Holidays = Crazy Woman

This year has been all about spinning for me. As a result, I've neglected my knitting most shamefully. In fact, I had only planned to knit one holiday gift—the ankle socks my mom requested long ago. So I dutifully spun up the yarn and knit the socks.

These are just plain ankle socks with a bit of alternating 2 x 2 ribbing on the instep just to keep me interested. That should have been it. Holiday knitting done!

But then something happened inside me last week. A little voice said, "You're a knitter! You must knit more gifts." And like a fool, I decided to heed that voice. Does this happen to the rest of you around the holidays? Because now I'm wondering why I do this to myself year in and year out. When I posed that question to the Professor, he just looked at me gravely. I think he was implying that no sane woman would cause herself so much stress.

Anyway, since time was limited, I decided to see how many hats I could crank out in a week. The answer for me on this particular week was four. (And during that week, I did not spin at all. No. Spinning. At. All.)

Pattern: A Hat Fit for a Boyfriend
Yarn: my own handspun, 70% superwash merino 30% alpaca, "Stormy Weather"

Pattern: Koolhaas by Jared Flood
Yarn: Knit Picks Swish worsted, Wisteria (left) and Clematis Heather (right)

Pattern: Habitat by Jared Flood
Yarn: Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride superwash, gray heather

And now I will observe a moment of silence in gratitude to Jared Flood's incredible hat mojo.