ribbing for days

I started my Voleur! I have to say, the tubular cast on is pretty magical - the edge it created is so neat and tidy. My one complaint is that since this is knit on small needles for the yarn weight in order to make a dense fabric, it's HARD to get those first inches done. My hands were very tired from k1, p1 ribbing. I'm sure it would be easier if the gauge was looser. 

I started this out on dpns because I didn't have a circular in the right size. I thought I might be able to work the rest of the hat on dpns once I switched to the larger size needle for the body too, but once the increases were worked I had way too many stitches on the needles to keep that up. So? I got to buy a new set of circulars! These are very pretty grayish birchwood 3 mm needles from a company called Lykke. Not that it's a priority, but they look very nice with the yarn and this little kitten marker that's helping me. I like them very much. 

Once the new needles came in the mail a week ago, it's basically been 2x2 rib. For days. It's quite ironic that I don't actually like knitting the ribbing parts of projects and yet here I am with a whole hat that's ribbing from top to bottom. The upside is that the pattern is very easy to memorize and work, even when hubby asks you to go with to get the car washed... 

Between this, the Christmas balls, and the birds - all knit on tiny needles - my hands are feeling a little fatigued these days, but frequent breaks for warm beverages are taking care of that pretty well. I'm a little more than halfway through the hat and I'm excited to see it finished up soon.