Two Down

When I visited family at the beginning of last month, I asked them what they wanted me to knit/crochet them for Christmas. Middle nephew requested a beanie in "Lakers colors". 

So, first I went on a search for beanie patterns that utilized two colors. I found this pattern. That'd work. 

Then I headed to the local Michael's. I knew I'd find the yarn there, and I did. 

Unfortunately, digital images do something to the color purple. (I've discussed this problem in the past.) So, you probably can't see how perfect those colors really are. 

Right after finishing random beanie, I started on this one. My gauge was a little off, so I knit a couple sizes down to compensate. I finished it on Wednesday. 

My father was kind enough to model it for me. 

I knit the "child/teen" size using the lengths for the adult size. I made it a bit too long, but slouchy works, right? 

I rather like the way it turned out. It was way easier to knit than I imagined. 

I had read someplace that the best way to do colorwork is to hold one color in each hand, "picking" for one color and "throwing" for the other. (Non-knitters will have no idea what that sentence meant. It's not critical, really.) Turns out that works really well, especially for a pattern as regular as this. Plus, it makes the floats on the inside really regular. 

So, now it's on to eldest nephew's sweater. That will definitely take longer than a week to complete. (Eldest nephew is 19 years old and over 6 feet tall.) 

And I'll be contemplating the rest of the Christmas projects. It's better to have them all going at the same time just in case I get stuck on one for whatever reason. 

After modeling the beanie, I offered to make my father one as well. He said he wouldn't mind. 

(As I got questions, I'll give a brief rundown of the family. I've got my brother and his wife. And their five kids--in order of age: niece, eldest nephew, middle nephew (15), and the twins (12).)