Behind the scenes

Seaman's Cap

Yarn: Malabrigo Kettle Dyed Solids (100% merino wool; worsted weight)
Color: Vaa
Needles: US 6 and 7 circulars
Stitches: 102

There has been lots of knitting this weekend. I finished my dad's hat late last night. It's tighter than the other seaman's cap I made, although it should fit satisfactorily. Considering my prior experience with Malabrigo, I'm of the opinion that I should move up a needle size with the yarn regardless of what the label states.

I cast on for another hat this afternoon. I've knit almost four inches of it. I stopped to write out of my sense of dailyblogging duty, not because I needed a break. I'm seriously in the zone right now.

What's my secret to marathon knitting sessions? I've been watching some TV, but that isn't any different from what I usually do. (Also, if it hasn't been established well enough by now, by watching I mostly mean listening.) The new wrinkle in the formula: DVD commentaries. I've been gorging on first season episodes of 30 Rock this week--not while knitting--and worked my way to the disc with the commentary tracks. I popped the DVD into my laptop and listened to the commentaries while making the hat.

With no need to look up or fast forward through commercials on DVRed shows, the DVD commentaries proved to be excellent knitting companions. Now, I should point out that the 30 Rock commentaries I've listened to have been, to put it in generous terms, disappointing, but they have served my purpose. I switched to The Office commentaries, which are funnier and more informative. Hours melted away as I kept on knitting.

I enjoy listening to DVD commentaries, but since I got away from reviewing the discs, my consumption of their bountiful extras has diminished greatly. There's just so much "added value" on DVDs these days that no one can watch all of it. (In some instances you wouldn't want to.)

Putting audio commentaries on in the background while I knit seems like a good way of sampling the bonus features I haven't had time for while doing something I enjoy. What do you do while knitting to make time vanish?

Here's a bonus photo of my mom's hat. The purple is brighter than it appears, but it looks more purple and less blue than in the picture I previously posted.