In April 2010 when George's brother Mark was visiting us, I had him good through my books and pamphlets of hats to select hats for him and his wife Lizzy.  Mark said that Lizzy had had a light blue hat with bobbles that had been her favorite and she had lost it.  After going through my books, he selected "Bobbi" from Hip Knit Hats by Cathy Carron.

Last week I bought some Cascade 220 Superwash yarn in a light blue that I though Lizzy might like.

I cast on the hat on Oct 8th using the recommended size 5.5mm needles and finished the large version of the hat on Oct 9th, a full two-days of knitting.  The hat was of course big on me.  Then I washed and blocked the hat.  It grew and became lacy in appearance. 



Not a good thing in a hat meant to keep someone's head warm in winter.  I plan to rip out the hat now that it is dry and reknit it on a smaller size needle.  Let's hope that takes care of the problem.  I do have the tendency to knit some things a little loose.

Over a year ago, I came across a pattern for a stroller/carseat blanket that had sock monkey faces knitted on it.  The pattern was Sleepy Monkey Blanket by Mary Ann Stephens.


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I decided to knit it for my niece Hannah.  I bought several colours I liked in Cascade 220 Superwash and cast on in February.  I knitted about an inch and then got distracted.  I started knitting on it again in September, and finished the front and back this month.  The front and back are both knitted as tubes and then cut open in a process called "steeking".

Unsteeked back outside:


Unsteeked back inside:


Now I need to steek the front and back parts, and then wet-block them before picking up stitches for the border.

I've been wanting to knit the Selbu Modern Beret, a free pattern available on Ravelry, for several months and now that cool weather has finally arrived, it was time to do so.