Anyone up for a KAL?

A new year and a new beginning! I'm sorry that I haven't posted in quite awhile. I've had some personal things that have kept my focus off the blog. On top of that, I had some very unpleasant exchanges with knitters who can't read or understand my copyright. To be honest, those incidents had me seriously considering shutting down the blog and moving on. Still, 97% of my readers are nice and respectful, so I've decided to keep the blog active. Besides I like sharing patterns.

Just for fun, I thought I might have a KAL (knit-a-long) to kick off a brand new pattern that I have for January. What do you think? Is anyone interested? The pattern is still being test knitted, but I should have it ready to roll by next week. This is definitely a winter themed project so I would stick with a "cool" color and stay away from yellows, oranges, browns, etc. Blues would be ideal, although lavenders, pinks, or greens would all work well too. Those of you who read my blog regularly, know that I have done KALs in the past for the Yahoo Monthly Dishcloth Group. Since not everyone belongs and can't participate in the fun, I thought I would do one here and let you all have first crack at the pattern!

Did everyone finish up their Christmas knitting on time? I don't usually knit for Christmas, but this year, I made an exception and knit a few hats. My 5 year old grandson just loves Shaun the Sheep, so I thought it would be fun to knit him up a hat. A search on Ravelry soon produced a free pattern that was ideal. I did have to tweak it just a bit to make it fit, but it came out really well and Mickey loved it.

The hat pattern is my own. I used U.S. Size 9 needles and cast on 84 stitches. Then I did a k2, p2 rib for about 1 1/2 inches before I began the design. The length of the hat is 8 inches. Gauge is 5 sts. = 1 inch. I folded it with the seam in back and kitchner stitched the top stitches. You could also do a three needle bind off. Then I just seamed up the back, and voila, an instant hat! When he wears it, the corners form these two cute peaks.

The hat was knit with Lorna's Laces Greenline worsted in Ysolda Red. I was amazed at how soft this yarn is when knitted. The hat is knit flat (ugh), but I really didn't have any choice, as I used intarsia. The white yarn is Sirdar's Snowflake in Dk that I held doubled. It gives it a nice fuzzy look, perfect for a sheep.

Of course, you can't have a hat without mittens, now can you?
The mittens were knit with the same yarn, only in DK weight. For these, I just used a basic mitten pattern and then duplicate stitched the sheep faces. I did the sheep chart myself, since I just needed something small. For the eyes, I used a tiny piece of white felt cut in the shape of a figure eight and then I embroidered the pupils with French knots.

A cute set and a huge hit, although I was competing with Legos and an array of other gifts!

Notice how nice and red these pictures are? I had an accident with my old camera right before Christmas, so I had to replace it with this super duper new one. I can't believe how accurate the color shows up, especially since red is so difficult to photograph. I still have to learn how to use it as it has a lot more buttons and menus than my old one.

Okay, so then, I'll be back with the new pattern, provided anyone is interested!