I asked him to do something cute and funny for the picture...and this is what he gave me. I don't know about his theatrical skills, but he sure is cute. (albeit scruffy today...but I like that ha!)
He says he loves the hat. This makes me very happy.
There here's a little small half sized one. Kassy wanted me to try this stuff out, just for the sake of trying different things. I found spinning easier, but I think I was just getting more used to it. I did not like this stuff, but I forget what it was called, the white stuff above is from Romni sheep (or something like that...I don't know sheep types) this is something different...with guard hairs....s.c.r.a.t.c.h.y! It reminded me more of horse hair.
Here's my two first skeins...in a nice affectionate embrace. See, they know they'll always have a special place in my heart :-)
They sat quietly while a sadly inept photographer snapped pictures ...including this one slightly more close up
That Kassy, she giggled with delight as she told me I'd better keep it in the back of the truck due to the smell. I've tried my best to follow the instuction given for washing. But really, it doesn't look much prettier. I assure you, it DOES smell better, but it still looks kinda ugg. I hope she's not disappointed in my progress. Hmmm, after looking at the picture again, it does look better, but certainly not all white and fleecy or anything...we'll see what she says tomorrow. :-) I'm learning carding, and some time dying, and then who knows what else!
It's sadly true. The tassle is undeniably too huge. 
Oh well, I'll wear it for a day (for the principle of it) and then somehow figure out how to reduce the tassle size by about half. I don't even want to think about how I'm going to go about that. Do I just cut half of it out...or actually take the whole darned thing apart. Gosh it's huge...I don't want to remove it from the hat ...it's so well stuck on there :-)
Anyways, my sweetums is right. I do look truly goofy with this hat on....why oh why is he always right. I guess it doesn't matter, because I will probably wear it anyways...just cuz I can. I can look goofy if I wanna! ha! 
Just wait till he gets his hat....I've got about 3 1/2 inches done...have to go till about 8 and then start the decreases...wow....this one does take a lot less effort. I'm still reeling over the fact that I actually finished that hat...and it's not July...I finished that hat in less than a month! This is a knitting miracle...a true knitting miracle.
So, I'm going to go keep working on the edging while my poor hardworking husband continues to bail out our basement, because it is once again filling with water.
I finished one of the ear flaps. Boy...my knitting back and forth is much tighter (now I wish I'd gone down a needle size like I considered...but I have the right number of stitches per inch..so whatever), and neater looking that the stuff done in the round...but the colour work around the edges is all messed up. It's knit right (meaning that it correctly follows the chart) but my stitches look all funny...especially the last stitch of brown in the row. Oh well, I'm hoping it will all come together in the end. I don't think I'll have too much yarn left over though...I'm actually wondering if I'll have to order another ball to get a decent sized pom-pom for the top...not that I would really mind having to order more of this stuff...but...I will be disappointed if I have to wait to be "really done".
And....I've only got 4 rows to go on the second set of skiers for my hat...then it's just one more patterned section and the earflaps.
I needed buttons (FINALLY BUTTONS!!!) for my niece's sweater. It's now an entire month late for her birthday....ugg! But, it's still a bit big for her anyways. It was seriously slim pickins for the buttons at Michaels, but much to my surprise they had these, which are almost exactly what I was seeing in my head, although a bit bigger. They are NOT sewn on yet... actually, they are still attached to the cardboard. I just poked them through the buttonholes so I could take a picture . 
Next on the list was the beads for Jane's shawl. That was a bit tough , there was a lady in the aisle with 4 very loud children. Harold asked me if he was allowed to change his mind about eventually having a couple of our own...I said no. Anyways, we had to go to the other side of the store...(I decided to go get the yarn first..because the child sounds were just too much for me)...but we could hear them all the way from across the store. The mom was really trying hard to control them it seemed, but with 4! And it was really the little one making all the noise ...maybe a yearish old...so really, what could she do? Nonetheless, I had to leave the aisle :-)
So anyways, obviously from the picture you can see that I later came back to the aisle, note that during this whole adventure, Harold is standing (and walking) while reading a book in the store, because this is just too painful for him. I found these glass beads. It was difficult to tell which ones would have a wide enough centre to string onto the DK weight yarn without binding it up...so my options were pretty limited. I came home and immediately tried to string a few on. Phew! It worked!
Now for the poll: 
Question #2 . If using all colours, should I consistently string in the same colour order (eg. red blue green, red blue green, red blue green)...or just be totally random?
