Kate's new hat

My knitting needles and I have a love/hate relationship at the moment.  I have three sweaters in progress and many little projects that I tote around with me, squeezing in knitting wherever I can.  Having no electricity for 8 days didn't stop the knitting - you certainly don't need power for that.  I want to knit so badly, but sadly my wrist/elbow/tendinitis just don't want me to make loops with sticks and yarn.  My body is betraying me and I don't like it one bit.

For awhile I was doing just fine, knitting in moderation.  It was going overboard that did me in.  I think Kate's new hat is the culprit.  I was a woman obsessed.  I went to the yarn store one afternoon and by the next afternoon, I had finished it.  That was knitting only in daylight hours.  And this was try number two.  The first one wasn't working for me - cute, but not exactly what I wanted.  So I started over.

I didn't use a pattern, per se.  Kristin, the owner of my lys, printed out the fair isle chart from this hat project at the Purl Bee.  I cast on 88 stitches in worsted weight yarn, using a size 8 needle.  My gauge is 4.5 sts per inch in the fairisle part.  The colors are all Nashua Creative Focus, which I had in my stash.  The gray is Lamb's Pride Worsted which I bought because it is the perfect match for Kate's new winter coat.  I knit 7 rounds of k2, p2 rib and then changed to stockinette stitch for 7 rounds.  I worked the chart and then worked 2 more rounds of st st in the green.  I started decreasing by k6, k2tog across the next round.  Then I knit one round and followed it by the next decrease, k5, k2tog.  I kept alternating the decrease round with a knit round until k1, k2tog.  After that one, I just kept k2 tog until I had about 9 stitches to pull my yarn tail through.  I added a little braid and a pom pon and that was that.

My fair isle is a bit sloppy in parts - could it be the two different yarns?  Regardless, the photos really don't do it justice.  I'm not sure why I thought putting a 6 year old in her winter coat and wool hat in 85 degree weather would work for a photo shoot.  Really.  What was I thinking?  I had about 3 minutes before the meltdown started.  Oh well.  She'll be happy come winter.

And me?  Well, I'm calling the physical therapist again.  And I am searching for an acupuncturist, too.  I need my body to work with my mind, not against it.  Just think of how productive I could be then.