A Through the Loops Connection

I'm overdue in showing you this hat. I love to make a hat for Chandler each winter, mostly because he likes them and will wear them. He picked this yarn out in September when I dragged him into a yarn store while we were killing time between two of his hockey games. The yarn is Dream in Color Groovy and the pattern is Thorpe by Kirsten Kapur of Through the Loops. The pattern calls for a crocheted edge and braided ties, but he preferred it plain. Bonus for me as my crochet skills are a bit lacking.
I also finished the first of my UFO Smackdown projects! Coincidentally it is another pattern by Kirsten Kapur. This pattern is Ampersand and I used STR mediumweight that I dyed myself at Sock Camp last spring.

Now I'm plugging away on the shawl I want to finish and another pair of socks, trying to convince myself NOT to cast on anything new quite yet. The goal is to have fewer UFO's, not just different ones!