Knitting

I have a hand-knit baby sock made by DJFleesh as a magnet on my refrigerator, the last of the spoils from this orphan sock raid. I have knit (knitted?) things in the past, the most recent being a scarf for Cheryl in 2007 and the most complicated finished object being a hat for my dad to replace that awful blaze orange thing he wears when raking leaves. (He still wears it. I tried.) I have lofty goals of knitting Christmas stockings for all of us now that we have a mantel, but I only started one, and then pulled the needles out to use for another project. Let's get real. I need small projects that can be finished quickly or else I'll lose interest.

Inspired by the tiny sock on my fridge, I figured I'd make a baby hat. I could spend hours looking at all the knitting patterns on Etsy with squeeshy models (oh, how cute). At Britex in San Fran I got a pom-pom maker (new tool!), and when I got home I bought a ball of cotton yarn (in variegated green for those of you trying to read into colors and guess the baby's sex). I happened to have the right size of double-pointed wooden needles (feeding my packrat tendency), and have gotten as far as doing a sample square to check my gauge. (This is a big step for me, because usually I skip the gauge-checking for the more fun parts.)

Molly provided me a pattern for a hat like these. Football season is upon us and I like to sit with Steve and make fun of the announcers while pretending to watch the game. Now I can do all that while knitting. Or finishing that quilt. ("Nesting!") Last night I got several inches of the hat knitted during the season opener. It looks a little big for a newborn, so maybe it will be for the following winter.

I'm still looking for a pattern with a ribbed brim and a plain top so I can use a pom pom, so feel free to give pattern suggestions or sources as I can't find the one I've used before.