BabyDROPS Hat

I finished the little hat I was working on for D a few weeks ago. I made a few mods since I was using a heavier weight yarn called for (these are listed on my Ravelry project page, linked at the end). I keep trying to get a pic of him wearing it but he doesn't ever really want to. Call it being 2, or maybe it does really itch, but he's just not into it these days. 

Either way, this little hat has already been on adventures. The first day he wore his new hat to the babysitter's happened to be a day my husband picked him up. The hat was misplaced somehow and when it was time to go home it couldn't be found. My husband told me that they sent it home with another kid. The sitter told me it was just hidden and that my husband told her "my wife will be really mad if that hat is lost." I probably wouldn't have been "really mad", maybe only just annoyed. Hats and gloves get lost all the time around these parts. When they're worn every day it's bound to happen.  But I still think it's funny he is becoming protective of the handknits I make!

After knitting D that hat, I am getting the itch to cast on for a hat of my own. It'll probably be something simple, maybe using the Knitbot pattern I used recently. I'll be using this gorgeous skein of cormo wool I purchased from the Wooful Mercantile. It is amazingly soft and I can't wait to start knitting with it!

Pattern: BabyDROPS b14-2 (FREE pattern)

Yarn: Red Barn Yarn Powder River

Needles: US 5

Began: January 31

Completed: February 2

Ravelry Link

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Simple Hats

Last month I had the opportunity to work up a few quick samples for Hannah Fettig of Knitbot. I knit three Simple Hats.

I had been wanting to give this pattern a try since it came out but hadn't really found the time. So now I had to make the time. I used three different weights of yarn from Quince and Co.

The first hat was knit in Osprey in the color Clay. That was by far the fastest hat working up in just a day! Osprey is listed as an Aran weight but is a very versatile yarn. For this pattern it was used for the bulky weight version in a gauge of 14 sts over 4".

The second hat was knit in Lark in a heathered gray color (I can't find the tag). While knitting this hat I ran very close to using over 1 skein of yarn (the pattern actually calls for 2 skeins of Lark). When you are sample knitting, you must follow the pattern exactly and there's no trying to scrimp on yarn. So I did what any knitter would do and just knit faster (totally obvious, right?). Apparently it worked. After knitting to the recommended length, working the decreases and finishing off the crown I literally had 6" of yarn left. It was magic. 

The final hat was knit in  Chickadee in the color Iceland. While being the dk (and lightest) weight version of the three, this hat still only took two days to do. Part of it may have had something to do with the fact that I will still on break before returning to school after the holiday.  

This hat pattern is quick and easy to follow and comes in 5 sizes in 3 different weights of yarn! So many options to make that you will easily be able to find an appropriate yarn to use in your stash. I know just the skein I'll be using for my next Simple Hat. Do you have any favorite simple hat patterns?

Ravelry Link to Hat 1

Ravelry Link to Hat 2 

Ravelry Link to Hat 3

Began: December 22, 2014 (I think)

Completed: January 3, 2015

Mountain Meadow Wool

Recently I had a great opportunity to try out some yarn by Mountain Meadow Wool. The yarn I was working with is their Laramie yarn in the colorway Fern. This yarn is a 2ply worsted weight yarn. When I first wound it up I was struck by how rustic the yarn looked yet it was still so soft! I swatched it up on size 7 needles to see what it wanted to become. Given the great stitch definition this yarn produces I decided on the Pembroke Hat by Kristen Kapur.

With one skein of this yarn I was able to make the smallest size (with mods) and still have some leftover! Laramie comes in 100 gram skeins with 196 yards. Even though I had swatched I wasn't getting row gauge and therefore had to modify the crown of the smallest size. I knit the chart as written until I reached the crown shaping. At this point I did 3 decrease rows then used Kitchener stitch to seam the top of the hat shut.

Either way, I'm glad I used this yarn for this hat pattern. This yarn is rustic and natural looking while maintaining a beautiful softness that you don't often find in rustic yarns (I'm attributing this to the fact that it is semi-worsted spun). This yarn really showed off the cables in the Pembroke. You can check out my project page here.

I have one extra skein of this yarn to share with a lucky reader! Leave a comment below you have the opportunity to win one skein of Mountain Meadow Wool's Laramie in the colorway Brick. I'll choose a winner using the Random Number Generator on Saturday, April 12th. Good luck and thank you to Mountain Meadow Wool for sharing!

