Two thousand and twelve

New beginnings and all that.  I'm not the only one with Startitis, but mine is by design.  I've been a one-project woman since I finally bound off The Socks in early November and my project loyalty is freaking me out a little.  Monogamy: good for my marriage, bad for my knitting.

Ahem.  More new things!

It's the beginning of a hat.  Why?  I dunno!  I heart hats, even though they're difficult for me to wear; my short hair makes every tuque look like a chemo cap and every beret I've tried falls off within five minutes.  Maybe it'll end up in the gift pile, maybe I'm making some hat magic.

This is for me me me (I think I'm getting the hang of selfish knitting [Rav]), since this beautiful Cascade Pacific was a gift from Kris Kringle, bought specially for me at Yarn Soup.  PLUS: it's a sweater; they just take so dang long.

I feel like I'm on a roll with this sweater; I even managed a gauge swatch:

And don't you dare say this thumb-sized piece of immediately-frogged fabric doesn't count as a swatch, because it's as close as I get.  The color is much more accurate in this picture, even with the bad lighting.

I also cast on another cowl.  WHAT.  I know.  And it gets worse.  This is stranded colorwork, knit flat, in a cotton/tencel blend, for a gift, and I'm improvising.  Open eye, insert fork... I'm building up serious knitting karma here.