Last night I met a bunch of local knitters at their SnB. It was so nice to finally talk to people about knitting! And I was very impressed and excited by the level of skill and dedication in the group. There are prolific sock knitters, baby blankets and lace shawls and entrelac bags! And I got to see and touch a clapotis in person (as if I needed more convincing to knit the pattern...). Hopefully I can get some gorgeous yarn at Rhinebeck to knit the "clap." There are also a few knitters in the group who are planning to go to Rhinebeck for NYS Sheep & Wool. I had brought the Maze hat I am knitting, and I was looking forward to working the slip stitch pattern (a bit of proving my skill). Of course, when I moved from the 4-stitch rib pattern to the 14-stitch maze pattern, I realized I had cast on wrong!! So I was able to show off my mean frogging skills and how much I suck at the long-tail cast-on. Grrr.

Last night after the knitting circle I worked the first couple rows of the maze pattern. The colors look great together and it's going really fast. I'm so excited to give it to Jack for Christmas. And of course, when I finish, that's one Christmas present done! And it's only mid-October! There are an awful lot of exclamation marks in this post.
The a-maze-ing hat: