It’s starting to get cold in the morning and nights – well, as cold as it gets for California 😉  My boys love to decorate for Halloween.  We go a little overboard during this holiday, by putting up lights and decorations every weekend night.  I saw the immediate need to knit up this skull cap pattern that I’ve been hanging on to since the spring so that I can keep them nice and warm while they toil with spooky decorations.

This was my first fair isle project and I actually really love it! I’ve had minimal continental knitting experience, but it just felt much more natural to hold on color in the left hand (continental style) and one color in the right hand (english style). The work really flew off the needles. Check the “Stranding Method” on the KnittingHelp.com sight for a nice video demonstration of two handed fair isle knitting.

I was too eager to knit it up so I didn’t do a proper swatch to check my gauge, but it looked like it was going to fit.  I tried it on my son before I sewed up the top – and surprise surprise, it didn’t fit.  It was way too small.  I ripped out to just above the skull pattern and I’m adding a few extra rows and will modify the pattern to add and extra row inbetween decrease rows as well.  On the next hat I’m going to try to double up the yarn and I thinkt hat will fix my gauge.  On a funny note, when I tried the hat on Chris and I was talking about it being too small he says to me, “No, mom, I looks good.  It looks good.  You don’t need to knit anymore.”  Ok, ok, message received loud and clear – no more knitting around the kid-o. 

And if you are wondering about the Harmonica in the picture – it used to be Paul’s when he was a kid.  Now Chris has been playing it everyday and just loves it!