Emote

I've been house-sitting this week, and will be for a few more days. Even though I'm not working much right now (more on that later!) housesitting is a bit of a vacation. Lots of cable TV, wine, and takeout food. Most importantly, however, housesitting has allowed an idea that's been bouncing around my head for ages to finally materialize.

Smiley faces. On hats. What could be better?

Probably six months ago (if not longer!)I had the inspiration to knit a hat with emoticon symbols on it, taking the idea of a traditional fair-isle earflap hat and/or beanie, and turn it into something uniquely modern. I actually knit the whole hat, earflaps and all, in a dark blue and light lavender, which in retrospect was the start of the failure. The hat ended up too big, I hated the colors, and I frogged the whole project, forgetting about it until a few weeks ago.

I still had the emoticon symbols charted out on my computer, however, so starting last Wednesday I began playing around with a few balls of yarn. All I can say is I'm in love! The pictures here are of the beanie version of the hat; the earflap version is on the way. I've already gotten two custom orders from family friends, and I'm hoping to post the pattern on ravelry and etsy soon enough.

Stay tuned for a more detailed post, but in the meantime, don't forget to smile! (or frown, or wear sunglasses, or gasp, or cry, or be angry, or...just emote!)