Hats Galore

I finished a new hat for little D recently and got to thinking about all his handmade goodies. This kid has never had to worry about having a cold head. Since hats for little ones are so quick and easy to whip up, they're the perfect instant gratification project or gift for a little one. 

There's the one I made him for coming home, another made by Meg, the first crochet hat he was gifted by the librarian at my school before she retired, another made by Amy, an owl hat from Mary, then a couple others made by me. I know that most of us equate handmade with love. Each gift is given wholeheartedly, mistakes and all. 

This morning I'm working on some special hats for a couple special friends. Feeling all wrapped up in the Christmas spirit, I was about to head upstairs to look for just the right shade of pink yarn. Lying on our stairs, next to the dog leashes, was my husband's hat. No, I wasn't upset that his hat was lying on the floor or tossed aside with the leashes. Mostly because of this:

sigh

And in a knitter's house too. Shameful, I know. 

Perhaps this is the year he gets a handmade one.

Malabrigo Baby Hat

I don't know if I ever mentioned the hat I knit for D. This was to be his Coming-home-from-the-hospital Hat. The pattern said to knit until the hat was 5" before starting decreases. I thought that would be too big for a newborn so I went ahead and only knit until 4". Two things happened. As it turns out, I was wrong (5" is not too big) and my son has an enormous head (like his mother). The hat didn't fit.  See below:

This weekend I decided to knit my son a new hat since the air is getting nippy. I was told that the average newborn has a 13.5" head so I went for a stretchy 12" brim (unstretched). I knit away, anticipating my new project then decided to measure D's head. Turns out this kid has a 15.5" noggin. Luckily this hat is super stretchy and fits, but with a head this size, it might only be for a short time.

And luckily for you, I wrote up the recipe for this cutesy hat.

I'll be sure to add a new picture when he's not so annoyed.

Finished Size:

Brim measures 12" unstretched. Will stretch to about 16".

Hat measures 8" in length.

Yarn: 

Malabrigo Worsted, approximately 100 yards.

Needles: 

US5 (3.75mm)

US9 (5.5mm)

   I used a 32" circular to magic loop but you could use dpns or whatever needles you use for your preffered in the round knitting method.

Gauge:

16sts=4" in Stockinette stitch with largest needle

20sts=4" in garter stitch with smaller needle

Pattern:

Using German Twisted Cast On, cast on 60 stitches. Join for knitting in the round, being careful not to twist stitches.

Purl one round. 

Knit one round

  Repeat these two rounds until brim measures 2" (approximately 10 repeats).

Purl one round.

Switching to larger needle, begin working in Stockinette stitch (knitting every round) until hat measures 6". 

Begin decrease rounds:

(k10, k2tog) repeat around.

(k9, k2tog)*

(k8, k2tog)*

(k7, k2tog)*

(k6, k2tog)*

(k5, k2tog)*

(k4, k2tog)*

(k3, k2tog)*

(k2, k2tog)*

(k1, k2tog)*

(k2tog)*

Cut yarn and thread tail through remaining 5 stitches. Weave in on wrong side.

Pleating on Back:
After finishing, weave a 12" scrap of yarn along joining seam, starting right above the garter brim. Weave this yarn in and out three or four times, starting from and ending into the wrong side. Tighten the yarn and tie inside the hat.

Make a pom pom and sew on! Woot!

Because I Can Never Leave Well Enough Alone

My school's holiday party (the adult version) is this Thursday and we're supposed to bring a gift for a white elephant type exchange. My issue with this type of gift exchange is that some people find awesome gifts (and sometimes go over the limit to do so) that everyone wants, and some people buy crap that no one wants. Now, lest I offend anyone, I love a good gift exchange but I absolutely will not spend money on something that could potentially be thrown away the following day. Also, when I give a gift, I actually want the recipient to enjoy said gift. Shocking, I know. Anyway, I was talking with another teacher in my school about this and she mentioned that last year there were some really coveted gifts like various Christmas decorations and such. I lamented that I wouldn't know what to buy (and really don't want to go shopping) so maybe I should just make something. Now, the debut of my little fox was a big hit with the teachers in my building so just mentioning that I should make something turned into cries of  "A fox?!"  

