Lemon Bars and a Colorful Knit Beanie

I've been working on a series of colorful knitted hats. The first one began just for the sheer joy of working with bold colors (I'm all about color!) It was lots of stripes of colors, but I did not like the way I carried the yarn throughout the hat. The method I used with that hat created a bump or bulge where the fibers climbed through the inside of the hat. It did not bother Ellie, so she asked for that hat. So I made another hat, using a different method to carry the colors. I liked it much better. So did Christy, so it went home with her. I was a bit more creative and funky with the varying stripe widths. I still had some yarn left over, but not quite enough, so I augmented it with a few new colors and set off to try again. This time I mixed it up a bit more and carried the colors in two directions. This is my favorite of this series. Ellie loves it, too. I guess a girl cannot have too many hats. We both like the vertical stripe section best. I may have to do a fourth hat with just those kinds of patterns. I still have a small bit of yarn in my bag...
It is a simple pattern using #3 needles I cast on 90 stitches and make a band. Then I add one stitch every ten stitches and change to a stockinette stitch (100 total) which is knit until it is about ___ inches long. I then begin reducing every tenth stitch, then every ninth stitch, and so on.

I'm also enjoying having a bit of time to bake:
Lemon (or Lime) Bars

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour

4 eggs
1 1/2 cups white sugar
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2/3 cup lemon (or lime) juice (2-3 lemons, juiced)
Zest of one Lemon
Powdered Sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2. In a medium bowl, blend together softened butter, 2 cups flour and 1/2 cup sugar. It should look something like sand. Gently Press into the bottom of an ungreased 9x13 inch pan.It does not need to be very neat, just evenly spread. Mixing or playing with it will result in an overly hard shortbread crust.

3. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until firm and golden.

4. In another bowl, whisk together the remaining 1/12 cups sugar and 1/4 cup flour. Whisk in the eggs, lemon juice and lemon zest. Pour over the baked crust.

5. Bake for an additional 20 minutes in the preheated oven. The bars will firm up as they cool. For a festive tray, make another pan using limes instead of lemons and adding a drop of green food coloring to give a very pale green. Dust the top of the lemon/lime bars with powdered sugar. After both pans have cooled, cut into uniform 2 inch squares and arrange in a checker board fashion.