of Turkeys and XOXO Boyfriend Hats

Still trying to get back into the swing of blogging, but in the meantime, some stuff I've been working on:

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!  I brought this as part of a gift for the people who hosted Thanksgiving dinner this year:

Gary the Turkey Cloth

It was a pretty fast knit, although I did have to add some single crochet edges and it needed a bit of blocking.  It might be fun to make a few of these in matching colors and join to make a tablecloth or runner, or even a kitchen towel.

I also can't believe there are almost 600 projects for my Swirls Cap!  I'm totally flabbergasted that it ever got this much interest!

Swirls Cap

I've also finally made my boyfriend a new hat for this year (seriously, he gets 1-2 new hats every year):

XOXO Boyfriend Hat

I made the first variation of this hat when I started knitting in 2001 (pre-Ravelry, pre-Blogging, Prehistoric, totally!)  I believe this was my 3rd or 4th project ever, after I had mastered the cabled hat in "Idiot's Guide to Knitting", which was my first ever knitting book.  I had also made a pair of matching fingerless mitts. They've been totally stretched and worn out of shape, almost to the point of felted, but here's a couple pics:

I had used some bulky Cherry Tree Hill wool from an annual sale they had... I think they sold through ebay back then, but am not sure if they still do... Anyway, as you can see, the elasticity did not hold up well over the years...which is why the newer version of the hat has more ribbing.  It's funny looking at my earlier knits, as I'm a lot more picky now about finishing techniques and the different types of increases/decreases I'll choose for a particular project.