Death arrived last Wednesday, 13 February, 2008. My cat looks really concerned.

This was a quick competition for many of the knitters, but the last time I looked there were at least 80 people still in play (that’s as of last Friday.) So, it was fun. This lovely blue hat is a smidge small for me, but the kidlets have both presented cogent arguments as to why *they* should be the one to claim the hat. What’s a mom to do? I’ll probably knit another and let them duke it out.

Here’s a close-up of the new beauty. Thanks, Tanyalezibeth!

This weekend saw the first strike wave of Hat Attack – a knit to the death (by hat) competition that’s an homage to Sock Wars. It started up on Ravelry, but was moved over to a Yahoo Group to allow open competition.

I’m not as nervous with this competition as I was with Sock Wars, but I think that’s because a hat has such a shorter time commitment. There wasn’t a week of knitting away on socks, sure that every day I’d receive my death in the mail. I know how fast I knit, so I knew that since the pattern came out on a Saturday morning, I’d almost assuredly miss the post on Saturday but have my hat in the mail on Monday. Sure enough, I finished the hat my weapon early Saturday evening.

The pattern was a quick, fun knit, and the binary cables amused my inner geek to no end. The unblocked hat doesn’t cover my ears, but my gauge was spot-on so I imagine a good blocking or someone with a human-sized head will make all the difference.

A few people got their hats in the mail on Saturday, but the massive strike will be tomorrow. Picture scores of hats sent all over the globe; the speed of the mail service, and how quickly your ‘target’ gets their unfinished weapon in the mail has a huge impact on competition. It’s going to be a hoot – assuming I survive the first wave. From the enthusiasm of my assassin, it’s not likely. That’s okay – I’m still having fun.

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* Check it out! I used non-superwash wool! I didn’t break out. I think maybe my allergy shots are affecting more than just my cat, grass, tree, and weed allergies. Cool!

These socks were fun to knit, though I had to pay attention a bit more than usual due to the ribbed nature of the lace. That’s okay, though, because it was also very easy to see when I’d taken a wrong turn. The pictures don’t show the texture well, but it really pops in person. These beauties rank right up there with my favorites that I’ve knit so far; they were a gift for an aunt who is getting up there in years. I *think* she liked them; it’s kind of hard to tell. She’s always liked handmade gifts in the past. Hopefully they’ll wrap her in warmth this winter.

As I look out the window, I am seeing my first snowfall of winter. We’re up in Ohio visiting family, and I’m really happy that it’s decided to snow while we’re here. I hope it sticks a bit!

In other news, Rogue is in time-out while I wait for new needles to arrive. Apparently I knit more tightly when I’m doing a whole sweater on circulars than when I’m just swatching on them. Ah, well. I’ve got a baby sweater on the needles that’s destined for charity; I’ll post a photo when I get a chance. Right now, I’m gonna go watch the snow.

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