Heatwave alert

I finished the Foliage hat at the weekend, so there's bound to be an unexpected heatwave to round off January. Although having said that, a colleague of mine is planning to shave off his beard later in the month, so by then the weather will no doubt swing back to below-zero temperatures.

It's a bit difficult to see the detail in this hat, especially since I haven't blocked it and the light is not great, but let me assure you, it is lovely and warm, and looks great! The fluffiness of the yarn and its thickness does not lead to great stitch definition, but that doesn't really bother me.

It was a fairly easy knit once I got into the swing of it, and managed to get the right size needles. I used 3.75mm needles for the main part of the hat, and 3mm for the ribbing, which is quite a bit smaller than the recommended needle size, but I am a loose knitter and it seems to have come out ok. I also seem to have a rather small head; I always have to go to the smallest setting for bike hats, site safety helmets and so on.

Meanwhile, I have cast on for...yes, more socks! I'm using some Yarn Yard Shelter yarn (bright red!), I think it's the first time I've used plain yarn for socks! I'm knitting Zokni Socks, which are quite ornate, and I'm hoping this yarn will make the pattern much more noticeable.

Although I prefer toe-up, I think it's important to keep one's hand in with the various other techniques, so I'm going top-down as recommended. Plus I think it would kill me to try and follow the pattern backwards....!

The other exciting thing is that I'm using my new Lantern Moon DPNs in rosewood. They were something of an impulse buy just before christmas, from Loop up in north London. Despite the price tag (ahem I cannot divulge!) they ARE lovely to knit with, the finish is very smooth and the points are very pointy. Perhaps a little TOO pointy if you are using yarn that is anything more than very tightly wound. Let's say I wouldn't recommend knitting cotton with them!