Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Hoodie of Narcissitic Investment

Heather in Heather Hoodie in Rowan Cocoon
I was that kid in the 70s who could never find her name at Wall Drug on the souvenir license plate display, nor could I ever seem to locate any 'Heather' swag at Pedro's South of the Border or any of the other tacky tourist traps my parents would never take me and my brother to (though I begged, LORD how I begged. Principles. Pfft.). If only I had been born like 12 years later, I would've had my pick of the vanity name plates, but that was just about the time Morgan and Kaitlin were setting up shop and Heather and Ashley (you know it Ashley, I know you're feeling me here) were relegated to last year's news. Oh well. At least I now have knitting to fulfill the narcissistic desire to see my name projected everywhere...
Heather in Heather Hoodie in Rowan Cocoon
Specs:
Pattern: Heather Hoodie Vest from Knitscene, Fall 09
Yarn: Rowan Cocoon, 7.25 skeins of #818 'Quarry Tile' FTW!
Needles: Size 7 mm, because I'm special.
Mods: None, except for messing up the cable repeat at several points. Also,this garment is boxy, like FLINTSTONE boxy, so if you are looking for a pattern with some waist shaping? Umm, please to keep walking.
Heather in Heather Hoodie in Rowan Cocoon
This garment is exactly what I wanted it to be: fast, comfy and warm. The Cocoon is a silky dream, although the splittiness takes a little getting used to. I would definitely buy this again--oh wait, I did! A sweater's quantity! Nevermind...
Heather in Heather Hoodie in Rowan Cocoon
This pattern represents a series of firsts for me: not only is it my first time using Rowan Cocoon and first time knitting a hood (not hard, as it turns out. But it takes foreeeveeer), it's also the first time I learned a knitting technique from someone under 12 on Youtube. Yes, I couldn't recall how to do the three-needle bind off, so luckily weird child labor laws have not prevented kids from posting diy videos. Yay kids!

Next up? The Rowan love fest juggernaut is ready to keep rolling. Next stop: Honeycomb Vest in Felted Tweed. We're gonna drive this mother til the wheels fall off!

33 comments:

Jodi said...

Very cute, and what a pretty color!

Alas, I could never find my name either. "Jody" and "Jodie" were popular, but not "Jodi." And now no one's naming their kids any variation thereof. I will say that Heather is one of my favorite names!

Cara said...

You and your hoodie both look fabulous! I love the color.

No Cara tchotchkes either. What a shame.

Ashley said...

You KNOW I am feeling you. And loving your hoodie.

knithound brooklyn said...

You are rocking the Heather Hoodie - the color, the cables, all of it. Turns out my name was a bit ahead of it's time too. Lots of Lisa's born in the 70's but not as many in my time (I won't tell!!)

Yarnhog said...

I love the color on you! Gorgeous.

That's the sort of garment I would actually be able to wear here in the Land of Eternal Summer. Hmmm...

My sister's name is Cheryl. My parents couldn't agree on a name, so they picked one neither of them liked. (Seriously. That's what they say.) Heather is a great name. I narrowly escaped being named "Fatima", so I suppose Suzanne isn't so bad, either.

Janet said...

The hoodie and you are both amazing! The color is a great one for you too.

Kirsten said...

Never found a Kirsten either. Occasionally there would be a Kristen, but never a Kirsten.

Love the hoodie & the color! You are really cranking out the big projects these days, first the owl sweater, now this and plans for a vest!?!

margaux said...

beautiful hoodie!! love the color and looks fantastic!! ask me if i've ever found a Margaux name plate... the only place that has my name on things is Wine stores, yeaaa I guess I'll take That. haha

Courtney said...

I could never find Courtney either, but by the time I graduated from high school, there were hordes of little Courtneys running around. My mother-in-law buys be Courtney pencils at Walmart every fall just because she can. I love them.

earthchick said...

Pedro's South of the Border!!!! Whoo-hoo!!!! My folks would never stop there either, but I showed them! On a youth trip we convinced our chaperones to stop there for lunch. And BOY was that a major disappointment. All those years of fantasizing about what enchantments that place must hold, and it was complete crap.

But your hoodie! That does not disappoint at all. So gorgeous, and I love that color on you.

Sonya said...

I could never find Sonya either. Found it on a wooden stamp at a flea market this summer and bought it in a second!

Love your hoodie vest! Perfect fall color and I love the cables.

yahaira said...

uhh I still can't find my name :)
I must be waaaaay ahead of my time!

