Abandon Sock!

Yes, the sock has been abandoned, but for good reason. Not to say it won't be picked up again, but I needed the break from it.
It has been tossed aside so that I may knit a hat or two for a great family friend of ours, Shirley. She has MDS [Myelodyplastic Syndrome] which is apparently similar to bone marrow cancer. She has been receiving treatments which are causing her hair to fall out, hence the hat knitting. Her immune system is very weak and she has to stay indoors most of the time. When she and her husband do venture out (usually a movie, or the grocery store) she wears a mask. They can't really allow anyone into their home who doesn't need to be there so they do most of their socializing via the phone or emails. I know this is difficult for them because they are two of the most beautiful, loving people you could ever meet and they love being around their many friends and family. I joked to my Gramma that it is a good thing that they don't just love each other, but that they really do like each other. Her husband sent an email that said 'they may be hermits, but they ain't intellectually dead', so if you have read any good books or seen a great movie lately, please pass the name along to me so that I can let them know. I've been reading the same books for about 3 or 4 months now so I can't pass on a lot of variety if you know what I mean.

I had been having a difficult time choosing a hat for Shirley partly because I am not much of a hat person. Yes, when it is cold I want to wear a hat, but as far as style goes-I opt for warmth and maybe a color I like. Beyond that, well. . .
So for Shirley I wanted to make a hat that was practical and stylish and hopefully flattering on her. My Gramma says she likes lavenders and blues so that helped. I just hope the pattern doesn't get too lost in my yarn choice. I just couldn't resist this yarn and I love the colors. I have a few more hat patterns queued up on Ravelry that I may choose for Shirley. I'd like to make her as many as I can crank out just to give her some choices. I just hope they fit.
For the first hat, I chose to make Fountain Hat by Katie Himmelberg, which is a free pattern at knittingdaily.com. The yarn I chose was Koigu KPPPM in p305.



***on a side note, if anyone could give me a pointer on how to shrink my header image-i am dumbfounded. i have tried everything i know how to do. i mean that is one big header image***