Summer in the City

Yesterday, despite the 100-plus temperatures and oppressive humidity (is this San Diego or Miami?), Disentangled and I managed to sweat our way through a Saturday knitting get-together. We nixed our usual gathering place, Rebecca's, because the the heat somehow gets trapped in there and the air is unable to move around and provide relief. As an alternative, we tried the Urban Grind in Hillcrest. Apparently, no coffee house in San Diego has air conditioning, except Starbucks, but I mean, c'mon. There's an unwritten rule in this town that you DON'T go to Starbucks, at least not in the city, because there are so many independent coffee houses. I almost never do because there is such a great variety. But I was almost desperate enough yesterday to violate the rule. Truly, though, the atmosphere wouldn't have been great even if the air was chilly. Anyway, the Urban Grind, although lovely, won't do as a permanent summer replacement for Rebecca's. I don't know if there will be a get-together next week because I don't know if anybody plans to show up, but the next time we have one, I was thinking we could try Influx in Golden Hill. I doubt they have air conditioning, but I have heard tales of cupcakes.

As far as projects go, I started Soleil with some Elann Sonata. I got through the lacey portion, but after a while, it made my forearms ache. The yarn is quite stiff, so I'm assuming that's the reason. Apparently, I'm going to have to take frequent breaks from that one.

After a while, I switched over to halfdome, which proved much easier on my hands. I have to say, though, that the combination of wool and cashmere made my hands really hot! I was really afraid I was going to run out of yarn, but I managed to finish it when I got home and tada: Don't you just love the look on his face? Of course, wearing a wool hat when it's miserably hot probably wouldn't make me smile, either. Depsite his sour mug (he wanted to look "cool" for the photo) he was actually very pleased with his hat. Here's a shot of the raglan decreases:

Project stats:

Pattern: halfdome from the Summer 2006 issue of knitty
Size: Adult
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran (don't have the color information)
Needles: Addi Turbo circular, Size 3 (24" cord) and Size 5 (32" cord)
Date started: 7/20/06
Date completed: 7/22/06
Overall thoughts: This is a great pattern that fit Joe's head really well. I love the way the decreases look. However, I have one big complaint. Why isn't this pattern written to be knit in the round? I thought there must be reason it's knit flat, but there wasn't one that I could determine. In fact, since the bottom of the hat rolls, part of the seam is visible. I definitely plan on making this again, with this yarn (because it turned out sooo soft) but I will definitely knit it in the round.