Personal Yarn Store yields pleasing results--film at 11.

I think we all can agree that the Holiday Gifts 2007 Interweave Knits issue will go down in history as one of the legendary, epic events in the world of knitting. Hello--the Koolhaas hat, Socks for Véronik and the Candy Stripes Kerchief, all in the same place? Well I can now add the December Lights Tam to my list of projects that I can mark 'done' from this magazine--not that I keep such a list, but I am now imagining myself doing so and a feeling of calm satisfaction is overtaking me.

This pattern was the whole reason I bought the mag in the first place. And since Babs and I have this thing where we obsess about doing patterns in the yarn for which they are written, I went ahead and ordered the yarn from Nordic Fiber Arts as well. And then a year went by...

A week or so ago I recalled this project and sent Peeper-Lou upstairs to my own person LYS on the third floor so she could fetch it for me. Hip hip hooray--I hadn't sold it in some rash fit of destashing. Score! Personal Yarn Store, I love you, you are my horn of plenty.

The Specs:
Pattern: December Lights Tam by Mary Jane Mucklestone
Yarn: Finullgarn by Rauma, 8 colors (red, fuschia, rose, chartreuse, lime, green, olive, blue)
Needles; size 2 and size 3, addi turbo
Time: about a week

This hat is also fulfilling some ancient desire to wear tams. My great-grandmother's sister Auntie Lumsden used to knit these for me as a child by the dozen--all fair isle, never even so much as glancing at her hands while doing so. Did I appreciate them as a child? I'm sure not. Youth is wasted on the young.

Luckily I have a willing model to sport this tam for a fo photo shoot, despite the fact that she let me know that I smelled like strawberry hand sanitizer (wtf?). She demanded to model the tam as my large head was "taking the poof out of the hat". Umm, aren't you the person wanting me to take you shopping at the outrageously priced Halloween store for a blonde wig? Yeah, time to zip it. Although I can't say that she's entirely wrong--my big Irish head actually gives the impression that I am not wearing a tam but rather a brioche (the bun, not the stitch) loaf on my head, but I'll never give her the satisfaction of knowing this.

I am so crazy for stranding that I have immediately cast on for the Selbu Modern pattern. You must check this out--not only does the pattern come printed in the coolest font ever, but it is considerably easier than most projects of this nature. Perfect for that sock yarn you have in your own Personal Yarn Store!