Yarn Lady (aka Joceline’s Protégé)

Once upon a time in a college dormitory, a strange girl named Joceline taught me how to knit…

…and now see what such antics hath wrought:

"Leave me alone, college roommate! I need to finish this row!"

My first hat (that actually looked like a hat)! Winter, 2008.

Ever since that fateful autumn day in 2006, I’ve eagerly embraced knitting. In fact, it quickly became my go-to college stress reliever. Knitting was repetitive, productive, oddly therapeutic, and (I swear) a natural cure for writer’s block. I can’t explain it. When final exam/paper time came around each semester, everyone in our dorm would be sure to see Joceline and I huddled in front of our computers, alternating between furious typing and equally furious stitching. Now, I was never as bad as Joceline (As in, I never had so much yarn that I could literally dump all of the balls on the ground and use them as a makeshift mattress!), but my zeal as grown exponentially over the years. You know what, though? I think she’d be proud of me.

I tend to go into knitting overdrive in early October and I don’t let up until after the holiday season. This year was especially interesting because 1) I was determined to knit slouch hats for everyone I knew  AND 2) I seemed to channel all of my nervous unemployment energy into making cowls and scarfs. So, as you can imagine, I’ve created quite the stockpile. Here’s a portion of it:

The sad part is, this isn't even all of it. I've already given a good number of items away as Christmas gifts.

My favorite stitch and color of the season! Click on picture for pattern.

What? You don't have a stack of trinity stitch slouch hats on your bookshelf too? That's odd...

Yes, I know I am a eighty-something woman in a twenty-something’s body. Sue me. I like to make things that warm my friends’ fingers, heads, and necks. It might seem “lame” (psh), but there are worse things I could be interested in…Drugs, Twilight, chewing tobacco, gambling, just to name a few. I will therefore proudly and unapologetically knit wherever and whenever I please. So there.*

Hats for everyone! Hooray!

Oh! I almost forgot…In the name of holiday spirit and Life in Labels pride, I’ve set aside several of the slouch hats in the stack above for my fellow bloggers (both present and past). Enjoy, ladies! Lauren, Joceline, Lori, Emily A, and Emily D will no longer have to brave this chilly winter season without a fun, colorful statement on their head. I fell in love with this pattern (see right). I may or may not have already made one for myself. =)

*Except the Metro. I am not yet brave enough to knit on the Metro.