This past week has been a whirlwind of activity what with traveling, Thanksgiving, family visits, and my mom’s breast cancer surgery. Monday was a 16 hour day of waiting for news but I’m thrilled to report that the surgery (double mastectomy) was a success and my mom is healing like a champ. We just brought her home from the hospital yesterday and while she is in plenty of pain and recovery will take some time, she’s being a trooper and even started crocheting again a bit. To say I’m relieved is a massive understatement. I’ve learned a few things trough all of this: 1) my mom is a strong lady, 2) cancer is serious business, and 3) apparently, when under duress, I knit hats! I have 2 hat FO’s and one WIP to show you today.

Kickass Hat:

Verdant Gryphon Mondegreen, colorway Slow Motion Walter Fire Engine Guy. Click for project page.

First up is a hat for me, me, me. This is the North Wind Hat pattern designed by Felicia Lo that I raved about a little while ago. It’s a simple lace pattern and knit in a luscious yarn like VG Mondegreen it makes a perfect hat. And it totally matches my current favorite cowl, so that makes me happy. The only changes I made were to add a purl row where I wanted the brim to turn up and to do 3 repeats of the pattern instead of 4, which turned out plenty slouchy for me.

Mom’s Chemo Cap:

Rowan Lima yarn. Click for project page.

When I got to my parents’ house, my mom handed me 3 balls of Rowan Lima yarn and requested a pretty, slouchy hat for post-chemo because the yarn was just so. darn. soft. Made primarily of baby alpaca with a bit of Merino wool and nylon, the yarn has an interesting knitted construction (like knitting with a bit of i-cord) and is really, beautifully soft. The construction makes it snag quite a bit with pointy needles and tinking/picking up stitches can be a real pain but it makes a gorgeous fabric. The pattern is a really fun and simple colorwork scalloped design by Alex Tinsley, Varia, of which I will definitely be making more. I slightly modified the pattern to have an 80 stitch cast on to compensate for larger needles than I usually knit worsted weight hats with and the drape of the yarn.

Icy Adiri:

Bittersweet Woolery Ingenue, colorway Iceling. Click for project page.

My current WIP is a pattern for the Indie Designer’s #Giftalong KAL, the Adiri Slouchy Hat by Julia Trice. I am enjoying the pattern so far, the cables and lace are really lovely. I wish the ribbing flowed into the main pattern more cleanly, but I could always try to modify the next one. I’m not sure if I’m in love with the yarn. It’s an alpaca/wool/silk blend that is kitten-soft in the skein but is so barely spun that it feels like it is about to fall apart as you knit with it. The alpaca hairs seem to stick out a lot, too, which has been irritating my hands as I knit with it. Hopefully it will feel better when worn. The dyeing is pretty, though.

That’s all I have to share today! I’m looking forward to catching up with blogs while I spend the rest of the week away from home helping my mom. Check out more WIPs at Tamis Amis!