Ahhhh.....

Christmas / Winter break has arrived!! That means....

1. More time for knitting
2. More time for outdoor play
3. No excuse for letting the house fall into disarray
4. NO GRADING!!!
5. More time w/my family
6. Sleeping in...
7. NO GRADING!!!
8. Time to relax & do whatever
9. More time for knitting
10. Time to get Christmas letter written..
11. Actually put Christmas cards in the mail...
    
12. Did I mention - NO GRADING!!

Yes - vacation has arrived. For high school teachers this meant a week of midterm exams, so other than the grading (argh) it was a nice, 'easy' slow, week leading into break. I can't imagine the chaos that reigned in the elementary & middle school classrooms the week prior to break. I think Iain fell asleep in the car on the way home at least 3 times this week. Everyone was ready for break!!

The temps have warmed up so this afternoon we met up with friends for a little ice skating. I haven't played organized hockey for the past few weeks due to late game times, so it was fun to get out on the ice & move the body. A wee bit of wind, but we all had a great time!

Orion & Iain skating around. Surprisingly, Orion's skates still fit from last season. Of course, Iain out grew his, so we had to buy a new pair. The days of 'hand-me-downs' are over.

Iain, Gary, Tazlina, Me, & Orion skating around while Wade takes the photo. This was taken around 3:30 pm! Keep in mind, Solstice was Friday, so our days are actually getting longer!! I think we gained 14 seconds of daylight today. Whoo hoo!!

Knitting update: I'm on a bit of a hat jag right now & Hat's On by Charlene Schurch is now my favorite knitting book. I'm having to restrain myself from casting on another hat tonight - I do so need to finish my vintage socks for my swap pal by January 7.

Here's the beginning of the Norwegian Star Hat from the Hat's On book. The bottom 3" of stockinette are knit on size 4 needles & then folded up & knit to create a hem. How slick is that? So - that means if your floats from the Fair Isle aren't very neat & trim, they'll be hidden by the hem. The hem adds another layer of knitted fabric, so this hat is very warm - great for Alaska!! I began this hat w/size 4 for the hem & then onto size 7 for the main body of the hat. I only used size 7 size I didn't have a size 6 circular w/a small enough cable. When I moved into the crown I experienced some difficulty w/the lice pattern (due to error on my part of not completely reading the directions). It quickly became apparent (well not so quickly - I just kept ignoring the 'little voice') the hat would be too big, so riiiiip, riiiip, riiiip the hat went - back down to the hem. Arghhhh

After purchasing the correct size circular, I picked up the live stitches & knit like a fool. I ripped back Saturday, Dec. 15 & finished the hat the evening of Dec. 16th. I love the picot edge formed when the hem is folded. The band is a smidge loose, & I could have knit a few rows to make the hat a bit deeper, but overall it's really cute & I'm pleased. The jog in the pattern where I joined in the round isn't too terribly bad. I've vowed to work on that in the future... The hat was originally a Christmas gift for Wade, but w/his short hair & small head, it didn't look right, so - a new hat for me. :0)

Orion proudly models the Danish Earflap cap - hat #2 of my hat jag & again from Hat's On. Again - this was originally knit w/Wade in mind. I think the hat is pretty cute on Orion - they'll have to duke it out.
I love this hat!! A very quick knit - I cast this on Tuesday evening & finished it this morning. The earflaps are double layers & knit using short rows. Man, Charlene Schurch is just brilliant! The patterns are well written & easy to follow. Any mistakes are totally mine. I think the trickiest part was making the lanyard things for the earflaps. They aren't totally perfect, but they'll do.

Here's the driving force behind why I wanted to knit this particular hat:

How cool is that? I think I'm going to knit the next hat w/this top regardless of what the pattern says.

Details:

Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash - I used the same skein of white in both hats. I think I can even get a 3rd hat from it as a contrast color.

Needles: Addi Turbo 20" circular in both size 4 US (hem/earflaps) and 6 US (body/crown)

Sizes: Large for Norwegian Hat; Medium for Danish Earflap cap

Love these hats! I'm planning on knitting at least 3 more from this book during break as gifts for Orion & Iain's teachers. Small tokens of appreciation were given prior to break - no time for knitting before, so I'll take advantage of the time now.

Ciao! Off to make cookies for Santa!