Gift-A-Long Knitting

We are now officially well into the first week of the Gift-A-Long, and I am well into my (so far) two GAL projects.

I cast on for a Nara hat for Rainbow on Friday and finished it on Sunday evening, no small feat when you consider that I couldn't knit on it when she was around because it's intended for a Chanukah present.

N.B.: Color is not at all accurate.

I really enjoyed this pattern. There's just enough stitch pattern to keep it interesting, and when you're done with the lace and the twisted stitches, you're ready for the bit of stockinette that's above it. I started to panic that I would run out of yarn about halfway through the hat even though I should have had plenty (the pattern calls for about 170 yds. for the size I made and my skein of Quince & Co. Chickadee should have had 181 yds.), so I did not add extra length that I would have liked to have added. I ended up having plenty of yarn leftover, so I probably could have thrown in a few more extra rounds, but I'm happy to have not had to play yarn chicken at the end. I stretched the hat a bit when I blocked it, so that should give just enough slouch.

This pattern is going on my recommended list (and you can still get it for 25% off through Friday!). In fact, I'm very likely going to cast on another one for myself using some handspun that's been languishing in a WIP that I'm ready to rip out.

Before I can start knitting for myself, though, I have another GAL project to finish. My cousin gave birth to her second daughter last Thursday, and so I immediately cast on for a sweater for her (normally I would have knit one ahead of time, but my cousin and her husband chose to be surprised by the baby's gender, so I waited so I could make an appropriate yarn choice). I'm knitting Lisa Chemery's Boy Sweater again, this time in handspun superwash merino that's been marinating in my stash for many years. It was spun from an 8 oz. bundle of fiber from the now defunct Crown Mountain Farms; the colorway was called In the Skies, and it's a beautiful blend of blues and purples with the occasional shot of hot pink. I love how it's knitting up.

Colors also completely off

I am knitting the 6 month size for this, and as you would expect, it's going very quickly. In fact, if I can keep up my pace, I might even get it done by the end of the week so I can send it off to the recipient this weekend. Considering she lives in the Chicago area and they just got a big dumping of snow over the weekend, she's going to need a warm wool sweater!

These were really the only two patterns I was planning to make for the GAL, but then Rainbow announced that most of her sweaters are too small, so it looks like I'll be casting on a new one for her. I found (and she approved) Romane and Roman, and our plan is to head to my LYS on Friday to pick out yarn. I'll let you know what we find!