FO: Cabled Earflap Hat.

Hi all! I've gotten a lot of knitting done in the past week and I FINALLY finished this hat I'd been working on for ages:


(let's not talk about how badly I need to get my hair trimmed, k?)
I had actually finished the hat portion a little over a week ago but I didn't like the way it fit, so I ripped back & redid it. That also enabled me to be a perfectionist about the cables, since I'd accidentally done some of them pretty unevenly the first time.

All things considered, I'm not sure how much I like it. It was fun to knit and it's warm as can be, but it looks silly on me. I don't know why I jumped immediately from my recent & dubious conclusion that I can theoretically look halfway decent in some hats sometimes to the idea that I should wear a cabled hat with ear flaps. I think I skipped some steps in there. Also, much as I love Malabrigo, I wish I'd used a more solid yarn. When I used this for Brian's hat it was absolutely perfect, but somehow here it's too stripy and I think it distracts from the cables. But, hey, I'm off to Montana in 11 days, and I bet I'll be grateful for it there -- or here, for that matter, considering that our high temperature today is 15°F and with the wind chill I don't think it's getting above zero at all.

Also, the way the pattern is finished at the top is the usual (and, I think, fun!) step of cutting the yarn & pulling it through the live stitches, but in this case I think there were too many live stitches & the hole left by them is unacceptably big, in my opinion. So if I do it again I'll somehow work another decrease round in there before finishing.

Anyway, the pattern is here and the yarn is the incomparably soft & wonderful Malabrigo Chunky. Project details at Ravelry, of course.

I also made another Calorimetry for myself, out of the same beautiful yarn I used for my friend's. Still no pictures until she gets hers, since they look basically the same, but trust me, it's perfect!

Now I'm just dying to get to a yarn store. I do still need to do the second sleeve on my cropped cardi, make my friend Steve a hat, and maybe churn out a few more of those cute little hearts & things for Valentine's gifts. But what I really want to make is a neck-warmer for myself. I only became aware of the existence of the neck-warmer a few months ago, via this pattern, and my main thought was that it was super-cool but I couldn't picture anyone wearing it in real life ever. Now, though, I've seen the light, thanks to contemplating traveling to Montana in this weather. I only own 3 scarves (probably pretty strange for a knitter). One is the first thing I ever knit, of course, and it's lovely but acrylic and so not very warm at all. The other two were made by friends and are phenomenally warm, but one is so huge it's almost more like a shawl and the other is extremely delicate & full of sentimental value, so neither are really things I want to travel with. But a neck-warmer! It would be quick and cute and get the job of the scarf done without the bulk! I'm so sold on this idea. I have cute buttons ready & everything! I just need to get back to Knit A Round so I can use more of that wonderful gift card from Aunt Amy...

I have been baking quite a bit lately and Cookie #5 was delicious -- I'll post about that soon! I hope you're all having a great weekend.