I Love...

my new hat!!! It's An Unoriginal Hat and I got the pattern from the Yarn Harlot. When I first saw this pattern on her blog, I really liked it and wanted to make one. Since I'm supposed to be working on Christmas knitting I made myself put the pattern on the back burner. Then I went to the LYS this weekend (20% off of EVERYTHING!!) and bought some yarn that would be perfect for the project. I made it the next morning in about 3-4 hours.



I love everything about this hat! The color of the yarn, the softness of the yarn, the pattern, the cables, the way it fits, EVERYTHING!!! It's my new favorite hat. Now I just need to go where it's colder so I can wear it.

My friend mentioned that she would love a hat for Christmas. Although I wasn't planning on making her anything for Christmas, I love this hat so much that I decided she must have one too! I used some yarn that I hat at home (Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick and Quick). I had to not do as many rows in the pattern because the hat was too long. I'm not so great with taking the time to check for gauge :/ Anyway, it turned out pretty good:



The one thing that I decided that I don't love is the way my face looks from that angle! But that's what I get for trying to model a hat, taking my own picture and trying to keep my face out of it! It's challenging to get something decent, let alone good.

Another procrastination that I started to avoid Christmas knitting (a.k.a. the intarsia on my mom's stocking that is kicking my butt!) was a baby blanket. Eddie bought the yarn since it is his friends who are having the baby. He thought that I should knit a blanket and so he went to the LYS with me to pick out some yarn. He's actually been talking about this particular yarn and baby blanket for awhile. It is the SOFTEST YARN ever! The only bummer is that it is hand wash (probably not what a first time mother needs), but the softness factor won and he bought the yarn. Here is the beginning of the blanket:



The color is not so great in this picture, but the main part of the blanket is Lilac.

As far as the Christmas knitting goes I still have 2 hats, 2/3's of a stocking, a little bit more on a pair of socks and was thinking about a second pair of stocks (but time may not permit it). It's crunch time and I've really got to buckle down!