Skip to main content

Oh Such Hats!

After spending the last year knitting tons of cowls and triangular scarves, I have upset the ratio of hats to scarves in my house.  Luckily, it's pretty easy to even the keel - just make a ton of hats this summer!  This coincides nicely with the arrival of the Knitter's Pride Cubics Special IC Set I've been drooling over (yet again, I have enabled myself in the course of doing my job*!).  The deal with these is that they have shorter tips that, when used with the enclosed cord, produce a 16" circumference....perfect for hat-making.

Roscoe Village Hat!
I don't think they were in the house a full 24 hours before I had to cast something on to try them out. I've been meaning to make the Roscoe Village Hat from Breean Elyse Miller's Hot Child in the City collection for a while now, so I grabbed my handspun yarn I'd set aside for the project, assembled my needles, and cast on! This hat was a nice, easy knit, though I'm not sure the dark-colored handspun properly shows off the slight texture of the dot stitch pattern.  However, it does look pretty cool with the slight gradations of color, and it will complement the Age of Brass and Steam scarf I made earlier this year using the same yarn.  

Union Long Beanie
This past weekend, I cast on for another hat I've been dying to make: the Union Long Beanie by Connie Chang Chinchio.  Instead of using the yarn that's called for, Himalayan Trail, I'm going to try subbing in Lhasa Wilderness (both yarns are from Bijou Basin Ranch) - I picked up two skeins of a beautiful bright blue color via a Craftsy deal last month.  I have grandiose plans to make even more hats from Weekend Hats (where this pattern is from) over the summer: I've picked out my colors for Gudrun Johnston's Hued Toque, I'm newly addicted to The Fibre Company's Road to China and would love to make a Glashutte Hat, and I'm thinking that the Topiary Beanie would look great in the skein of Graphite Tosh Merino Light I ordered a while back from Doodlebug Yarn. Oh, and I've test knit a top-secret hat - twice - which I should be able to unveil in the weeks to come.

Have I replaced Mad Cowl Disease with Mad Hatter's Syndrome? Let the Summer of Startitis begin! 


*Full disclosure: these were sent to me by a client for free.  
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Overdyeing A Finished Knit

Even after just a few years of knitting or crocheting, you're bound to have some finished projects lying around that never get worn or used. After 10+ years of crafting, I have more than just "some" or "a few"....and with my ongoing quest to declutter my house this year, I've become obsessed with going through these forlorn projects and making some Big Decisions. Sometimes, they are perfectly fine and just need a new and loving home. Other projects may have not turned out quite right: there might have been some mistakes in the knitting that I thought I could live with, or the yarn was gorgeous but not well-matched to the pattern, or my  taste has drastically changed since I finished making the project...in any case, why on earth did I keep knitting?! Who knows, but I don't feel good about gifting anything that falls into this category to someone else. These projects have been relegated to the "frog pile" (or should I say, frog pond?), to b
Post a Comment
Read more

Easy DIY: Beaded Vintage Snowflake Ornament Kits from Solid Oak Inc.

I was really excited to step outside of my comfort zone and try something new as part of my "Christmas in July" theme this month. The kind folks at Solid Oak Inc offered me a chance to review one of their Nostalgic Christmas beaded crystal ornament kits I couldn't resist. My tree is already full of ornaments I've inherited or been gifted from other family members and friends,  so these pretty crystal beaded ornaments will fit right in I think! I was super impressed with  this compact little kit , which includes everything needed to create three gorgeous vintage-style ornaments - just add a pair of round nose pliers (I found mine on Amazon for less than ten bucks).  The instructions had some fabulous tips for newbies like me; for example, it recommended sorting the beads and laying them out in order on a towel or beading mat to prevent them from rolling away. That may seem obvious, but I was totally ready to start beading on my kitchen table without a
1 comment
Read more

What If I Didn't Add Heels?

Last weekend, I finished the first sock with my Waterlilies yarn , and just for yuks, I tried it on even though it was basically just a tube sock. Much to my surprise, it fit really well, even without a heel. Who knew? So, that got me thinking: what if I just didn't add the heels?  I never thought a tube sock would actually fit nicely, but I genuinely like the fit, so...why spend time to add the heels? As the saying goes, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.... Let's say I decide not to add heels once the second sock is done - there will still be placeholder yarn for the afterthought heels, as you can see above, so should I leave it in and just weave in the ends? Or should I remove it, put the live stitches back on needles and at least graft them together using more of the Waterlilies yarn? I plan on mulling all of this over as I knit the second sock, and I'd love to hear your opinions of what you think would look best (or if you think this whole "n
3 comments
Read more