Awesome knit-gifts, gift-alongers! I hope all your pressies were well recieved.

But who wouldn't appreciate a beautiful Booga Bag, or fuzzy rockstar scarf? What child wouldn't love to recieve a boy's backpack and bear or puppy puppets? What relative wouldn't be touched to find a cabled sweater or a a pretty poncho under the tree? And is there anyone who wouldn't be tickled to get a Cowboys football helmet or little Christmas finger puppets? Very merry, indeed.

My siblings-in-law reportedly loved their christmas hats. Although perhaps not as much as my boys loved their new rampy, garage toy for their Matchbox cars! And I was "wooooow"ed to find some Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran yarn (my new favorite yarn!) under the tree for me. How do you think I'd look in this?

And there was one last Christmas surprise. Perhaps excited by the promise of presents, the boys taught themselves how to safely climb out of their cribs. They'll never sleep again! Merry Christmas, mama.

Oh to be two years old again on Christmas morning. Wow!

Note: Windows Media Player may ask you to install a new audio decoder to view video.

Spotted recently at Knitsmiths: Rowan Wool Cotton in red and green. I guess if it can't be a white Christmas, that's not a bad second! Wishing you and yours a wonderful Christmas filled with wool, cotton, and every good thing.

Here it is, the final knit-gift, the finished cowl.

Looks a little different, doesn't it. Yes, well, I made some changes. After setting down what I'd finished before, I took a long hard look at it and was not convinced that it was really working. It certainly was cowl-ing and it would definitely be warm, but I started having doubts that the recipient would wear it. The alpaca was super soft for alpaca, but if she's got any wool scratch sort of issues, it's a no go. And it was taking up a ton of the yarn, which is not cheap. So I scrapped it.

I went to the yarn store, got a ball of Berroco Plush (pillowy soft nylon - no scratch issues here) and knit up a quick, little neck warmer instead. I bought some lovely little pearl buttons to hold it closed and voila, instant present that my aunt will probably like much more. I got the idea from some neckwarmers that fellow Knitsmith Dava brought in to show us a couple of weeks ago. She said a friend of hers found one for sale on the Cape for like $30 and thought, hey, I could make that. Yes, indeed! Me too.

You know what this means: holiday knitting done! Woohoo!!! And a big woohoo to other finished gift-alongers Johanna, Lee Ann, Melanie, and Suzanne. And also to Becky, who just finished her ribby cardie!

Well, I've finally made some progress on the cowl. I'm double stranding the Prime Alpaca like I did with hubby's hat, but instead of using US6's, I'm using US8's in the hope of making it a little softer. I want it to have some drape instead of being stiff like his super warm hat.

So here it is about 10 inches done and rolled over like a collar. I took Peg's basic cowl pattern (posted last week on Wendy's site) and cast on for about 30" around in a ribbing (3x3 rib). My first (600 yd.!) skein of alpaca has run out at this point so I have to ball up another giant skein before I can continue. Man, it takes a lot of yarn to make one of these!

Santa came a little early to our house, bringing us a new cedar chest! Now all my hand-knitted (and favorite store-bought) sweaters can live at the foot of the bed surrounded by cedar.

Luckies! We don't have much closet space (heck, no one in Boston does), so my sweaters were stuffed in the back of various closets just waiting to be found by moths. And others were hanging on hangers (say it isn't so!) because there simply wasn't any more horizontal space left. But now they are happy.

My boys are happy too. The cedar chest came in a big ol' box that screamed to be made into a playhouse for them. Here they are going in and out a little door and here they're using a window.

Thanks, Santa!

Another holiday knit-gift done. Presenting the hubby hat...

Hey Mikey, he likes it! Even though it's not doubleknit, it was enough to keep his head warm through the latest storm. Snow tested, hubby approved. Alright!

(Always wanted to know what hubby does while I'm knitting? He wears my knits of course!)

I'm getting a lot less knitting done these days, as it seems my boys have given up taking an afternoon nap. They used to be in bed for about two hours every day and I got to clean up, eat, relax and do a little knitting. Yeah, they also used to look tired around 1pm every day. Now they look like this all day long. So no more daytime cleaning/eating/relaxing/knitting for me. While I adjust to not having any break in the afternoon, I'm experiencing a real energy drain. Result: a knitting brownout.

After several days, I finally managed to knit enough of hubby's hat so that I could turn up the hem. I wanted the hem to be nice and deep, covering his ears entirely. That meant that I had to knit enough for practically a whole hat just to make the hem.

