Hold on to your hats because today I have knitting to show you! Maybe I should have said hold on to your sweaters because behold my finished Stopover.

You may recall this sweater because I showed it to you in March of 2019. And I showed you how I had messed up the colorwork on the yoke. Well it’s all fixed now and I can wear it with pride.

I love love love the neutral grey with the black and white on the bottom hem, cuffs and yoke.

And I love that it wasn’t all that horrible to rip it back and fix it. I had plenty of yarn and Lopi is great to unravel since it’s sticky and there isn’t that risk of a stitch running away and dropping down a gazillion rows or something.

It’s perfect with cuffed jeans and sheep socks.

And even matches my shower curtain! I’ve already worn it twice, gotten loads of compliments, and I’m super happy with it.

Ravelry Details on both Stopover sweaters here and here. If you haven’t knit one of these yet I highly recommend it. It’s fast (well, if you don’t screw up) and it’s very wearable and warm.

Today I am so happy to show you photos of Dale’s finished Reykr Hat!

It’s made with Woolen Rabbit Kim’s fabulous WW Kashmir in the color Forever In Blue Jeans. This yarn is super soft and wonderful to work with and the name of that colorway, well, it truly describes Dale’s lifestyle. And mine, too, for that matter.

The pattern is super simple, it’s basically 1X1 rib for miles. Or maybe it just seemed like miles to me because I knit this one twice. I swear I checked my gauge and calculated accordingly but at some point while I was knitting it the thing just got too big. So I ripped out about 10 inches and started over. The good news is that with less stitches it went faster.

And the best news is that it fits and it’s warm. Dale has a lot (really a lot) of winter coats and this navy blue goes with just about all of them. The hat is slouchy and warm and checked off all the things Dale wanted in a hat.

A day or so after I finished it we had a very pretty snow storm and it made for the perfect setting for these photos. Dale’s Reykr Hat. I hope it keeps him warm and dry for a super long time.

One of the things I unearthed when I cleaned out the craft room before the big redo (I know, pictures, but it’s been raining all week and the light is lousy) was a Chevron Love Slouch Hat kit that I purchased from Knitterly Things last winter. I never had gotten around to knitting it but when I saw it I remembered that I had bought it with Hannah in mind. So, when I finished the slog of that Peace Cowl, I decided something fast and fun was appropriate.

This was fast. And mostly fun. The pattern is easy to follow, the colors are vibrant, and just look at that faux fur pom pom!

My issue, as always, was that the hat was too big when I finished. The dreaded gauge got me again. You’d think I’d have learned after the Baable Hat problem I had last year but nope. And there was just no way I was going to rip this one out and redo because those 7 balls of yarn were a bit fiddly to deal with.

Instead, I picked up around the cast on edge and knit another inch or so of 4×4 rib. I folded that up inside and stitched a casing and threaded some elastic through that casing and wa-la. A hat that fits! And, I have to say, the elastic makes for a very comfortable fit.

I’m happy it’s done, Hannah is happy that she has a new hat just in time for the cold weather, and maybe next time I’ll check my gauge.

And if you believe that . . . you don’t know me very well at all!