Hat and gloves

I am going out on a serious limb today, readers. I have debated showing you one of the projects that I worked on for Christmas because then I would have to explain to whom I gave it, and I wasn't sure if I was ready to announce it to the entire blogosphere (or like the 40 or so of you that actually read this blog). But here goes.

This year, I knitted a hat and gloves for...

...my boyfriend. It's true. I have one. I had been single for nearly a year previous, and that was honestly one of the best almost-full-years of my life. I really needed that time to breath, be myself, and refocus my life on God first and foremost. I had no intention of seeking out a relationship, but then—Bam! There was Tommy at a friend's birthday party this fall. I mean, that's not the whole story, but this blog is about my creative projects, after all, so you're just going to have to ask me the story of us offline if you don't already know it.

Whew. Okay, personal life confession time over. Back to the hat and gloves, which are the topic of this post, after all!

Initially, I had set out to just make a hat using Stephen West's pattern Honegart. I hopped on the metro to Knit and Stitch in Bethesda during a lunch break and found a gorgeous and super-soft handspun merino/alpaca blend by Blue Sky Alpacas. I think the yarn is their worsted hand dye in #2013 midnight blue and #2025 charcoal, but I don't have the tags with me right now to check for sure. This was unfortunately one of the most expensive yarns I could have chosen, but it knits up like a dream and the depth of color is amazing, so I think it was worth it in the end (for a small project anyway—I couldn't afford a whole sweater's worth!).

I finished the hat within two evenings of starting it. Then I promptly took some Instagram photos of  it to send to my best friend Lauren. Sorry to disappoint you, but you're not going to get any photos of Tommy wearing it today because (1) I don't have any, and (2) I haven't asked him if he would be okay with me posting photos of him on my blog. So here's some awkwardly close-up, self-taken photos of me wearing it instead.

My favorite feature is the earflaps. They make the hat so cozy!

After finishing the hat, I still had an untouched skein of midnight blue and half a skein of charcoal with 5 days left until Christmas. So, I made some gloves, too. Although I have made a number of pairs of gloves for myself in the past, it was challenging to know if I was making the right size for a guy. I think they turned out pretty well, though. (Thank you various office friends for trying them on for me mid-glove to see if I had the sizing right!)

I gave them to Tommy on Christmas Eve, and he loved them.