Argyle and Aran

I finished my argyle hat last night out of the Cotton Angora yarn (using size 7 double-pointed needles), but there was a little problem with the sizing. My intention was to make a hat that would fit a 9-12 month old. The argyle pattern needed a repeat of 12 stitches and my gauge didn't really fit that too well. Rather than make a teeny-tiny hat that not even a baby could wear, I opted for the larger size, but it turned into a just-smaller-than-normal-adult size hat.



Luckily, I have a pretty small head, so it fits me (just barely). I guess I made myself a hat. Oh well - I can't give everything I knit away!

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Not satisfied with having finished two projects in the past week, I've embarked upon another. I'm now making a toddler's aran sweater with Sirdar Denim Chunky (size 10 straight needles). I have so much of this Sirdar yarn that I don't feel bad experimenting. I actually got 12 large skeins of it on eBay for close to nothing over a year ago, so I need to do something with it to free up space. I've only been working on the sweater for a few hours and here's how it looks so far:



It's essentially my own design - by essentially I mean that I'm using aran patterns from a book but I decided how they should all fit together. I do think I was pretty crafty because I put together my own little chart in Fireworks (thank you, web design skills!) that has been incredibly helpful. (No flipping back and forth through my aran pattern book, no siree.) This aran book I'm talking about is the Harmony Guide for Aran and Fair Isle. It's worth checking out if you're interesting in designing your own funky garments.

Side note: I was knitting this while playing a freeroll tournament at pokerroom.com. Got my QQ beat by 97 offsuit that made a four-card flush. Sigh. Knitting and poker do not mix!