s she running?” I asked.  “Oh,” she said, not realizing she was about to totally disappoint me, “you’re her first patient today.  Come right into the room.”

Crap.  No knitting for me.

I didn’t get any knitting done in the afternoon, ‘cus I spent it doing something totally frivolous and fun- shopping!  Note- I don’t usually call shopping “fun”.  But today it was.  My neighbor C and her adorable daughter (the one I babysat on Sat) went to Fairview to spend some gift cards I’d received for the holidays.  C is MUCH more fashionable than I am, works in the industry, etc, and a few weeks ago we’d played a game of “What Not To Wear” in my closet and pulled out EVERYTHING that did. not. work.  Too big, too small, too 90’s…if it wasn’t making me happy, it went in the bag.  There’s a woman’s shelter C knows of that has a lending “closet” where women can borrow clothes for interviews, work, etc, and we’ll be bringing the huge garbage bag of clothes there.  Which meant I had empty hangers to fill!  We had a great routine set up where I watched the stroller while C went around and picked the clothes, then I tried them on while she went to change sizes, etc.  In the end I managed to take advantage of some crazy sales and get boots, shoes, a belt, a pair of skinny jeans, a dress, a sweater dress, a cardi, a long-sleeve T and a sweater (oh- and 2 bottles of nail polish)- all for $180!  It was INSANE- and thanks to her amazing sales-radar, I still have more money to spend next time!

I had a headache by the time I got home, and it turned into a migraine by the time the kids went to bed, so I ended up crashing early.  That means no knitting for the day.  So I’ll share 2 projects I finished over the last 2 months.

After my cousin told us he was having another baby, I knew automatically what I’d make.  He’s a huge HABS fan, but he moved out of our province and couldn’t root on his favorite team as much.  Whether the baby would be a boy or girl, I KNEW he’d like one of my HABSie dolls.

I used worsted weight acrylic yarn from my stash, held doubled, and appropriate needles.  Beyond that I followed my pattern as written.  I used the doubled worsted yarn because I wanted a larger toy than the original.

Ok I did make one teensy change…or rather, an addition.  I duplicate-stitched the year of the baby’s birth on the back.  🙂

As it turned out, my cousin had a baby boy so the HABS doll was perfect!

A baby boy in a Jewish family means a bris, and my aunt had asked me for tips on making a baby-sized kippah.  She wasn’t sure about the yarn…or the pattern…or the hook size…and finally just asked me if I would be able to make it for him.

So I did.  I used crochet thread and a very small (1.25mm?) crochet hook.  The white was one thickness but the blue was thinner so I held it along with a white/silver strand, not that you can really tell from these photos.  I made up the pattern, both the increase rate and the colorwork, as I went along, and stopped when it “seemed about the right size”.  I think it was roughly 3″ across.

This is the inside, for those of you who like that sort of thing.