Yesterday I turned in more items for the Michigan State vs. University of Michigan charity knitting challenge, to add to the hats I’d finished earlier this month. This hat is a slightly bigger version of the Hat Fit for a Boyfriend than I made last time. For this one, I cast on 80 stitches and made it a bit longer as well. I played with the decreases again, trying to make the taper a bit gentler and avoid having wide purl channels near the top. I like how it turned out. I wish I’d taken better notes on what I did, but with so many other things I want to knit, it may be a while before I make another ribbed cap like this and by then I may have learned some new techniques that could make it even better.

I also successfully knit my first pair of mittens ever. I used the Shipping Green Water pattern, in part because they looked interesting, and in part because it said I could do them two at once on two needles. (I think most mittens can be done that way, but since I’d never made any I didn’t want to take chances.) When it came time to cast on, I had to refer back to the tutorial that helped me out before, but from then on it was pretty easy to follow the pattern. I did get a bit confused when it came time to leave the hole for the thumb and then knit up the rest of the hand, but the stranding in the colorwork section was easier than I expected, and making the thumbs themselves was really quick (I did them on two circulars as well, one at a time). They turned out great, if I do say so myself.