Game of Hats

i've had a super secret series of projects going on since late last year, and now they're all finally done! one night, five of my closest friends and i all decided which Game of Thrones house the others would be in. by coincidence, they put me in House Greyjoy, who's sigil is a kraken...and you might remember my squid hat from earlier last year? what could be better? so i decided that it'd be a fun thing to do to make each of them a hand knit, needle-felted hat with their house sigil on it.

here, from top left: lannister lion for amanda, stark direwolf for john, baratheon stag for chris, arryn bird for sam, tully fish for alyssa, and greyjoy kraken for me.

i made them promise that, as a condition of this gift, i had to have a picture of everybody in their hats. so hopefully i'll get that soon ;) i used jared flood's turn-a-square hat pattern for stark and baratheon, and  hannah fettig's early morning beret pattern for tully, greyjoy, lannister, and arryn, both of which are lovely, simple patterns, and perfect for needle-felting! all of the hats were made with donegal tweed, 100% wool, 100% delicious.

oh! and this really helps my mile/month challenge! greyjoy, lannister, and stark were finished in and counted for last year's. but, i've still got 549 yards from baratheon, tully, and arryn! that leaves me 387 yards this month.

however, i did something else knitted and nerdy! using Erica Lueder's Hermione's Everyday Socks pattern, and using an Opal Harry Potter colorway, i give you: Hermione's Favorite.

this is actually the 'Ron' colorway, and i have to say, my favorite of those put out by opal. i'm so sad this yarn has been discontinued! but, my honey found this for me on eBay! mum helped me get the self-striping yarn to match for each sock at christmas, and she's such a master that they're only off from each other by a few stitches! i love this stitch pattern, it gives a perfect amount of texture to give these socks depth without detracting from the yarn's own pattern. and the stitch pattern translated super easily for toe-up socks.

and, i'd say these socks took about 400 yards! goal: met!

that also means i've gone over by 13 yds... what do you think, blogland, should yards roll over to other months?