FMM - Renegade Stitchfix, and Knitting!

Have you guys have heard of Stitchfix - you know, that service that has a stylist choose clothing for you, send it to you, and you decide what to keep/pay for and what to return?  Well, in the Renegade Run Club, Karen is our version of a Stitchfix stylist.  How it goes is she shows up on a Saturday run either wearing something new for running (could be anything from a new top to capris to a cute hat) and someone will be interested in it; she says where she found it and odds are, the following week one of us is wearing the same thing.  Or, after a run, she'll change and come out in something cute, and next thing you know, we're all wearing it.  Occasionally it will be someone else from our group who becomes the stylist, and very rarely it's me (my "novelty joggers" from Target a couple of years ago were a big hit), but in the end what is nice is that one person finds the cute clothing for the rest of us, and we don't actually have to pay a stylist fee like you do with Stitchfix or other similar companies!

Recently, Karen changed into a cute pair of soft joggers after a run that caught everyone's eye - they were a dark green heather and super attractive.  Information was exchanged, and Cary ended up ordering several pairs in different colors.  I meant to check them out as well, but hadn't made it to the store before her order arrived.  We were on a walk one morning when she mentioned that she misjudged her size because what she ordered didn't fit - they were too big.  My ears perked up - ooh, maybe they would fit me!  I took her joggers home, tried them on, and promptly wrote her a check for them.  Boom - I got new clothes and didn't have to shop at all!  And lest you think this is a one-time occurrence, I will say that clothing and shoes get passed around within our group quite often, which is really nice.  Something will always fit one of us!

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As my knitting skills have improved over the years, so has my willingness to try new things.  Which is how I ended up knitting a couple of cabled earwarmers as Christmas gifts - and I can show them to you now because the recipients have already opened them!  These are knitted back and forth and then seamed together when they are long enough - I made the first one according to pattern directions, and it turned out fine, but I decided to do a provisional cast-on for the second one and used the Kitchner stitch to seam it together, which is a nicer way that makes the seam less noticeable.  Here's some pictures to show you what I did:

Top is the first one I made, bottom is the second.  They look the same, right?

But wait!  Here's the backs - see the difference in seaming?  Top was done with a traditional cast on and bind off and then sewn together; bottom was done with the aforementioned provisional cast on and Kitchner seam.  Much better, right?

Pattern is Cable Knit Headband, yarn is Madelinetosh ASAP in Well Water colorway.  Please excuse the too-close selfie - I had no photographer (aka Jeff) on hand to get the picture before I gave these away, so my short arms did the best that they could under the circumstances.

Now, while the second way is better, the first way is still perfectly fine, and really, the seam won't be seen when you're wearing it.  But this is the fun thing about knitting for me...I like trying something, and then realizing that I could take it one step further, which is what I did.

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It's almost Christmas, yay!  We'll get to spend some good time together as a family, and we've even got the gingerbread houses already purchased and ready for our annual decorating throwdown - hopefully I'll have some time to get a post up with that craziness next week.  Any case, have a great weekend and if you celebrate, a very Merry Christmas!