At least the hem is high enough that I was able to start the decreases pretty soon after. So I'm slowly creeping towards finishing this hat. Another couple of energy bars and I just might make it.

I caved. I bought (*gasp*) a bucket hat.

I was standing in line at the department store with some Christmas purchases and trying to keep the boys amused by trying on hats. Well, I slipped on this bucket hat and caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. Gosh darnit, if that hat didn't look good. And better than any hat that I could knit. I couldn't put it back. (Forgive me, Bonne Marie and Becky!)

I guess that now that's out of my system, I should get back to the hubby hat.

I spent the last couple of days thinking about how to avoid all that knitting at a tiny gauge. And then I wimped out. For my last two knit-gifts I'm going to use two strands of the Prime Alpaca held together which gets me comfortably up to DK weight and a US6 needle. It'll be much easier on me and should also make the winter wear even warmer. So I started by casting on for some sort of cowl and was trying out different numbers, when I realized that what I'd knit so far wasn't really wide enough for a cowl, but it was perfect for hubby's hat.

Only one problem, it's not double-knit like he wanted. I tried turning up the bottom as you would for a hem and picking up the cast-on edge for the second set of stitches so I could continue the hat from this point as double-knit, but the first double knit row wasn't looking clean enough, so I scrapped that idea. It'll be a regular hem instead, but a large hem that will cover his ears. That's two layers of double-stranded alpaca over his ears. That should be pretty toasty!

Any more holiday gift-along updates to share? What gifts are you most proud of so far? Any you're dreading finishing? Do tell!

Cashmerino scarf - done.

Another Christmas gift finished. I'm down to the last two. Just one skein of Prime Alpaca and some US3's stand between me and a holiday gifting victory lap. But don't get out the wrapping paper just yet. One cowl and one double knit hat. At that gauge. I'm gonna be down to the wire here. Guess it's not really kosher to outsource your holiday knitting, huh? Maybe I could use two strands... hmmm....

By the way, my hand is fine. I can see now that it was just a big bruise on my wrist. I've got two very active toddlers and they are such BOYS, constantly banging and bruising me while horsing around. Poor mommy. But at least I can still knit!

Do gift-knitters get vacation days?

I'd had my fill of mistakes and bad yarn karma this week and I felt a little twinge in my hand again. So in order to save the gifts and my hand, I officially gave myself permission to take a little break from holiday knitting. I went to the movies - something I rarely get to do. Want proof: the last movies I saw in the theaters (in reverse order) were Seabiscuit, Matchstick Men, L'Auberge Espanol, About a Boy, Gosford Park, and Riding in Cars with Boys. That's it in the last two years (and I used to see scores of movies every year). Pretty pathetic, I know. I guess you can see how I get so much knitting done!

And since I'm taking a Christmas break, I'm going to go play in the snow now. Woo hoo!

Found a boo-boo in my current sideways scarf - about twenty rows down. It's supposed to be all garter stitch, but there was one spot where a single incomplete stitch produced a tiny blip of stockinette. I was too horrified to think of snapping a picture of it, but trust me it was visible. That little "v" was sticking out like a sore thumb in the sea of garter ridges. In desperation I decided to drop two stitches all the way down to the error to try to correct it. I haven't had too many successes with recovering more than one dropped stitch in stockinette, so I was not confident. Once I managed to get to the error and correct it though I was bold enough to set the knitting down and get the camera. Here's the scarf, opened up, as it were, just after I corrected the incomplete stitch.

Now for the hard part - redoing all the other stitches! It looks like a zipper's been opened in the middle of the scarf. If only it closed as easily! Slowly, slowly, I made it back up to the current row and was so wiped out that I forgot to take a picture. That's enough knitting for one day! Finished scarf coming soon....

The fluffy cloud scarf is finished. I just want to wrap myself up in it. It is to die for soft.

You might have noticed, but I'm slowing down on this holiday knitting. I think all this knitting to a deadline is getting to me. I'm making little annoying mistakes. First there were the two mobius strips I knitted in an attempt to start my bucket hat. Then the WS rows I kept purling on this garter stitch scarf. And then I realized about 10 rows into the scarf that I'd started with the wrong color. I'd planned to start the scarf above with purple and have a blue stripe down the middle. Whoops! But I really like it the way it is now.

