I watched this video the first time I made a hat with a pompom. I found these women hilarious and, even better, they taught me how to use my pompom maker, which was sadly lacking in instructions. I watched this video again tonight when I went to make a pompom for a new hat I finished. Perhaps because it wasn’t 2 am and I wasn’t coming off the high of finishing a hat that actually fit my head (as opposed to this monstrosity), I found the video a lot less entertaining this time around. Still, Hatapalooza 2010, or whatever I’m calling this thing, is going pretty well. I may actually finish all the hats I intend to make!

I’m in the process of blocking the two hats that I most recently finished. I had to stretch the white one a fair amount, but thanks to one of Satanski’s handy soccer balls (covered by a plastic bag), I think it will end up more or less the correct size.

I made the pompom for the second swirly hat, and will attach it once the hat has finished blocking.

Took the picture at a weird angle. This hat isn't crooked, I promise.

I made this hat for Amy Sue. It’s totally improvised, and halfway through, I already knew how I’d do things differently. Maybe I’ll get a chance to put those ideas into action on some other hat. I really like it, though, and I hope that blocking it will allow it to grow a bit; Amy has so much curly hair!

This hat is for my brother’s fiance, who asked me for a hat when she saw me make one for Satanski. I saw this pattern and thought it would be fun to make, and it was! I modified the pattern a bit, in that I didn’t make a 4 inch brim (why cover up this awesomeness??), and ended the hat by grafting together a total of 20 stitches, but otherwise stayed faithful to it. I used different yarns for the brim and the rest of the hat, and I love how well they match each other.

Since it’s not my hat, I just took crappy cell phone pictures of me wearing it. When T wears it, I’ll be sure to use a camera and take clear photos!

Pattern:
Swirly Hat, by TChemGrrl

Yarns Used:
Stonehedge Fiber Mill Shepherd’s Wool in Lavender for the brim
Cascade 220 Quatro in shades of purple for the rest of the hat

Needle:
Size 7 16″ circular needles
Six 6 Double pointed needles

I’ve finished 3 projects in the last 10 days. How? By picking them carefully. The first was actually a pair of socks that I’d been working on for a month. The fastest I’ve ever made a pair of socks is 6 days, and while I liked the way they came out, I would have gone nuts if I had to try to replicate that pace approximately 8 times in a month and a half. So my idea from my last post, that I’d do socks for everybody for Christmas, has gone far, far away. Instead, I hit upon something fun and easy: hats! I love hats, and the other two projects that I recently finished were both hats. The great thing about hats is that there is a ton of variety and changing fabrics and colors can really renew your interest in the category of hats as a whole. Plus, I’ve received 3 (two credible) requests for hats recently, so I know that they’re useful and appreciated.

Because hats are faster and easier to make, I’ve expanded my list, and now have about 12 people for whom I’d like to make hats. That means I need to make tracks, because Christmas is just over a month away. I’ll have to up the pace I’ve been keeping to make this happen. Whee!

I so enjoyed making my Boyfriendly socks that I started to make myself a pair, as well. I’m using the Temperance pattern, slightly modified, and I really like the way it’s coming out. I will post pictures presently, but all of my sock knitting has made me think that maybe I want to try to make socks for my close friends for Christmas. The difficulties:

• I am lazy
• Christmas is like 50-something days away
• …

Really, that’s it, but isn’t that enough? I’d have to make 7 pairs of socks (at least, I’m still putting together the list). I don’t know if I’m up to this. I have a bunch of friends with winter birthdays, so maybe I’ll save theirs for their birthdays in January and February. This could work…

So I made the boy a pair of socks for being an all-around good sport (plus, he bought me a boatload of expensive yarn, and who doesn’t love a generous guy)? I didn’t use a pattern, because boy socks don’t have to be that fancy, so it’s just a simple toe-up 4×2 and 3×2 rib. I started them two at a time on the same needle, and then remembered how much I hate that, so separated them. I did short row heels using Priscilla Gibson-Roberts’ method (pdf), which I really liked.

I had such a good time making these socks that I decided to make a pair of socks for myself. They’re purple and adorable. Will post photos when finished.