One of the first knitting projects I finished this year is the Diamond Hat, a pattern you can download for free on the Ravelry website. This was a good project to practice my colorwork technique and tension (both still a work in progress). Surprisingly, I was able to finish it super quickly, which makes it a great gift idea. One thing I noticed was that my ribbing was slanting to the left a bit. Do you see it? The ribbing is not a typical knit one, purl one. Instead, you knit the ‘knits’ through the back loops, which makes the rib be more defined. I liked the resulting rib, but the slanting edge was bugging me. That’s why I decided to block the hat. Blocking sounds scary to new knitters, but actually, it’s a pretty easy process. You need a bucket, warm water, wool soap (or baby shampoo), and a few clean towels. This pattern is easy to follow, and you can have a lot of fun experimenting with different color combinations, something I’ve been …