Christmas day is in our grasp, so long as we have hands to clasp.

Let's throw it back to Christmas, friends.  It is Thursday, after all, and the word on the street is that this is what we do.  Onward to yesteryear.

This adorable babe strikes again!  You may remember Emmy from her green-hat-with-larger-than-life-button fame.  (I'm kidding, this is not what makes her famous.  She's famously adorable, all of her own accord.  But, this is why you will remember her from the blog.  I'll save you the trouble of playing another round of "I've seen that face somewhere before."  You saw it right here.  And you're welcome.  Times two.)

This Christmas, Emmy was in the market for a Santa hat.  I'm a fan of merriment, in a general way, via the cute-ing up children, in a particular way.  So, this was the result of my support of Emmy's quest to be the biggest little Christmas joy-bomb she could be.  I'm told she was just that, as she rocked this look around the nursing home in her hometown, where she was given a warm reception.  Anyway, I'm thankful to cutesters like Emmy for enhancing my knits by association.  Keep on keeping cute, Emmy.





<--- Now all she needs are those two turntables.  Adorbs.

Yo Frodo, whatcha doin' wearin' the ring?

...All-powerful jewelry, is that your new thing?  -Flight of the Conchords

Not idly do the leaves of Lothlorien fall, y'all.  It's pretty difficult to don this thing and not feel like you're straight-up Arwen from Lord of the Rings.  Am I right, my word-nerd brethren?!  Tolkien forevs.

Welp, the origin story on this one is as follows.  My mama found me a wonderful knitting book last winter called "French Girl Knits" (accessories edition).  Tena-with-an-E and I were flipping through it and became enamored with this hooded infinity scarf.  This was later to be more aptly dubbed the "Howl" (hooded cowl) by my brilliant big sister.  I began the adventure of deciphering this pattern a few months ago.  To be honest, I feel I should have gone into the CIA for the code breaking training first.  They did not put that disclaimer in the introduction.  But maybe French girls are all rocket scientists and neurosurgeons.  Tough to say.

The challenge didn't stop there.  I got a little bogged down by phase one:  the most elaborate cables I have ever borne witness to.  This part was a little tricky because there was a lot of counting and keeping-one's-head-on-straight necessitated.  On account of I typically knit while running my mouth (and sometimes my ears) at my friends, it took me a while to get past the troll under the bridge that was this cable process on the way to the land of Howl.  But, I learned some stuff.  And, as School House Rocks taught me, "It's great to learn, 'cause knowledge is power!"  I'm so powerful now, you guys.  One ring to rule them all.

From there, all was smooth sailing on the winds of those summer breezes which make us feel fine.  The rest of the pattern was all knit stitches and increase stitches until a crescent moon shape was achieved.  Then, all that remained was to join a row of stitches to form the back of the hood and join the ends or the cowl.  It was actually one of the funnest projects I've ever tackled.  We'll see, I may bust this pattern out again sometime, if I can find another dame classy enough to wear it.  But for now, please enjoy the Howl as modeled by some such classy ladies below.


Top row:  My niece, Hailey, sports the owl mitts I made her last year.  Her friend, Reagan, rocks the Howl.  Cuties.



Bottom row:  Tena-with-an-E demonstrates the hood-down look in true old hollywood glam fashion.  And on the right, she humors me, as only sisters can, with a demonstration of the step-by-step wearing instructions.  There may have been a few tear-inducing laughs along the way.  Giggling with my sisters never gets old, no matter how old we get.



(My fellow Psych-os.  Does my sister not remind you a smack of a brunette Chief Vick?  It gets me every time.)  (Tena, that's definitely a complement.  Big fan of the Chief.) ;)