Finally Finished the Amanda Hat

My knitting has been seriously limited recently with all of the wedding planning. However, I have not given up my weekly dose of Sunday knitting. Some call it weekly therapy. I've been plugging away at my Amanda Hat once a week in Sunday knitting group at Borders. I finally finished it today and got to sew in the ends. I came no where near finishing the hat for Gina's Amanda Hat contest, but I wanted to finish it even though I am well past the contest deadline. I thought the yarn was going to be a little more variegated in color than it actually turned out, but I still like the bucket style of the hat. It's a nice contrast to the Laceigh Hat I made earlier this winter. With this hard winter, it doesn't hurt to have two hand knit hats to wear.

Stash Diving

Woohoo! One of my goals with my minor holiday at home today was to actually look through my yarn stash and try to find something that would be appropriate to start my Amanda Hat pattern with. I'm going knitting at Paula's house on Wednesday night and I cannot bare the thought of knitting another inch on my reversible cable scarf. I've been working on it since January 2007.

Well, I found a perfect yarn for the Amanda Hat as well as several other yarns I had forgotten about. I rediscovered a bag from the 2007 January Webbs trip with the Concord knitting group that I had been neglecting. In the bag, a green Araucania Nature Wool Chunky that will make a gorgeous Amanda hat. And I saw on ravelry that other people have used this yarn to make the Amanda hat as well, so it should be fine. An even better benefit, this green hat will most likely match the green reversible cable scarf. So realistically, I may have a green winter set for next winter, because I can't imagine finishing both the scarf and the hat before spring comes this year. I'm just a little busy right now.

Other stuff in the bag, blue worsted weight Araucania Nature Wool, light blue angora, a skein of green J. Knits Superwash Me sock yarn, and some navy blue merino wool. I must have been on a blue and green kick during that shopping spree. I didn't spend a cent today but it feels like I had a nice jaunt out to my local yarn store.

Amanda Hat Contest

Gina is running another knitting contest and this time is using her Amanda Hat pattern. I have been adoring this hat since I saw the finished project at Grandview, and on the actual inspiration model. If you are interested in learning more about the Amanda Hat contest, click on the photo of Amanda wearing her namesake hat over in the sidebar to the right. It will link you right to Gina's instruction page for the contest.

For Christmas 2006, I made a similar hat for my friend Kimi in Vermont, and I don't think she knows how hard it was for me to put that hat in the box and mail it off to her. I really wanted to keep it myself. And I am not a big fan of knitting the same pattern twice, so that's why I never made myself my own. So, here's an opportunity to make myself an Amanda hat.

All things are wedding right now (2 months and a few days to go) and I have been finding that not much knitting is getting done unless it is at Sunday knitting group. I really should try to do more knitting since it is relaxing for me. If I could find a project I could knit on and read for my PHR exam at the same time, that would be perfect! Knitting is so much cheaper than therapy.

My intention is not to be the winner of making the most Amanda Hats, but just to start one hat project. I have a few yarn store gift certificates from my birthday and the holiday that I can cash in and get myself some lovely yarn. Maybe something that would be very luxurious to the touch. The deadline for the contest is Amanda's birthday on February 21st. If nothing else, this would be a portable project to take with me on a plane to the honeymoon destination. That location is yet to be determined.