What makes a great day?

I've got a few ideas. Take one FO, one trip to a huge yarn store, one trip to the bookstore and one wonderful husband to share them with.

I finished my first hat today, and it came out pretty well.

It's the Umbilical Cord Hat from Stitch 'n Bitch (modeled on a small stuffed bear, since no babies were handy!) This is a great first hat project, because it was very easy and very quick. I used Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino - so soft and snuggly and also machine washable. I don't really like the umbilical cord look, so I double tied the "cord" to give it more of a knot look. Valuable lessons I learned were 1)Do Not Overcompensate: I was a loose knitter, as I suppose every new knitter is. My knitting must be tightening up with experience, but I am also trying to knit tighter - thus overcompensating and knitting so tight that I sometimes can't move the stitches around the needle. Not good. 2)The right way to tink: A valuable lesson learned when I had to re-do a row because I had overcompensated and knit way too tight. 3)How to pick up a dropped stitch: An extremely valuable technique learned when one stitch slid off a DPN needle and I didn't notice it until it had dropped four rows down. Learning this saved me from Frogging Practice!!

This afternoon, Pea took me to this great knitting store!!! I had never been there before, but I plan to go back a lot. I can't show much of what I bought, because most of it was gifts. (Tee hee) I did treat myself to a set of Denise interchangeable Needles, which many people raved about in their memes and seemed easier (and cheaper) than running to the store every time a pattern calls for a circular needle I don't have. I do love my Addis, but now I can build up my collection of them at a more affordable (on one salary) pace!! Oh, and I bought this yarn too! So pretty.

Somehow, I was still able to talk Pea into stopping at the big Barnes and Noble too! (Lady Luck was smiling on me!! It also didn't hurt that I promised to buy him a hot chocolate.) I got some more gift shopping done and had a yummy coffee and biscotti. What more could a girl ask for?? It was the best day!!!