For those of you who don't know yet, my big sister Rae has a knack for a) producing cute offspring and b) convincing me to knit things for them. She stumbled across the Gnomey Hat a while ago and before I knew it I was signing up to knit a couple for the Rae-spawn.

this is the angelic profile shot.

Since I generally dislike knitting with bulky yarn, the stash didn't turn up much (I just checked. I have a whopping...4 skeins). So I grabbed a couple hanks of Stonehenge Fiber Mill Shepherd's Wool I'd already designated for an Elliot-hat and decided I'd make it work*.

Even with the yarn held doubled my gauge was way off, and I wanted to make the hat a skitch larger than written. So I did some dodgy math and cast on 53 stitches (because it's always a good idea to cast on a prime number of stitches when making a hat???) and just knitted something resembling a Gnomey. Most importantly, I did a garter band at the bottom and approximately followed the instructions for making the top pointy, which is all that really matters anyway.

Yep, that's the Tomten. Click to slightly embiggerate

Once I plunked the proto-hat on Elliot's noggin at Thanksgiving it was pretty obvious that I'd made it way too long for a toddler (it fit me nicely though!) so I folded up the garter brim and attached the earflaps under that. Never one to refuse an opportunity to include a pom or two, I happily made a couple nice puffy ones and threw in some braided ties for good measure.

Not counting patience highest on her list of virtues, Rae also showed up at Thanksgiving with a partially knitted Gnomey, which she finished over the weekend as well (though I would like to point out that I finished mine first...because I am competitive like that).

So now Rae can tool around town with two intriguingly behatted children in tow, which I do believe is what she wanted all along.

this is not the angelic profile shot

Vital Stats
Pattern: Gnomey Hat, by Adrian Bizilia (Hello Yarn).
Yarn: Stonehenge Fiber Mill Shepherd's Wool, held double (lakeshore and antique rose). This yarn is amazing…all soft and cushy and lovely. I'll definitely use it again.
Needles: 10.5 DPNs
Raveled here

*Rae had given me one of the colors a while back on the condition that it be used for woolies for her children..see how she operates?

Posted by Elli at 11:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

It's odd. I suddenly find myself smack dab in the holiday season feeling rather lost and bewildered. In a normal year I'd already have a few months of holiday knitting under my belt and would have been counting down the knitting days remaining. But this year...knitted gifts are a little thin on the ground. I've completed one hat, started in on a baby sweater, and I've got almost one of those purple socks finished. How totally unlike me! I feel like somebody should confiscate my knitter badge.

Hattity hat hat hat*

To be fair, I promised myself that this year I would not push myself to the edge of exhaustion by knitting ten bajillion gifts, and I am absolutely on target to meet that goal. But it's strange, because it turns out that the last minute panicked knitting frenzy is a bit of a tradition for me, and it doesn't quite feel like the holidays yet because I'm not surrounded by spreadsheets and half completed knitted goods. Seems I need to work on finding my happy medium.

Anyway, tonight I was going to blog about the hat I finished over Thanksgiving, a modified Gnomie that I made for the wee nephewling (who is getting less and less wee by the minute), but I seem to have forgotten my camera's memory card at work. So instead you get a little bit of a ramble through my brain and a photo of one of last year's unblogged Christmas gifts. Enjoy!

*{Koolhaas, for my BIL Ross, knitted in Rowan Magpie Tweed Aran (discontinued), in a long-forgotten shade of reddish-orange.}

Posted by Elli at 10:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)