For as long as I can remember, my family has spent Christmas with some cousins on my Dad’s side. Now we kids are all grown up, and sit at the adult table. (As an aside, I managed to point out that this meant our parents were sitting at the senior adult table. Har.) I still live in Atlanta, but the cousin children have all moved away to the chilly Northeast, so I love the holidays every year where we get to catch up.

The New Hampshire cousins spend a lot of time outdoors, so I wanted to make hats for them. For the boy, I chose – wait for it – The Boy Hat, which I found on Ravelry, and fell in love with because of the crown decrease. So cool. I used Cascade 220 Heathers and size, er, 7 needles, maybe?

Ravelry link
For the girl, I went with Foliage in Malabrigo worsted, colorway Dark Earth, size 5 and 7 needles as directed in the pattern. For the record, the hype on Malabrigo? ‘Tis true. Also, the pattern – very excellent. I have made one of the bulky variety as well for another friend.

Ravelry Link
The NYC Cousin is a classically trained vocalist, honing his skills in the Big Apple. He also tunes organs, and I thought he might need some fingerless gloves to help him stay warm and still have the dexterity he needs. First I tried Dashing, but my row gauge was ridiculous just a smidge off, so they ended up reaching to my elbow without really stretching. Evidence:

Not quite the look I was going for, so I scrapped that idea and jumped on Knitspot’s Hot Waffle Mitts with some Cascade 220 Heathers.

Ravelry Link
This turned out much, much better. They are a little big on my hands, but fit my cousin perfectly (I hope he’s getting some good wear out of them with the recent cold blast!). Anne’s pattern is super – well written and quick (I’m planning to make myself a pair with the matching hat very, very soon).

As usual, it was great to see them at Christmas, and I so enjoyed making these gifts for them – I hope you guys are enjoying using them just as much!