Shedir Hat!

Behold my attempt at the Shedir hat from the Knitty fall surprise '04. It's a damn fine hat, but the twists are kicking my butt. It takes me forever to get through those rows. Like ten minutes per needle. Mostly because I am too chicken to go without my cable needle, even though I think the yarn is sticky enough that it's not going to unravel on me. (It's Berroco Ultra Alpaca in Fig, by the way. Not really the first color I'd think of for either my mom or this pattern, but I had it, so I'm using it.)
In other news, remember my cable needle drama? Turns out there's a Michael's sort of stealthily placed just past the Wal-Mart. That's right. I only need to go about 100 feet further for an actual craft store. One that does, indeed, have the j-shaped needles. It's the sort of thing that makes a girl want to poke her eye out. Oh well. At least I know it's there if I need it, and they're having a rather good sale on Patons' Classic, so I may have to go back tomorrow and stock up just in case I get all my 'must' knitting done and can then make hats and such for friends.