Admittedly, this has been a crazy year. Here we are in December already, and the holidays are upon us! There?s still time, however, to make a quick belated Hannukah, upcoming Christmas, or other holiday gift if you really want to share your love of yarny warmth with your besties. How about a quick hat?

Hats have a lot going for them as fast projects. For one thing, they use relatively little yarn, and so they can be made easily from leftovers from other projects. A hat for a really big head might require up to three hundred yards of DK weight, less for worsted or heavier and a bit more for sport and fingering. Feeling politically inclined? Make a trip to your Local Yarn Shop in belated observance of Small Business Saturday and enjoy some Stash Expansion at the same time. Whichever way you choose to go, find yarn that is soft and comfortable to knit with, and your hat will come out equally enjoyable to wear. Even in warm climates, a wool (or alpaca, or cashmere, or fill in the blank with your favorite warm fiber) hat will get worn by a hat person.

In their simplest form, hats do not require patterns. Figure out the gauge, cast on, knit a border, knit the rise, and decrease for the crown. If you are willing to spend extended time in one place, it might be possible to make a hat in a day (although three or four will allow you to actually enjoy the knitting!) Conversely, this might be the time to pull out that pattern you?ve been holding onto for some time; maybe this hat will let you learn a new technique. If you have the time and want the challenge, try something complicated ? the small size of the project means that you can build your skills and still finish relatively quickly.

If you are so inclined, this might be the time to try making a series. How about a hat for each of your children (blood nephews, blood nieces, relations of love, etc)? Or for your siblings and sibling-in-laws? Perhaps a family picture could be arranged with everyone wearing a matching hat? Oh wait, that?s right ? this is December and you are definitely not looking for an extended project. Put that idea on the back burner and pick someone truly deserving of this last-minute gift... maybe yourself?

Consider this: would not an alpaca hat in your favorite color or neutral be helpful in reducing holiday stress? Would not the knitting be as wonderful as the wearing? Why not gift yourself with both craft time and the pleasure of wearing something wonderful as you bake, shop, wrap, and decorate? After all, a hat is a quick knit!