I'm dreaming of a slightly chilly Christmas

It's been cold in San Francisco this week. Probably not what people in the rest of the country would consider cold, but I stepped outside earlier this week, and I was like huh, what is this strange sensation in my fingers? Oh, my hands are cold! Maybe I should dig through my closet for some gloves.
Unfortunately, even though I don't think it's dropped below 45F outside, our apartment, in typical San Francisco style, has horrible heating. It has been nigh impossible to push the temp much above 60 inside this week unless we're cooking. So the extremities have been getting a bit chilly.
I've got several projects in my head lined up for after all the Christmas knitting, but this week I've been thinking a lot about making this hat (from Rebecca 28) in bulky merino from Handpaintedyarn.com (of Malabrigo fame) in Dusty Rose. Or Antique Rose. Something Rose:


This yarn was already in my stash, no cheating here.
I like that the hat has earflaps but no ties to hang around awkwardly or tie in a dorky bow under your chin. Maybe once I've made it I can find a sprig of wheat to chew on as happily as that model.

In other news, I won ANOTHER contest, this one over at yarnophiliac. She dyes her own yarn (etsy shop here, definitely go check it out) and sent me this gorgeous variegated green sock yarn and the cutest green and white stitch markers to match.


With all the awesome goodies I've been getting what with the contests and the secret pals, I've been thinking I will copy Aija and have my own pay-it-forward contest. So that's coming up, I haven't decided what the prize will be, but it will probably come out of my stash, because of the whole moratorium and stuff. Speaking of which, the shoes count is up to 3 pairs since the yarn diet started. But, in all fairness, one of them was a pair of hiking shoes to replace a worn out pair, and the other two only happened because I was looking for wedding shoes. Granted, neither of them are actually going to be worn to the wedding, but I HAD to go to these shoe stores and I am not to be held accountable for my behavior. Actual wedding shoes remain unfound.