Hats and Santa Quilt

The Dakota Earth and Sky sweater is almost dry, so maybe at lunch, I can get my Dear Photographer to snap a couple of shots outdoors.

In the mean time, I have 3 more ribbed handspun hats for the Christmas Pile- The 2 red hats are knit entirely from California Red Wool (a very sproingy, earthy fiber), and the other one used CA Red leftovers and some mystery black that I have no memory of spinning (this is dyed black, not a natural color). I am so glad to be using up this bulky yarn-it's too heavy for sweaters, but perfect for these hats. I have 4 more adult hats to knit (and maybe one after that, I keep adding people to the list), but I can knit one in an evening (or two kid-size), so it won't take long. All of these go in the mail, so I need to be finished soon.

I designed this little 15"x15" quilted Santa wall-hanging in the early 90's. The pattern ended up in a magazine, but I don't remember which one (maybe Country Crafts- all of my published magazine articles are packed away in boxes. I should dig through them for the paper dolls, if nothing else, since I am getting low on Thursday Tab sets to post). The quilting is basic and poorly executed, but I still like the whole design concept: Patchwork Folk Art Santas, wool fleece beards, and a bit of embroidery.