Behold...a real hat!

Amy sent me a great Martha Stewart hat pattern today, but I already beat her to the punch! This morning I learned all about the beauty that is circular needles, allowing me to finish the above hat in about three hours. It was a nerve-wracking process (I was literally SWEATING when I had to transfer my two hours' worth of work onto double-pointed needles...one wrong move and it would have all been over), but amazingly, I knit the entire thing with only one mistake, and that's covered up by the roll at the bottom. I think my technique is getting better. And now I have a vague understanding of how to knit other circular things (socks, arm-warmers, etc).

This hat's for my mother-in-law, but there will definitely be more in the future -- it was a fun and satisfying project. I'm starting one for myself tomorrow.