I picked up a skein of Malabrigo on Saturday (it's like knitter's crack or mother's milk or something!), because I wanted to make a hat.
This winter I've been wearing my Emergency Backup Hat, which I made a few years ago out of some green-white-purple variegated Red Heart acryllic yarn. It had a seam up the back and was long enough that I had to double the area over the ears. No problem, except I didn't know enough at the time to reverse the seam so it wouldn't show on the outside. So, every time I wear it I am reminded that I find it ugly and not warm. I could live with ugly (and do so with better grace now than I did growing up), but I decided I do not need to live with not warm.
I've been knitting the Red Rings pullover from the Fall 2008 KnitScene, and a number of the other projects are growing on me. One of them was the Double Cap, which is cute with almost cattish peaks and a thick doubled brim to help keep the ears warm. I was going to knit during hockey, but I left the wrong set of needles in my backpack and knit on the pullover instead (hardly wasted time, just not what I truly wanted to be doing). I started the ribbing for the cuff on Saturday night just outside of Agganis and finished the hat Sunday evening during one of the football games. Probably the one where Trufflesburger did a better job than I wanted him to do...
And Monday morning, I wore this cap to my dental appointment and a slew of other places. I love it. It is warm and bright and unrepentently cheerful, which is always appreciated during a snowy day.
This hat was pretty quick and it featured something called a fold, which was interesting to work. Sarah used this on a different hat, and she explained it to me. It was definitely nice to get to try it in a pattern though.
At one skein of scrumptiously soft Malabrigo, this was even an affordable hat (I don't want to know what similarly styled hats would cost at a place like Macy's).
Of course, this is item #3 that I have finished this year, which also makes me feel pretty good. It's going to take me a bit longer to get the other projects that I'm working on right now into the fresh off the needles state!
