December 17, 2004

The official "Kittyville" hat knit using just a little over a one skein of Bergere de France "Magic" in red. I followed the pattern in Debbie Stoller's Stitch'n Bitch, but knit at a slightly smaller gauge and shortened the hat by half an inch at the seed stitch band and one inch before the crown shaping. I decided to knit it without earflaps because it's for my niece, and she lives in warmer climes. It's a quick knit, and it took me less than two short evenings to complete. Fast, but fun. (I just looooooooooooove these kinds of Christmas knits.)

[Footnote: A couple of people wrote to me and/or commented with questions re the ears, because the decreases at the tips of the ears appear to throw off the seed stitch pattern. Just do this: Decrease at the edge as instructed, and then refer to the next stitch in the row below to see where you should be in the seed stitch pattern.]

This particular hat is a Christmas gift for my niece, but I may end up knitting another one for her in another color because it is a really cute hat. [Wanna see how it looks on? Sure you do. Click here.] Maybe next time I'll do it in a fuzzy or furry yarn.

Speaking of Christmas, I'm enjoying the holiday decorations out in the city. Walking around some of the streets is particularly entertaining right now because some places have really gone all out. The hair salon where I get my hair cut has plastered white furry carpet pieces everywhere and hung mirrored blinking disco lights from the ceiling. I kid you not. It looks like Winter Wonderland meets Saturday Night Fever. It's a blast! I don't know whether to ask for a conditioning treatment or a frozen margarita when I'm in there. I need to remember to pull out my camera next time I pass by it, but in honor of the holiday decorations in the city here's a shot of one of the more subtle ones I took outside of a fromagerie in the Croix Rousse yesterday:




And in the "I love Christmas" category, I want to give a shout out to Jenny for surprising me with an Interweave Knits subscription as a Christmas present! (I can't find Interweave Knits here in Lyon, and Carolyn is the one who has sent me nearly every issue since Spring 2003!) Much appreciated, because it keeps me in the loop on what everyone is knitting overseas.

*Big props to my son for modeling his cousin's hat for me. He's such a sport. He posed nicely for several photos, and then snatched the hat off of his head and said, "Okay, that's enough, Mommy. This is a girl's hat." Hehe. Love it! He cracks me up.

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