Non-Sequitur: Roses to Snails

Maybe it's NOT a non-sequitur. Are there snails in rose gardens? There aren't any in the potted roses we've got "growing" in the "yard", but maybe snails like rose gardens and I just don't know it. Here's the thing: while making the rose hat a few weeks ago, I came up with the idea to put snails on a hat. How did I get from roses to snails? Like this:

1. I want rosebuds on this hat.
2. I should make the rosebuds by knitting a flat swatch, then rolling it up so it looks like a bud.
3. That seems to work nicely.
4. It's getting close to gardening time.
5. I like things that are rolled up. Like Tootsie Rolls, which aren't really rolled up but have "rolls" in their name.
6. Know what else are rolled up? Snail shells.
7. I could knit a little tube and then roll it into a spiral and make a snail shell.
8. I want a hat with snails on it.



See? Absolutely normal train of thought. OK. Maybe there was a little bit of spacing out there between steps 3 and 5, but I generally stayed on track. Things turned out ok, I think.



Once the hat was finished, I realized that I actually have a baby in mind (one which we've not met yet, but she's on her way), and decided to stencil a matching onesie. Initial attempts to embroider the antennae on the onesie were thwarted, so I ironed on some freezer paper and painted them on after the fact.

You can also see that campus (which is where I take most of the photos you see) is in full bloom. This means that I am itchy and red-eyed. And crabby because of it.

Speaking of "crabby because of it", on Tuesday this week I had a crafty afternoon planned with Nora, which was mostly thwarted. She forgot the power cord/pedal for her sewing machine. Then, after cutting out her skirt panels, we tried to set her up on my machine, but it wouldn't work. Something was wrong with the bobbin feeder. OF COURSE, when John looked at it last night, it worked just fine, was not rattling or making strange noises like gears grinding. I used it for about an hour, and indeed, it is fine. How does that happen? Was it just tired? Is that a valid excuse? Can I just stop working, change the tension in one of my gears and make grinding noises when I get tired? And what's up with working just fine 48 hours later? I'm over it (clearly, right?) and got back to sewing last night.

Deets on the hat: More leftover yarn. The purple is Sugar and Cream 100% cotton, the green stripe is Fantast Naturalle 100% Mercerized cotton, and the I-cord snails are scraps from the stash. The green snail shell? I have no memory of buying that yarn, and have only a TINY ball left. Where did it come from? The hat was knit on US8 needles at a gauge of 4.5 sts/in. The snails were done on US3 needles and are 4-stitch I-cords, knit until I figured they were long enough. The antennae are nylon/silk blend floss.