I have been knitting a lot. I made a hat for Chris. It looks good. The pattern I used is called Tychus. It is from Knitty and it truly is the easiest hat ever. Next time someone tells me they want to learn to knit, I will offer them this pattern. It is in 3D and it has colours and yet it is so easy to knit it is ridiculous.

I tried to knit matching mitts, but it did not turn out. Since then, I started an experiment to see whether I should switch to circular needles. I had a relatively positive experience with the circs this summer and a very negative experience with the current standard, double pointed needles. With dpns I kept dropping the needles or having them wiggle out while in the bag. I was knitting lace, so fixing things was a hassle. Then the ends got splayed, needles got bent and finally one of the five got lost somewhere (fell out of the bag through a hole it made a few days before) leaving me to knit short needled.

Anyhow, I got a fancy-schmancy pair of circs and all is well with the craft. I can even knit more than one project at the time. Now two boring projects turn into one exciting one.

I also pickled some beets. Isn’t this picture eery? I am expecting Q and Captain Pickard to jump out form behind the jars…