And I'm getting distracted by the fabulous yarns I'm using and instead of knitting am spending my time at the yarn store lusting after more. I've visited the Plush several times now, hoping that the colors will improve. (Thanks so much for your color suggestions yesterday, by the way.) And now I've cast on for another sideways garter stitch scarf - this one in Debbie Bliss' cashmerino aran - and I love, love, love the yarn. There ARE beautiful, sophisticated colors of this yarn available. Danger, Will Robinson!

Despite a momentary (and so far unsuccessful) lapse into bucketing, I'm still on schedule with my holiday gift knitting.

Here's the beginnings of another sideways garter stitch scarf. This one's for a friend's little girl. The yarn is soooo soft - Plush from Berroco - 100% nylon and as fluffy as a cloud. I swear if they had any sophisticated adult colors, I'd be all over this yarn! It was a little slippery on my preferred Inox needles, though. But since I broke out the bamboos, it's been a dream to knit.

That is, at least as long as I remember to knit. I've already purled a WS row out of habit and had to unknit the whole row (150 stitches!). Twice. And since every stitch just disappears in this fuzzy, smooshy, pillowy yarn, unknitting has been pretty not cool. I fear that the yarn gods are ready to move on to help others. My project karma is starting to go bad!

It's after Thanksgiving and time to really get going on those Christmas gifts! How you all doing out there??

In order to make some progress fast, I decided to start the scarves. Three nice, simple projects on big needles. I've still got two projects to do on tiny needles (another double-knit hat and a big cowl scarf), but I wanted to get these scarves out of the way first. Here's the first one for a friend's six year old son, made in Debbie Bliss' Merino Chunky (bought on sale!) and using a pattern from Rowan Junior.

It came out a little narrower than I would have liked. I tried giving it a wash and blocking out the ribbing, but even though the yarn softened up amazingly well, the ribbing is, well, still ribbing. The scarf is definitely warm and long enough though. And I love those boy colors too. Next up a little girl's stripey sideways garter stitch scarf. Fun!!

One warm-a** double knit ski cap

Materials:
- one skein of Cascade 220 in each of two coordinating colors
you won't need an entire skein of each color; I used about 3/4 of a skein in each color leftover from an earlier project
- 16" circular needles size US 6 (or size necessary to get gauge)
- double-pointed needles in same size as above
- cable needle for moving stitches during decreasing
- tapestry needle for weaving in ends

Gauge:
approx. 4 1/2" st./in.

Finished Measurements:
approx. 20" circumference unstreched, should fit 21" -23" head, 8" high
To make hat smaller or larger you can change needle size (increase needle size = increased hat size), change yarn (smaller gauge = smaller hat), or cast on a different number of stitches (see Instructions below)

Instructions:
Cast on 162 stitches in color A.
If you want to make your hat smaller or larger, you can cast on a different number of stitches. When changing the number of stitches, check your gauge and multiply the number of stitches per inch by the desired head circumference. Multiply this number by two (you're essentially knitting two hats, remember!) and cast on the resulting number.

Row 1: With color A *K1, bring yarn forward, slip next stitch purlwise, bring yarn back*, repeat from * to * across the row. DO NOT TURN WORK!
Row 2: With color B *slip next stitch purlwise, bring yarn forward, P1, bring yarn back*, repeat from * to * across the row.

Now you can join and begin knitting in the round. Each round will be knit twice. The first time around, you'll be using color A and following the instructions for Row 1. The second time around, use color B and follow the instructions for Row2. Continue in this manner for 5", having just knit with color B and using Row 2 instructions.

Make stripe: Knit next round using color B and following instructions for Row 1. Then knit one round using color A, following instructions for Row 2. You'll notice that on the first round after switching colors all of your stitches will be in color B. Pay attention in the next round that you are knitting and slipping the correct stitches, as there are no more color cues to remind you which stitches you should be working. Continue in this manner for one more complete round (once around in each color).

Now return to original instructions - Row 1 in color A and Row 2 in color B - for three complete rounds (three times with each color).
Repeat instructions for adding stripe.
Return to original instructions again, continuing until hat measures 6 1/2".

Begin decreases:
Color A: *(K1, bring yarn forward, slip 1, bring yarn back) 7 times, slip next stitch (color A) purlwise, place next stitch (color B) on cable needle and hold at back, place first stitch back on left needle and knit it together with next stitch (both stitches should be color A), bring yarn to front, place color B stitch back from cable needle onto left needle, slip both color B stitches purlwise, bring yarn back*, repeat * to * around
Color B: *(slip next stitch purlwise, bring yarn forward, P1, bring yarn back) 7 times, slip next stitch purlwise (should be the stitch you decreased above), bring yarn forward, P2tog (both stitches should be color B), bring yarn back*, repeat * to * around
You should now have 144 stitches.

