A hat for you, a hat for me

I think we've all recovered, for the most part, from the plague. This time it wasn't just the kiddos who were sick - this time mama got it. Mamas aren't supposed to get sick. Fortunately, I believe we're all through the worst of it, with just a hint of runny noses hanging on.

Just before the plague hit us, though, I had been busy knitting. My dear online friend Tara, who helped me survive my pregnancy with the twins, is going through her own battle...her mom was recently diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia. It's hard to feel helpless when a friend is hurting, so I did what I could - I knit a hat for her and for her mom. It's something so small, but it's something. A little bit of love and warmth and comfort.

All three hats were knit out of Malabrigo Merino Worsted, which is absolutely the softest yarn ever. I just can't get enough...it's like butter. The pink hat is Tara's, and I used Leslie's Chunky Knit Beanie pattern. It is a very quick and easy pattern, knit on size 15 needles - it was finished in just a few hours. I double stranded the yarn, since the pattern calls for bulky yarn.

The blue hat, made for Tara's mom, is the Rose Hill pattern, which took considerably longer for me to knit, though it still wasn't a terribly long project. The only problems I had were that my hands are so weak (another post for another day) that I had a hard time making the bobbles, and then when I started the stockinette, I realized that my bobbles were on the wrong side of the fabric. No problem - I just popped them through to the other side...but it still bothers me that I can't figure out where I went wrong. Huh.

And then, after Tara and her mom's hats were done, I found that I loved the chunky beanie SO much that I just had to have one for myself. Fortunately, I still had another skein of Malabrigo just waiting for a project...so a few hours later, I had my own hat! It is so soft, I just want to hold it and touch it and honestly, I would like to sleep with it. But it would probably get all fuzzy and pill-y and wouldn't be quite as nice anymore...so I'll resist the temptation.

I think I have to force myself to take a break from the knitting needles, because my sewing machine is feeling a bit neglected. It hasn't had any love from me since...well, since I learned how to knit on Christmas day!