Beginning with Finishing

It looks like this new year will begin with finishing things. I'll be spending the month tying up various loose ends of my master's thesis research and preparing papers for publication. I will also be working on finishing holiday knitting, those handful of pesky little projects that I just could not get done in time. Selfish knitting and free time will have to wait just a little bit longer. 

 But no matter, because knitted hats are fun! They are the first things I knitted without a pattern, I like to just wing them as I go because once you know your gauge and how tight you like your hats, they are basically foolproof and small enough that if you screw up, ripping back is no big deal. The only really important part is how and when to decrease at the top, which can be redone easily if something comes out looking wonky.

Malabrigo Rios, colorways Black and Ravelry Red

I made this hat for my 10-year-old cousin, Austin. His favorite color used to be eye-searing orange, so this black-and-red combo is a nice change. I love the Ravelry Red color, it has some depth to it and ranges from strawberry to candy apple to fire truck red. My favorite part about this hat is that Austin requested it, telling me he needed new "swag". Kids these days...

I also finished the baby booties for my advisor's pending tiny human, and whipped up an adorable little hat to coordinate:

Booties: STR Lightweight, colorway Spinel / Hat: The Alpaca Yarn Co. Paca-Peds, colorway Promise of Spring

The cuteness of this set cannot be denied, I love it. I had tried the Paca-Peds yarn as socks, but I'm used to the spring of STR and 100% wool and the Paca-Peds is 65% superwash wool, 15% nylon, and 20% alpaca, so it behaved very differently. I might try it again with the leftover yarn, perhaps anklets, but I loved it held double for this little hat. I also like how it striped even though I knit it with two strands held from opposite ends of the ball. Magic! I hope the alpaca holds up well for baby wear, I don't see why it shouldn't since it's a superwash sock yarn.

What's your favorite yarn for tiny human knits?