And here's just the blue...notice in this pic, you can see the two different blues, they're very close. I actually didn't notice at first.
Sorry both pictures are so crappy, the 11:30 pm photo update just doesn't provide much in the way of good lighting...
Off to bed.....maybe I can dream up a fantabulous wedding scene..... :-)
...but still...here are the little skiers...almost complete...only 4 or 5 rows of them left. I realize now that in future patterns I will look for more even distribution of colour...I mean....it's really annoying to work those parts where there are like 15 stitches of the same colour. I was told to twist the yarns at that point...so that I don't have HUGE loops of the carried yarn on the inside, but I'm not sure if I'm doing that correctly...whatever....it will still be a hat when I'm done...even if it's not technically knit properly right?
The whole twisting thing is a pain though...I much preferred the snowflake parts where you didn't have more than 5 or 6 stitches in a row of the one colour... I'm not sure if I enjoy knitting colourwork as much as I enjoyed the cables...but I do love the effect...so...perhaps there really will be more projects after this one....mittens...yes...I do want matching mittens :-)
I'm pretty much back to where I was before I ripped it all out and started it again. It didn't take tooooo long to get back to this point. I just haven't had as much time to sit and knit in the last little bit as I seemed to the week before. I'm really enjoying sitting on my rear and knitting while listening to this book series. 
She said she wanted to give it to someone who would enjoy it....and that she'd had it a long time and knew that it was just sitting there....it made me wonder if there was something that I could knit for her out of it...since she obviously loved the yarn enough to have it...but just really knit anymore.
...but really....I need heeeeeelp! Which colour combo would you use? Teal and brown...or teal and hmmm beigey goldy stuff... I wish it were as yellowy as it photographs..it's more gold...but whatever...
..I actually like the look of the cocoa better....but I don't think the colour work will show up as well...or have the "right look" with the cocoa....sorry for the glaring flashy photos....
I randomly knit with both....and decided....I hope it's the right decision...we'll see...the colours look very different in the picture than they actually do....the teal is much darker than the pictures show...... Grrrr...I'm not sure if I like the colour combo I picked ...I either love it...or shrug at it...I'm not sure....I asked H...and he actually likes it...it was his original choice for the combo anyways....we'll see if it looks nice once more is knit I guess...whatya think???
I'm having some tension issues (having never really done more than a pocket in colourwork before). I'm trying to carry the yarn loosely in the back...but still....wherever there are single stitches they seem to be getting lost...pulled through to the back...you know? Hmmmm, hopefully I will get this worked out and I won't have to rip out too much of this hat....
I'm really enjoying knitting with audiobooks...I tell ya....why oh why didn't I find this before! Sooooo relaxing!
A slightly more close up look at the cable pattern....nice basic first cable project....
Now...I'm officially free to play with this
I can't wait...it's so soft.....yes...it's from knitpicks....I know some people just hate them....I had a lady yell at me that knitpicks was "ruining the knitting industry" but...really...they sell yarn that I can afford...so I buy from them....otherwise I'd be limited largely to acrylic and lets face it...sometimes you want more than acrylic...... now I'm off to try and roll these babies into little balls....by hand.....because even knitpicks doesn't have a ballwinder and swift that I can afford hahahaha!
That's brown "Cocoa", teal "Woodland Sage" and yellowy browny beige "Serengeti" The colours are a wee bit off from my camera...the serengeti isn't really quite as yellow as it looks here.
I also added on this cotton linen blend.....just because....only one skein...no idea what to make of it...I just wanted to try it out and see how it feels....its very liberating to buy just one skein with no idea at all what to do with it...just because....I don't think I've ever bought yarn without already having a pattern picked out to use it with (unless there was a full bag blowout or something and you end up buying R2 Rag,...whatever that it....and yes....it's still in the cupboard...2 years later...what AM I could to do with that stuff!).....back to the CotLin.....yep...not a clue...but whatever it is ...it will be fun I'm sure!
And a sweater stone...and I tried it out on my hairiest sweater...did a pretty good job....the pilly stuff came off in these think puffy strings of wool fluff..and now I ask you...could skilled hands turn my sweater fluff back into yarn to make a new sweater....is wool recyclable??!?!?!! How cool would that be!
I finished the last sleeve of the baby sweater the other day...but...I just casted on the hood tonight...and I have about an inch done....I have about 7 to go...and then another 4....Hopefully I can finish it this weekend and then...wooo hooo...shiny new project for me!