Knit one complete round normally (one round with each color following original instructions). Then continue decreasing:
Color A: *(K1, bring yarn forward, slip 1, bring yarn back) 6 times, slip next stitch (color A) purlwise, place next stitch (color B) on cable needle and hold at back, place first stitch back on left needle and knit it together with next stitch (both stitches should be color A), bring yarn to front, place color B stitch back from cable needle onto left needle, slip both color B stitches purlwise, bring yarn back*, repeat * to * around
Color B: *(slip next stitch purlwise, bring yarn forward, P1, bring yarn back) 6 times, slip next stitch purlwise, bring yarn forward, P2tog (both stitches should be color B), bring yarn back*, repeat * to * around
You should now have 126 stitches.

Knit one complete round normally (one round with each color following original instructions). Then continue decreasing:
Color A: *(K1, bring yarn forward, slip 1, bring yarn back) 5 times, slip next stitch (color A) purlwise, place next stitch (color B) on cable needle and hold at back, place first stitch back on left needle and knit it together with next stitch (both stitches should be color A), bring yarn to front, place color B stitch back from cable needle onto left needle, slip both color B stitches purlwise, bring yarn back*, repeat * to * around
Color B: *(slip first stitch purlwise, bring yarn forward, P1, bring yarn back) 5 times, slip next stitch purlwise, bring yarn forward, P2tog (both stitches should be color B), bring yarn back*, repeat * to * around
You should now have 108 stitches.

Continue decreasing by doing decrease rounds only, switching to double-pointed needles when necessary, and following pattern established above:
slipping and knitting or purling 4 pairs of stitches, then decreasing - 90 stitches
slipping and knitting or purling 3 pairs of stitches, then decreasing - 72 stitches
slipping and knitting or purling 2 pairs of stitches, then decreasing - 54 stitches
slipping and knitting or purling 1 pair of stitches, then decreasing - 36 stitches
K2tog/P2tog around (slipping stitches only to rearrange them) - 18 stitches

Cut yarn ends leaving 8" tail. Thread each yarn end onto tapestry needle and through like-colored stitches. Pull on each yarn end to close the top of each side of the hat. Weave in ends on each side by following the path of the stitches (like duplicate stitch) so they are not visible.

Put on hat and feel the warm!!

Have a basic stockinette stitch hat pattern you already know and love and want to knit it double knit?? Just double the number of stitches you would normally cast on and follow the double-knit techniques I've outlined in the pattern.

a knitting class in a hat*

Techniques:
- casting on
- the knit stitch
- the purl stitch
- stockinette stitch (alternating knit one row, purl one row - but when knitting in the round, knit all rounds)
- 2 x 2 ribbing (*knit 2 stitches, purl 2 stitches* repeated across entire row/round)
- knitting in the round (using circular needles and double-pointed needles to create a round piece of knitting)
- decreasing (knitting 2 stitches together to make knitted piece smaller)
- seaming
- weaving in ends

Materials:
- approx. 200 yds. worsted weight yarn
- 16" circular needle (US7 or US8)
- double-pointed needles in same size as above
- tapestry needle for weaving in ends

Gauge:
approx. 4 1/4 st./in.
If your gauge is a bit smaller, your hat will end up being a bit smaller. Larger gauge = larger hat.

Hat Measurements:
23" around, 7- 7 1/2 " high

Instructions:
Cast on 96 st.
Work back and forth in stockinette stitch for 5 rows (knit one row, purl one row, K 1 row, P 1 row, K 1 row). This will form a rolled edge.
Instead of turning work to continue, join the two sides to form a circle. When forming the circle be sure that 1) knitting is not twisted around the needle, and 2) that the rolled edge curls to the outside of the hat.
Now you will be knitting in the round.
Work 6 rounds in 2 x 2 ribbing (knit 2 stitches, purl 2 stitches repeated across the whole round for 6 rounds).
Continue in stockinette stitch by knitting all rounds until hat measures approximately 6 ½"-7" from rolled edge.
Begin decreasing in order to shape top of hat as follows:
*K 4 stitches, K 2 stitches together*, repeat from * to * for the entire round. (you should now have 80 stitches)
Knit one round normally.
Note: switch to double pointed needles when there are too few stitches to fit around the circular needle
*K 3 stitches, K 2 stitches together*, repeat from * to * for the entire round. (64 stitches)
Knit one round normally.
*K 2 stitches, K 2 stitches together*, repeat from * to * for the entire round. (48 stitches)
*K 1 stitch, K 2 stitches together*, repeat from * to * for the entire round. (32 stitches)
*K 2 stitches together*, repeat from * to * for the entire round. (16 stitches)
*K 2 stitches together*, repeat from * to * for the entire round. (8 stitches)
Cut yarn leaving 6" tail, thread yarn end onto tapestry needle and thread through remaining 8 stitches. Pull on thread to cinch stitches snugly together. Bring needle through the very top of the hat in order to bring remaining yarn to inside of hat for weaving in.
Sew small seam of rolled edge together.
Weave in yarn ends.
Enjoy your hat!

