So close, and yet, so far:


I just didn't have the energy to do the last four rows (two more decrease rows and a couple of rows plain) and then the neckband last night.

I'm going to have just enough yarn for this - I'm ready to break into the last ball of the Andean Silk. (I think I bought one ball more than I predicted I'd need based on the published requirements. On the Purl website - corrections for the book - the author has noted that the sweater seems to take more yarn than called for for a number of knitters. So if you plan on making it, get extra.)

And this is the little hat I started over the weekend:



It's made using the Sally Melville "mostly knit round" hat pattern from her Knit Stitch book. I like this pattern a lot - it's simple to do, it has a cute little garter-stitch brim on it, it doesn't take a lot of yarn.

I'm making this hat for me using one of JoAnn Fabrics' "house" yarns. It's called Dolcetto and is a wool/cotton/nylon blend. And you know? I really like the yarn. It's very soft and kind of looks/feels like singles, so I don't know how well it would wear for a garment receiving more abuse (like a sweater or a pair of "working" gloves). But it's nice-feeling, and it should be warm without being too warm. I have a couple more balls of this in the stash - purchased on sale or when I felt the need to just buy some yarn - and I might make up the rest of it into hats and send them off somewhere, or keep them on hand for "emergency" gifts to people. It is a lovely soft yarn - I think it would actually make nice chemo caps (as long as the person didn't have a wool sensitivity) or hats for children. (It's half cotton though so I am not sure it would be warm enough for someplace like Dulaan.)

I also have some coordinating yarn from another line to make a scarf for myself out of, to go with the hat.