FO Report -- R is for Red Berries Hat

Last Thanksgiving, the sister that lives in Florida, her husband, and the three kids made the trek to Indianapolis for Thanksgiving and then spent a day with us in Chicago. We tried to fit in as much sightseeing as we could, and finished off the tour at Millenneuim Park.

By then, the sun was gone, a chill was setting in, and the Floridians were huddled up in their light "coats" and "winter gear." For a couple of minutes we watched the ice skaters glide about the rink, and my little nephew's teeth chattered as he pleaded with his mom to go ice skating.Instead, we scampered off for a round of piping hot cocoa and then bunched together under the warming lights at the El platform. Dinner was a couple of cheesy pies from Gino's East.

Yeah, they enjoyed their trip, but I felt bad about them being underdressed and chilled.

So this year, I started getting some warm hats ready.

For my niece S, who appreciates tiny little details, a cable heavy Shedir in dark pink wool, with all the knit stitches worked through-the-back-loop so that they really popped. Sorry, forgot to take a photo of that one.

For my nephew R, a variation on the Solstice Hat . He asked for red, so I obliged with some bulky wool & mohair from Wisconsin's Blackberry Ridge, in a hand dyed colorway called English Rose , umm, let's call it red berries for my boy.

Instead of the diamond pattern as written, I charted out some Rs, and needed to add just 2 stitches to the middle section to fit them all in.

As it turned out, the weather was great this year, and no one really needed to wear a hat. And my brother-in-law's work schedule forced them to cancel the Chicago leg of thia year's trip, so we didn't get to go ice skating at the park. Oh well. Maybe next year. We're ready.