Short Rows Hat, modeled by Mr. Cal

I woke up at 5 a.m. again, and while surfing the internet found a nice little hat pattern posted on the Yahoo! group knitbabysurprise. I immediately thought of those Woolease scraps of fuchsia I have been wanting to use up, so I added some purple and colonial blue and worked on this hat in between chores today. The pattern gauge is 4 stitches to the inch, but I can't do that without going up to at least a size 11 needle (which hurts my hands pretty quickly), so my hat is somewhat smaller than the child size it should be and is more appropriate for a baby or toddler. Next time I will just cast on more stitches to make the hat larger. I do like the look of big fat garter stitch, and it is very cushiony and will make a nice winter accessory for someone. I will probably put it in my charity knitting bag.

Here is Calvin, who is a more complacent model if I photograph him before he's fully awake:




















I'm still mulling over my future projects. I'm sort of in the hat mood, and there are several nice patterns in Last Minute Knitted Gifts that I'd like to try, like Kim's Hats. I'd like to make a cap with earflaps for my cousin's little boy, who just turned one year old. I also really enjoyed the fat garter stitch of the short rows hat and have always wanted to make EZ's Tomten Sweater, so if my infatuation continues for the next couple of days, I may start one of those.

The baby surprise sweater is nearing completion. I am almost to the section where you knit on the center 90 stitches, and it'll go pretty quickly after that. My white socks are completed, washed, and blocking on the dryer right now. I can't wait to wear them; of course, the weather isn't cooperating and has gone back up into the 60s this week. I'm ready for the next cold snap.