I love the hoodie! I still need to try cocoon.

Heather said...

East bound and down, loaded up and truckin'.

I found an airbrushed beach scene ring tee with Heather on it once in 1982 and wore it until I went from cool to uncool to retro fabulous. But a key chain? A plastic license plate? Nope, never could find our name either.

Elizabeth said...

Thank you for knitting garments with EVERY Rowan yarn I want to use, but am not quite sure HOW to use: Lima, Cocoon and now Felted Tweed. Yay!

Now, with the internet, you can special order those license plates and pencils...I did just that for my son's best friend Aviv - he is now the proud owner of a mini Oregon license plate! But, alas, back in the day, we would have had to stamp out our own damn license plates!

Nice work...and girl, you are fast!

gale (she shoots sheep shots) said...

An excellent hoodie, looks great on you. I had it in my queue & removed it, convinced it wouldn't look good in real life. Clearly I was wrong.

Anonymous said...

So gorgeous - that colour really suits you.

You know, on the name thing, I think this just goes to show that you really can't win, because I could *always* find Jane and it just made me feel so ...ubiquitous! I was quite jealous of the girls whose names were too special for gift shop key rings! Ha.

Enjoy your lovely new hoodie... it's left me with the overpowering urge to knit something red, and soon :)

Sarah said...

Work it, girl! I'm sure you felt (at least in part) like you had to knit this because it's named after you, but it looks fantastic.

a friend to knit with said...

hello cutie!
fabulous hoodie. i LOVE the short sleeve!
and the perfect color for fall.

(i could usually find my plate... but NEVER a hoodie named after me!)

kim said...

You think you had it bad, try finding "Kim" in the early 70's! My mom must have been sadistic because my sister is a "Heather."

Loving the hoodie on you with your awesome hair color.

Kim said...

It was the same for Kim/Kimberly in the early 70s. No souvenir key chains or license plates. How I hoped that the Romper Room lady would say hello to me, but NO. The Heather Hoodie is wonderful!

Ellen said...

It looks great on you! Now I want some sort of garment named Ellen. I'm going to check Ravelry to see if one exists...

Sophie said...

It's super cute on you !!

As for me, I was already snobbish as a kid and found it rather offensive that my name should be written all over hideous breakfast bowls or cheapo leather bracelets at the tourists' joints. Hopefully I don't have to visit them any longer ;--)

kim said...

It's never hard finding "Kim" everywhere...ugh, though my sister, Keri could only get lotion with her name on it. Ha! Love the sweater, I must make one of these immediately.

weezalana said...

You think that's hard, try finding a nameplate that says "weezalana". Effing impossible.

Bahaahahaha! ;)

Fab job on the hoodie, it looks great on you!

Anonymous said...

Hi, I've just discovered your blog and thought I would delurk. Your posts always make me giggle!

That hooded vest looks great on you, you really picked the perfect colour :) I've been thinking of knitting Vivian but was a bit put off by how long the hood would take. But clearly hoods are worth it!

Alison said...

Great cables! Love the color! And I love hoods! So now that I've already used 3 exclamation points, I can move on to a milder mannered phrase or two... I could never find Alison, and when I did, it was always spelled ALLison... In fact, I don't know if I ever ended up with any personalized junk, er, um, swag... Funny thing is, I see Alisons all the time now! Who knew?
Gorgeous cozy FO- enjoy the wearing!

Happy knitting-
ali

Unknown said...

Love the hoodie...and the color especially

Anonymous said...

I feel your name pain, Heather. I never understood it, either, since there were enough Heathers in my class for my teachers to go along with it when I volunteered Cricket as my alternate name. Go figure. Thanks for posting Honeycomb. I'd inexplicably forgotten about it (!) I love me a vest. I don't wear a hood well, but you're rocking it. Perfect color on you, too.

ch

tiennie said...

So cute! I totally want one too! It's a perfect Heather for you. ;)

Anonymous said...

I still can't find anything pre-personalized in my name. If only my parents named me Cathleen Amanda like they where planning....
adore your hoodie. Its a great color on you!

HeatherinSF said...

Come to SF, we have a Heather Street, and I, ahem, have a street sign (retired?). :-D Don't you find it funny when some frantic mom yells Heather in a shop? I automatically turn around feeling "uh-oh". Love the sweater and the color, gorgeous!!

Rachel said...

That hoodie looks amazing and I'm loving the color you chose. I like it so much it finally pushed that pattern into my queue!

Preeti said...

Looks super squishy and luv-er-ly.