The Needles Have Been Busy

My knitting needles have been busy...and so I have I.    The Christmas deadline is looming and things are going well...despite an arithmetic error that forced me to rip out half a sock.   Count twice, knit once.

As things were looking good, I have thrown three more hats into the mix.   If things go well, they will be knit and mailed by next Monday.

A Beret for My Friend Sigrid

Some gifts are already knit and gone.   Each year I knit a lot of socks.    This year I have also been on a hat kick.   My friend Barb got a hat to match the mittens she needed.   Sigrid needed a beret.   The pattern that I found was fun to do....quick...and will look lovely on her.

Each year, I knit something for my friend, Al.  This year I wanted to do another hat.   There are so many good choices for patterns.  It took a bit to figure out what I really wanted to do.   Then, bravely, I journeyed into the stash to find the yarn.   Yes, I am spoiled with the choices in my personal yarn store.   I found some Lion Brand Alpaka that had aged to perfection.    The choices were off white and black.    The black would make a glamorous watch cap but I wanted something a little more fun for me to knit.   I found the Between Two Lungs pattern and knew that was the one.

One of my thrills in knitting is finding hat patterns with clever decreases that elegantly support the design of the hat.   The Man Hat, which I have knit several times, is an excellent example of this.   Between Two Lungs is another.  The patterning was a lot of fun to do.   There was enough interest to force me to pay attention, but not so much challenge that I would curse...much.

Between Two Lungs

Al received the hat last weekend.   It looks great on him and I hope he will wear it all winter.

Jan Thompson and I went up to All About Yarn in Coon Rapids to take a Two Color Brioche class from Diane Augustin.    The class was interesting...well paced...and a great way to learn this technique.   My yarn was too fine...should have brought something a little bulkier....so I don't have anything to show yet.  I will do the cowl pattern when I have some "knitting for me" time.   With luck, I will have that before I forget how to do it.