new knits for me!

I love the beginning of the new year, when I can switch gears from gift knitting to selfish knitting! I started Patti over Christmas vacation. I purchased yarn for this sweater quite some time ago, and I was a very good girl and didn't even swatch until I was finished with all my Christmas gift knitting! But I became increasingly unsure about this pattern, since the swing coat style of this sweater is kinda trendy right now. Should I spend so much time working on something that I might not wear next year? Will it even be in style when I finally finish it?? Are people going to start assuming I'm with child if I wear too many of these types of sweaters??? After pondering these important questions, I decided that not only did I get a great bargain on the yarn, but I'm always behind the trends anyway, so I should get a satisfactory return on my "investment" in this one. I finished the back and most of the left front panel. I thought the stockinette would be driving me up the wall by now, but it makes great tv knitting.

And then I decided I wanted a new hat. I think the new snowshoes that Santa brought me may have been the catalyst. I added Melissa's Stella's Hat to my queue as soon as she posted it, and when I saw Leslie's Garter Ridge Hat the other day, I decided to combine the two. I purchased some Lamb's Pride Bulky, so my gauge was much different. I cast on 72 st., and when I get to the decreases I'll start on row 3 and continue from there. I'm planning on knitting the hat longer than the 6" that are called for in the pattern to get the slouchy top portion, like the garter ridge hat, but I suspect that the bulky yarn will not have enough "flop." So I ordered some Malabrigo worsted in some yummy turquoises and greens and if the bulky hat doesn't flop just so, I'll stick to Melissa's pattern for this one and try again with the worsted yarn. I figure I should really see what all the Malabrigo fuss is about, anyway...