guess who's done their hat for the downton abbey knit along??? me! me! me!  i'm soooo excited!  i finished this bad boy up yesterday afternoon.  it really is a super fast knit but i've been distracted by other projects lately so i tried to spread the knitting love around throughout the last few weeks.  it fits like a dream and the yarn was so lovely to work with.  of course after modeling the hat i had to pop her in the bath for a lovely long soak and a cup of tea for me.
one of my fave rinses to use currently is eucalan.  i like the lavender scent.  i am also a fan of soak and cannot wait to try our sponsor quince and co's new lanolin soap! it sounds heavenly! it's on my "to try" list this year.  i've got a thing for always trying out new rinses for my knits.  what's your current fave? 

you all know how important i think blocking is.  it's a pain - yes...it sort of goes hand in hand with swatching.  they are both necessary evils.  they are kind of boring and we all are too excited to want to do them most of the time but i promise you that if you block (if appropriate for your project) the outcome is soooo worth it.  trust me on that one.  if you'd like to know a bit more about blocking here are two great post from my lovely friend rebecca of " nook":

- blocking from summer sweater knig along 2012
- blocking party from summer sweater knit along 2011 


i cannot wait to wear that brim! i'm mostly a slouch hat kinda gal so i'm looking forward to branching out a bit into the cloche style. should be fun!  i'm watching it dry as we speak and am crossing my fingers it's on my head by late this afternoon :)  i only wished i had been able to indulge in a nice soak myself last night with some tea and downton abbey.  i would have cried more than my tub could hold bath water though. i know a lot of you ladies have been commiserating in the ravelry group and i'm right there with ya. only issue for me is that i have seen the whole season and i'm still crying.  so if i chat too much about it i'll give it all away.  just be reminded to buy stock in kleenex. you're gonna need it.

oh and in case you're wondering what that lovely tea print fabric is under my hat it's from the lovely bari j and it's called "tea delights jam" from splendor 1920 for art gallery fabrics. i luuuurve it!  you may remember i used some of it in a different colorway in my christmas tree skirt this december.
how's your project coming along? are you almost done? remember to add your finished project pics to our "FO" thread in the ravelry group so i can show off your lovely finished projects in our "starring you" post soon!  i can't wait to see them! there are some gorgeous ones in there already and a lot of you are on your 2nd projects for the kal! go ladies go!

so grab your tea and come sip and chat with me. i want to hear about what YOU thought about this past weekends episode and how your project is doing.

you can follow along with all things downton abbey knit along here: