Shelf of hats and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

My lovely shelf of hats that HiOhSilver (DH) would like me to get into the mail so he can have his travel shelf back. I have the Children's Hats from the Last Minute Knitted Gifts book for the Johnson girls, the Upside-Down Daisy hat for chef's niece, and my Unoriginal hat, which incidentally is too small. After wearing it for a couple days, it keeps coning, so it too will go to chef's niece. Lovely hat, but the Del Sur wasn't bulky enough and I didnt realize it until wearing it a couple times. I will attempt to make it, one more time for the final time until the next time, in the Blue Moon Fiber Arts Leticia in the 24Karat colorway. Oh, and QuarterPig loved trying on Layla's hat. It kept his cold ceramic ears nice and toasty! More pics on my Flickr account and also over in Ravelry as AfternoonMoon. And speaking of Ravelry, wow, what a time-drain! But a lovely one at that. Here is what I am working on currently, my first attempt at the Magic loop technique. I used Judy Becker's Magic cast-on for toe-up socks on knitty.com and from Vogue Knitting The Ultimate Sock Book Vogue Knitting Universal Toe-Up Sock Pattern. I did run into a slight issue with the cast on numbers (30) and the increases up to 60. Since 30 is not divisible by the 4 increases per round, I am working with a 58 st foot. So far, not so bad, a bit loose, but will give me just the right amount of stretch for the ankle. Anyone {Pat} have a suggestion on MagicLoop short-row heels? I was not impressed with the M1 increase of the suggested toe from the cast-on directions; it left a lot of little holes that I had to weave up from the tails.

Oh, and the yarn is FABULOUS! I am totally in love with both the fiber, A Swell Yarn Shop's *skinny* Duet Sock Yarn and the color, Chocolate Crunch 2. It is a pure treasure to work with. I don't know who's base yarn they use, but it is wonderful. I will be making these again, both in the same technique (new toe) and the same fiber, different colorways. And why? Cause I had a New Year's Eve party last night and everyone politely but poignantly expressed their disappointment in not receiving socks for Christmas. I just didn't think they would appreciate them, but I guess I was wrong. At least their birthdays are not all at the same time. I can start working on them later in the Spring.