I am not yet ready to write about my infuriating and traumatic experience with the Bank of America mortgage department, so instead let’s look at some knitting I’ve done recently. Over there on the left is the one item I managed to complete for this year’s Michigan State vs. University of Michigan knitting challenge, which was quite a fall off from last year, when I made five hats and then one more hat and a pair of mittens. Last year the football game the challenge is tied to was later in the season and I heard about it earlier, so I had more time. Anyway, I based this hat on the Seaman’s Cap pattern and used some HMS Markoma Nobel yarn I’d gotten from the sale bin at Knit A Round when I was there dropping off items for last year’s challenge. I used a smaller needle than the ball band called for; I’d love to say I did that intentionally to make a denser fabric that would be warmer in our Michigan winters, but in truth it’s because the ball band wasn’t clear about whether that size 6 needle was a European 6mm (US size 10) or a US size 6 (4mm). I didn’t take the time to check on Ravelry and just grabbed a US size 7 that I’ve used for other hats and got going. I modified the pattern because I don’t like having to change needles after the ribbing; instead I increased six stitches after the ribbing. I also didn’t do the all knit round in the ribbing section so the recipient can fold it wherever works best for her. I had to modify the decreases at the top because I was running out of yarn (thanks to my very dense fabric); I started doing them sooner and in some later rounds had to do twice as many decreases per round. I finished with about a foot of yarn leftover.

Over here on the right is a cap that was supposed to be for this year’s challenge but which I didn’t finish in time so will have to hold onto until next year (or donate to another project if I come across one). It’s based on my go to cap pattern, the Head Hugger Hat. The only change I made was to do a few extra rounds before starting the decreases, because I like a hat to cover the ears completely. I did this one in Plymouth Encore leftover from my Harry Potter knitting. I made the darker red stripes narrower than the lighter red ones because I had less of the darker yarn to start with, but I do like the effect.

I put aside a pair of socks in progress to knit these hats, so I will pick them up again, but I am also pondering whether I am finally ready to start on the multi-colored Kaffe Fassett-style sweater I’ve intended to make with the Rowan Felted Tweed I’ve collected. I’ve yet to settle on a design for that project, so that would be the first step, but I might put that off until after this whole condo mortgage ordeal is finished.