Better late than never ...

Due to the unforeseen circumstances occasioned by my fractured wrist my Christmas knitting, which had started so well with dad's sock, was put on hold. Mostly, I decided to cut my losses (or rather my recipients) and not bothered making anything I'd not already started. But my brother's hat was already on the needles in December so I finished it off as soon as the cast came off.

Bowser Hat

My brother is very difficult to shop for, so I decided to make a hat for him. Browsing on ravelry I found this fantastic bowser hat, just right for my Super Mario fan of a brother. I especially liked the description on ravelry for the sizes the pattern is available in - child, youth and adult, the last being 'a very large hat, for people with exceptional heads'!

The hat is made from some Avoca yarn from 2009, its DK weight so I doubled it up. I worked Bowser in scraps of tapestry wool I pinched from my mum, it looked a bit complicated to work as I knitted so I Swiss darned it on after.  This did take about twice as long as knitting the hat, but it was a quick hat to knit up so I didn't mind.  My brother tells me he is delighted with the hat, and that it fits his 'exceptional head' very well :)


Hot Water Bottle Cozy

I actually finished this before Xmas, but I forgot to take a photo before wrapping it up so I'm only posting on it now. Attentive readers may notice that this is made in the same yarn as the Bowser hat. Its a very nice soft and cosy wool, and I was on a stash busting exercise. The cones of yarn from Avoca seem to go on for ages, I've already made a hoodie out of this yarn as well as these two pieces and I've still got plenty left.

So back to the cozy, I used the ISBN Cabled Pattern, working it in the round with a line of cable up the front and the back. I understand from the recipient that cozy is very effective and is still warm in the morning. When sending me the photos of the cozy I asked for, she told me that 'the best location to photograph it would be on a boat, with the white cliffs of Dover seen in the background across a rough sea. Or a quarry. It is quite the most ruggedly handsome hot water bottle cover I've ever seen.' That would indeed be quite a nice photo, but in the absence of a rowing boat and the white cliffs she settled for the cozy next to the aga warming up.