And for the adventurous, change colors as you like by dropping the old yarn at the end of a round and starting the new round with a different colored yarn. When weaving in ends, twist the two colors around each other once to close any hole that might have formed when changing colors and weave ends into their respective color areas.

*This pattern was written to introduce beginners to all the basic knitting techniques. If you already know how to knit in the round, you can join after casting on or knitting the first row and skip the lesson in seaming!

Introducing Alison's Beginner's Hat. A whole knitting class packed into a simple hat with a rolled brim, followed by some ribbing and finally crown shaping. And the adventurous beginner or color nut (like me) can add some stripes for fun!

This is a Christmas gift for my sister-in-law who likes green and obviously has a bigger head than me. So that's one more Christmas gift done.

Wait, two more presents done. I finished the double knit hat for my brother-in-law as well! Hey, it's reversible! I wanted this hat to be really warm, so in addition to doing it double-knit, I decided to knit the Cascade 220 (leftovers from the boys' mutssjaals!) at a much smaller gauge. Hubby says that if his brother doesn't like it, he'll be happy to give it a home on his head. Awww.

(Free patterns to come!)

Last class of beginning knitting yesterday and we had finished hats all around. Several of the students even wore their hats while starting new projects. It was so exciting to see them all with their hats on, all knit from the little pattern that I made up. I liked the finished hats so much that now I've decided to use my own pattern for one of the hats I'm making as Christmas gifts. Stay tuned next week for Alison's Beginner's Hat!

I had several hats to finish yesterday as well: the calmer lace cap, the little red ruffled chemo cap, and the phat hat chemo cap.

these look so good on me - I have to make one for myself!

S in a bonnet again - he's gonna love me for this

cool cat in a phat hat

More hats are on the way. I finally got the count right on the double knit hat (fifth time's a charm!). I'll be making my beginner's pattern for my sister-in-law. And now hubby wants a hat for Christmas. Add another one to the holiday gift list!

Over the weekend, I decided to start another of the Christmas presents. But I haven't quite finished the first one yet. Does that count as progress?? Before you answer, read this....

For no other reason than sheer insanity, I'm making this hat double knit (reversible stockinette). So instead of 80 stitches I've got 160. And I have to knit twice around to make one row. The result sure is cool though.

Hold the applause. I've had a heck of a time getting this thing started off right. I've never done double knit before. So I thought why not take it to Knitsmiths where I usually have so much fun chatting with everyone that I invariably make a giant mistake in my knitting. Yes, perfect - take everything to Knitsmiths and try to learn how to do double knit there! After some serious boo-boos followed by impressive saves, I got the double knit to work. Woo hoo. But it was only about wrist size and so it had to go. Look at how it separates into two sides of knitting when you take the needle out. Cool. Another start created a belt-sized version. Grrrr. After casting on for a third time, I knit the above which fits my head perfectly. Alas, it is not for me but my brother-in-law, so it too is no more. This double knit is a strange little animal. The total number of stitches is split between the front side and the back, which means you need to cast on twice as many but the stitches have a lot of stretch, so double knit objects are actually larger than they appear or so I've learned.

I'm casting on again today. Progress or not? You decide.

I've finally started my Christmas knitting and am feeling a little better about my chances of getting it all done in time. Here's the first few inches of the Calmer lace cap.

I'm using Rowan's Calmer yarn as called for in the pattern. I really like the pattern and the yarn is an absolute dream! It has a wonderful hand and is just a joy to knit.

(Laura, you and I have got to make that Calmer sweater!)