I don't want to make a fox for this exchange since there's the distinct possibility of someone who isn't really into wearing fake knitted animals receiving it like, say, Mr. Principal. So I brainstormed and decided a hat in the school colors might be fun. And because I can't leave well enough alone (poke, poke, hey Well Enough! You home?), I decided to knit it Fair Isle, with snow flakes. Oh yeah, and go ahead and design the chart as well. Because when I show up, I show up.

It still needs to be blocked, although I'm a bit worried about colors running. And I also need to decide on a topper. Tassel? Pom-pom? Nothing? Let me know what you think.

I'm hoping this will be well received, especially since the following day is "Hat and Scarf Day". Which leads me to my next confession. As if I didn't have enough to do this week, I've decided to knit this hat for myself. The little antlers are already felted and drying. 

Will I keep my sanity this week? Stay tuned.

Rikke Hat

 I finished a new knit last week all in the name of good, old-fashioned swapping.

This squishy goodness was knit for my knitting-group friend Joanna. She is the knitting group's resident needle crafter, hand-stitching designs on paper to create some really awesome greeting and holiday cards. So of course when she asked if anyone in the group would be willing to exchange some hand knits for cards, I jumped at the chance. Literally. I shouted, "ME!" 

Her request was a nice slouchy hat to go with her black leather jacket (she's so cool).  I was a little worried because Joanna has a smaller head circumference than I do so I was going to have to pray to the knitting gauge gods and hope things turned out alright. Thanks to all the garter stitch in this pattern, the brim is super stretchy and not only does it fit her little noggin well, it actually fits mine pretty good too (because you know I tried it on before I gave it away). Since the pattern calls for a DK weight yarn and we had decided on the Polar Morn colorway of Malabrigo worsted, I cast on fewer stitches on a slightly larger needle than called for.  After the brim, I knit the hat the length called for (9") before starting decreases. I had more than enough yarn, with a tiny ball leftover. 

Because of the in-the-round garter stitch, there is a jog where you switch from knit to purl but I actually don't mind it. It looks more like a seam to me than a messy switch so I didn't freak out about it.  I gave the hat to Joanna at knitting last night and was happy to get a couple quick photos of her wearing it. 

 

 

 I know I say this a lot but I definitely need one for myself! I have a couple great skeins of DK in my stash that I think would make an awesome hat. Or I might have to break down and buy a skein of Malabrigo. How terrible would that be?

You can check out Joanna on her Christmas TV blog or in her Etsy store (if you do, get a look at that squirrel greeting card! So cute!).

Pattern: Rikke Hat by Sarah Young

Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Polar Morn (less than a full skein)

Needles: US 5 for brim, US 9 for hat

Began: October 27

Completed: October 29

Ravelry Link

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. 

Sideways Grande Hat

I think this was just the thing I needed for my knitted pick-me-up. 

I cast on for this Thursday, just in time to lay in bed and watch my TV shows. I picked it back up on Friday afternoon and after a couple hours, I had a new hat! And just in time for 80 degree weather, no less. 

This hat has a really interesting construction. The entire thing is knit flat then seamed up the side to the center of the top. The cables are knit and twisted separately. I ended up using almost all that was left of my yarn. I was nervous that I would run out and that it might come out too big so, on the advice of many other Ravelers, I cast on 36 stitches. 

I've never been much of a hat wearer. I think that has something to do with never having to wear a winter hat until moving to Ohio. But this might just be one that makes its way into my regular winter wear rotation.

Autumn Vines Beret

Alana of Never Not Knitting has just released her newest pattern: the Autumn Vines Beret. I got a chance to test/sample knit this new pattern for her early in November. Remember the Madelinetosh Pashmina? Well, let me just say, it made one lovely beret. 

This beret used approximately half of the skein (I didn't weigh it before I sent it back. Just kind of eyeballed it). While I love the color, I really love the color of the Pashmina that this Raveler used and really, really love the color that Alana used in her beret.  I just think the viney cables really stand out in a much more vibrant color. 

This was pretty quick to knit; I knocked it out over a weekend. I would say that this isn't really a beginner knit. But maybe an advanced beginner. There's cabling and, as with any lacy/cabley pattern, counting. Overall, the yarn was a dream to work with and the pattern was a pleasure to knit. I'm hoping to actually make one for myself before winter is over.

Pattern: Autumn Vines Beret by Alana Dakos

Yarn: Madelinetosh Pashmina in Briar

Needles: #5- 16" circular

Began: October 29

Finished: November 1

Ravelry Link