I never...

...win anything! But my luck has changed. A blogger/Ravelry friend, Leslie, was having a contest on her blog and the prize was this beautiful shawl. And guess what? I won! So now that our sidewalks are dry, from the recent snow storm, I finally made it down to the mailbox and found that my prize was awaiting my retrieval. How lucky am I? These colors are perfect for the fall season. I know this shawl will get much wear. Thank you so much, Leslie. Know that this will be loved!

(This pic of me wearing the shawl was taken by my four year old son, so it's a little shaky - and he had me laughing.)

Rib-A-Roni

I needed a break from sample knitting. So I whipped these hats out in one day! The boys did not wear the hats I made for them last year because they were too scratchy. So when picking out yarn for this year's hats, I decided, first and foremost, it needs to be soft. On a recent yarn crawl to northern Colorado LYS, I found some Berroco Vintage Wool at Woolen Treasures in Loveland. The colors were right and the yarn was soft. The only downside to the yarn was the acrylic/wool content of 50/40. I would have been happier if it were the other way around (which is a me issue, not a "boys" issue). I had been scouring Ravelry for just the right hat pattern. When the father is involved in the choosing of a pattern, it always seems to be ten times as hard.

We finally agreed on the Rib-A-Roni, by Jane Turner (Ravelry link). This pattern was super quick, really easy to knit, and a well written pattern. I love how the crown decreases turned out...such nice clean lines! We'll have to see how the yarn holds up but I'm very happy with the colors and how well they look together. I knit the Youth size for the boys' 20" heads, started the stripe at two inches from cast-on row, and started the crown decreases at five inches from cast-on row.