This past week I have had to perform a kind of Christmas crochet calculus, wherein I have tried to figure out in what order projects need to be finished so that they arrive at their intended destinations in time for the upcoming holiday.

Having made two versions of Kate Steinke’s Super Simple Striped Slouchy Beanie (one of which I made with stripes, and one without), I was on the lookout for something equally simple, but a little bit different, and I found what I was looking for in Acquanetta Ferguson’s Emerson Slouch Hat.

Using Red Heart Super Saver Delft and a 5.0 mm hook, I had this little treasure done in no time:

and what that meant was that I had all of my California-bound crochet done, an I could concentrate solely on finishing the hats and the sweater that I plan to pack up and send to my cousin in South Carolina.

On that front, the first order of business was to finish the peachy keen earflap hat I had been working on.

When I last posted an update of this project, the yarn strands were in place but needed to be braided, and only one of the six flowers had been appliqued to the hat. As of yesterday, it was all done but the packing up and shipping off:

With the hat completed, I was able to finish what was left to do on Tamara Kelly’s Eloise Sweater.

A little bit of trim, two buttons, and several ends woven in later, it was done:

Here is how the completed ensemble looked:

While all of these projects are now in my “ta-done” pile, the patterns themselves are on my “to-do again” list.

In the meantime, I have a few presents left to crochet.