Handmade Christmas 2012/grey hat for me

Benjamin's family draws names at Christmas.

That way each adult only needs to buy a gift for one other adult

(with 9 adults in the family, this is really nice).

This year I drew his middle brother's wife's name.

I got her a fabulous kitchen knife from her wish list

on a good Black Friday sale,

but I really wanted to use my new-found knitting skills

to make a pretty hat for her as well.

I entered my search requirements

into Ravelry's wonderful system:

the pattern had to be free,

include a picture,

use a size of knitting needles I already owned,

and be within my skill level.

One of the few patterns that met all of my criteria was

Hermione's Cable and Eyelet Hat.

I made a cute orange version for my sister-in-law

(I didn't have time for photos before wrapping and mailing it)

and liked the pattern enough to make one for myself as well!

For the record,

I chose grey because I liked it, not just to copy-cat Hermione.

I also tweaked the proportions of ribbed band and the cables

to be more to my taste.

Perhaps it's because I'm still pretty new at this not-flat knitting thing

(as in something other than a washcloth or scarf)

but I find how the decreases work and look

so fascinating and exciting.

I am really quite proud of how it turned out

and have been enjoying wearing it

on some of these chilly winter days.