Hat's On to DH!

I made a hat for DH for his birthday. My first handknit gift to him, and he loved it! It is the ribbed watch cap from Lisa Myer's "The Joy of Knitting." I did it in Rowan CashSoft Aran (black, of course) on size 7s. There are two reasons for this: firstly, he doesn't have a large head (marry small people - your projects will get done so much faster) and a slightly heavier worsted to make a slightly larger hat didn't seem necessary, and second.... well, second, this yarn is just about the softest thing you'll ever touch.

I used about 1 and 2/3 balls to make the hat, and it came out great.

Let me rephrase. It came out perfectly. I was so pleased with its technical perfection and beautiful symmetry that I actually made DH bend down a bit so I could examine the top of his hatted head and note the way the decreases flowed into one another, and the ribs met so neatly at the top.

This is in contrast to my regrettable sock-toe grafting moment a couple of days before DH's bday, which involved swearing, tossing and shoving of things, and peevish (albeit temporary) refusal to partake of the mozzarella cheesesticks DH thoughtfully cooked up for us. I have come to a realization about myself: I suck at grafting. This means:

1. I must master grafting, probably by doing swatches instead of attempting on actual socks, and probably when DH is out doing other things; or

2. I must find viable alternatives to grafting, such as toe-up socks, three-needle bindoffs, etc. Am I a real sock knitter if I don't graft?

But I digress. I did close the toe, albeit not so fabulously. I am going to take it out and re-do with the three-needle bindoff. The good news, though, is that I did cast on the second sock immediately (and without twisting, which was all but guaranteed given my vile mood).

At the moment, I am working almost exclusively on SBT2 (nearly done), and a gifty scarf. Okay, there are also ocassional assignations with a certain EPS sweater, and a reversible cable shawl. Oh, and DH's golf club covers. The gifty scarf is going superfast - it is the ideal commute project, and I am taking it to my lunch-hour knitting group on Fridays.