Knit Out and Le Slouch

We made it to the Knit Out on Saturday just in time to check out the dogs from Woof Wear modelling their collection. I am such a sucker for poofy tails and cute sweaters. I am getting ideas for another sweater for Ein. Too bad winter is nearing its end. Knit Out was sort of what I was expecting. There was a great turnout of knitters of all styles. Many people just had their projects knitting away in the middle of the mall. Knitting dynamics were in action!

Several vendors were lined up handing out free knit/crochet patterns (Lion Brand, Patons, Bernat, and several others), and I even got some free Clover 17's and a skein of Bernat's Boa furs. This was a great opportunity for people interested in learning to knit/crochet to get a crash course and a free set of needles or hook & yarn. One of our good friends, Julie (and her hubbs Kyle) were with us for the bike expo and so ventured to Knit Out with us. Julie got in line for learning to knit, and boy is she a quick study. I hope to have converted another hip knitter out there!

As for meeting knitwear designers/authors, I didn't really succeed much in that arena. There weren't any there at the time that I was familiar with. I did, however, get to meet the Glitter Knitter....wow does he have knitting zest! Their shop is the Yarn Garage and they were there teaching people our art! It is great to see such creative people in the industry...definitely not stuffy knitters in that shop! Oh, and did people oogle my Lady Eleanor? You bet they did!

As for how I spent the car ride, I thought I would use some leftover Noro from Lady Eleanor to try my hand at Knit & Tonic's Le Slouch. This pattern is well-written, but for me Le Slouch turned out to be Le Flop. Silk Garden's stripey tendencies turned my Le Slouch into a Rasta hat. I mean, I love the Caribbean and the flare of the islands, but this look isn't for me :) I love my reggae, but I don't think I could pass much for a Rastafarian.

I used size 7's for the ribbing and 8's for the body. If I had to do it again, I would have used 6's and then 7's for the body as this was way to slouchy and loose for my small head. I will probably rip this and then use the yarn for something else. What to do with 2 and a smidge skeins of Silk Garden.....hmmmm.

What are your thoughts? Does this hat float or sink as much as I think?