Baby Its Cold in Here

I have a love hate relationship with our apartment. I love the 12 foot ceilings and beautiful molding and glass doorknobs.

You know all the cool stuff that comes with a house that is over 100 years old.

I do not, however, love the ancient gas heating system or drafty windows and doors. We keep the thermostat set at a very brisk 66 degrees and our heating bill is still ridiculous. . .for an apartment that essentially only has one living room, one bedroom, a kitchen and a bathroom. . .and no hallways (did I mention it is tiny).

So we have taken to dressing in layers and wearing hats indoors. I bought this beautiful yarn at The Smoky Mountain Spinnery in Gatlinburg with some Christmas money (thanks Papaw!).

And made this Koolhaas hat by Jared Flood for Hubby.

I kind of love it and have threatened to steal it.

With all the hats I have made recently you would think I would own a million, but I had never made one for myself! I looked at a bunch of patterns but I really liked the Fjord hat I made for my friend Leah. I am also trying to be more economical with my yarn and so I wanted to use some of my stash first. I had a lot of the Mirasol Kutama yarn left and I wondered how the Fjord hat would look in a bulky yarn.

Needless to say there was no pattern, I just cast on fewer stitches and then improvised to get the general look (details here).

 

I had no idea how warm it would keep my head! And we need it right now, the low tonight is supposed to be 9 degrees. Temperatures that low make our chilly apartment seem almost warm when you come inside!

One Hat, Two Hat, Red Hat, Blue Hat

Now I can finally show off what I have been working on for the past few months! (and get back to knitting my pendulum shawl)

First a hat for a friend at work. The pattern is named Fjord and I knit it with a beautiful red yarn called Rowan Lima that she picked out.

Thanks Hubby for modeling it for me!

Loved the hat, may have to make one for myself one day.

Next a Christmas present for my sister. She asked for a slouchy hat. This is a pretty easy pattern and it knit up really quickly.

Please excuse the weird self-portrait.

Finally I knit an earwarmer for my mother-in-law who walks outside most days. It has been frigid here and so I hope it keeps her warm! I am going to apologize in advance for these truly terrible pictures. I finished this project right before Christmas and I was working 12 hour shifts all of the days leading up to Christmas day. That meant I had to quickly take pictures in awful lighting after the sun went down.

The light does no justice to the color. It is a truly gorgeous undyed alpaca yarn (Cascade Eco Duo) that has a natural variation from light to dark cream color. Although it is a little difficult to work with, the finished products are beautiful and may be the softest things I have ever touched.

So these things kept me busy for a few months (plus the birthday mittens). I know I said I was going to get back to my pendulum, but I have already bought yarn for two new projects. I don’t know what my problem is, I never had this issue when I was just crocheting! I would finish a project before starting another. Oh well, as long as each one gets finished eventually. . . .

Happy New Year!