Wrap it up, Part the First!

I have been knitting. As Anne-Marie once said of me, "Penelope actually knits." As opposed to blogging, yarn shopping, and, well, (as in A-M's case) gestating a baby. But December is a VERY busy time for musicians, and a busy time for this bi-holiday celebrating couple. (uh, two holidays--Hanukah and Christmas. Not that Poem-Man and I are bisexual. Not that there's anything wrong with that...) So here's part the first of what I was knitting, the HAT edition:

I figured that Tina was doing all the knitting and blogging about hats, so I didn't need to do the blogging. I was doing my own knitting, however. And for much of December it was all about hats.

The first was a Foliage Hat that went to my BIL's Significant Other. She liked it. I really liked it and could barely stand to send it off to her. I knit it in Berroco Ultra Alpaca Worsted. It's a must knit. Sorry don't know how to properly link to Flickr: Here it is.

It was so much a "must knit" that I went to knit it for Sit n' Knits Holiday Party Exchange. First I knit it in some Manos del Uruguay dug out from languishing in my stash and did the extra repeat like I had for the first Foliage hat. Too big. Then I knit it without the extra repeat. Too small. So, like freakin' Goldilocks, I went on to knit it without the extra repeat but on bigger needles. NOT just right. Fnck it. Be it known that I started knitting the hat with just a week before the party to go. I went with a different pattern. The Amanda Hat!

In the end, Tina, the December hat-obsessed, ended up getting it! Yay!

In not-self-knitted, not-hat related news, I got these scrumptious mittens from Tawana. I really wanted them when I saw them on her blog and read that they were for the Sit n Knit exchange. I wanted them so much, I yelled "PICK ME, PICK ME!" before she picked a gift recipient name and then she PICKED ME! I LOVE that. and them. (Hey, Tawana, good luck with the final weeks of your gestation!)

Before the Foliage fiasco that eventually fortunately fixed itself. I made myself this crazy thing that I heard about an Stash and Burn. May I humbly say that Jenny and Nicole have a very focused podcast and present lots and lots of pattern ideas with great enthusiasm. I like the hat, but figured it was maybe to weird, but many of my Sit n' Knit grrls seem to like it enough to knit it, so it's a hit. And I Love the Frog Tree Merino Worsted I knit it in.

I guess the saddest thing is the short-lived Cap Karma I made for Poem-man. Four days to knit it and four days for him to lose it to the MTA. He was so sad. Sad enough that I didn't get too mad and bought some Karabella Super Yak to make a replacement (eventually)! Here's the original. If you see it on the D train, would you pick it up and return it to us?