Weird Beard Knit.

 If you're my friend on Facebook or Ravelry, you will have already seen this hat/beard combo I made for my husband. A couple of days before his birthday my other half requested this. He never asks me to make him things, so I felt kind of obliged. It's about the silliest thing I've ever made. He saved it for a camping trip. We've been out west this past couple of weeks. He wanted to give his family a laugh.

The pattern is available as a free download on Ravelry. I'll warn you that it's not a great pattern. I wouldn't recommend it. There are a few other beard patterns out there that you should probably look at first. I had to restart this several times, and made quite a few adjustment to the pattern. I used Lion Brand wool-ease and held the yarn double and knit on US size 8 needles. It is really dense and therefore very warm.

 My husband thinks it's great. He even went to chase a grizzly bear while wearing it. He came back alive, so maybe it's good for scaring bears. I wouldn't suggest you test that theory though.

Just for a laugh I took a picture of me wearing it too. It's pretty ridiculous. I'll be back with something a little prettier soon.

Hermione's Everyday Socks

 These are what I worked on for most of June. Socks always take me a while, but I love handmade socks so much, so they are totally worth it. These are for me, and I'm looking forward to wearing them once the weather cools down again. The pattern is available as a free Ravelry download. The yarn is Knit Picks Imagination Hand Painted Sock Yarn in the Wild West colourway.

I started the heel on the first sock and did not really like it. I picked it back and re-knit it using the pattern from the Susan B. Anderson's socks. I also followed her pattern for the toe.

I love the way this yarn looks with the texture created by this simple pattern. I feel sure I will use it again.

Tomorrow I'm off to visit family in Utah for a couple of weeks. I'll have something fun to share with you when I get back, and of course I will be taking a project along with me to work on when I have a chance. I just hope I won't have any problems taking my knitting on the plane with me.