With all these impromptu projects like vests and chemo caps, I'm falling behind on my fall knitalongs! Indecision and more new catalogs have so far kept me from starting my fall Phildar sweater. But fear not, Phildar fillies, yarn is on its way from France and I'll be off to the races soon after it arrives. The cardi raye and Leigh's sweater are on hold for now, as I have got to take a break from stripes for a while! Solid colors or variegated yarns will be my friends for the next few months. My Phildar fall will now look more like this or this.

My hand pain from last month led me to postpone teddy, the tiny-gauged winter cardigan (yes, the striped one!) I had planned to make for Curls and Purls' fun Fall/Winter Knitalong. All those Rowanette/Elfin knitters are crusing along and I haven't even swatched yet! The yarn I've picked out to use is the most wonderful alpaca yarn ever. Sooo warm and so soft, but also oh so fine (3mm needles!). This is going to be a huge project. But there's no way I can start it until after Christmas (make frowny face now) because I've got to get cracking on my holiday gifties.

And the knit-alongs just keep on coming. If you haven't noticed it in the sidebar, there's a new knit-along in town. Yup, I've started a holiday gift-along in hopes of finding motivation to get through all those knitted gifties I'm supposed to knit. I'm so excited about all the others who have joined. Some of you have so many gifts planned. Amber - 31?! I like Claudia's modest goal of making two presents. That's the way to do it. In that vein, I'm slowly knitting my way through my husband's family. I started with the babies last year and am now up to those my age this year. That means three hats for three sibs-in-law. Then there are a few striped scarves for friends. First up: a Calmer lace cap.

Let me know what you're knitting this season! And if you're gifting-along, send me an email as you finish your projects, so I can update the list and we can celebrate! Go you generous knit-gifters!

While I was sick, I made lots of headway on the leftovers vest. This was actually a pretty good cold for knitting. I felt alright when sitting on the sofa snuggled up in a blanket. Getting up was a different story though - something about head congestion at a five and a half foot altitude, I guess!

Anyway, after knitting in the round for the bottom (fewer ends to weave in that way), I separated at the armholes, and made up some armhole shaping. Had a few problems there remembering to do the shaping and keep changing the colors. I blame my sinuses! But since I wasn't going anywhere, I was able to rip and reknit a few times. So here's the finished back.

I decided on a few loose rules for the stripes and felt much better then about the level of randomness. I have lots of the orange and pink yarn (thanks, Kerrie!), so those colors repeat more often than the others. And have only a precious little bit of the chartreuse left, so that one serves as a highlight every four inches or so. Now I have to invent some sort of neck for the front while repeating the stripe sequence I made up for the back. I decided to wait on that until my head was all cleared!

Only a little headway was made on my chemo caps though. I left the one I started last week right at the point of beginning the crown decreases, so the beginning knitting students and I can go through that part together in the last class. For this week's class I started another chemo cap. I was showing the students how to join to knit in the round and knit some ribbing for the brim. So, in order to be able to knit along with them, I decided to start a new hat. I'm following a pattern in Monkeysuits for a hat that looks more like a bonnet. S was nice enough to try on what I've knit so far. He's not so good at holding still, though!

Finally, here it is November 12th and beyond buying yarn, I've made absolutely no headway on my Christmas presents: four scarves and two hats. Please tell me there are six weeks left until Christmas!! I'll have to start a 'one-present-a-week' schedule. Ugh!

The new project parade continues with more hats. Christmas hats and chemo caps. Whatever I can make in the next few weeks. I'm teaching a beginning knitting class now, where we are supposed to make a hat in three weeks, so we'll see what I can accomplish hat-wise while helping the new knitters through the basics. Hats on my list to make include another calmer lace cap and then a couple more kids' chemo caps.

Here's my start on the first chemo cap. I'm imagining this one to be for a hip little dude in need of a phat hat.

I've been knitting much less these last few days and, well, it's driving me positively stir crazy! In those down times during the day when I usually knit, I'm missing my needles pretty bad. I filled one gap by going to the yarn store and buying supplies for a few Christmas presents (stripey scarves for everyone!). And another evening was spent working out the technical details for my mother's asymmetrical vest (which I'm not knitting in garter stitch in one piece, but in stockinette in three). I also dreamed up a few new projects (a little down-time can be a dangerous thing) and even fantasized for a while about designing something myself (someday, when I can knit again).

Of course, there's always the boys, who are happy to distract me from my knitting anytime. But what a happy distraction they are. We went to a local farm over the weekend for a hayride. I wore my ribby and the boys wore their curls.