Tag Archive | knit hats

Christmas in August

I am not someone who counts down the days until I can put up my Christmas tree. I’m not eagerly awaiting fall and all things pumpkin spice. I love summer and would much rather be warm than cold. However, I do enjoy knitting for people I like, so I cast on the first Christmas gift of 2022 yesterday.

This will be a waffle beanie in Supernatural Yarns Fairy DK, color Amortentia. I’m pretty sure it will have a pompom, but I’m not sure yet if it will be a matching yarn pom or a coordinating faux fur pom. It partly depends on how much yarn is left! Which would you go for?

After spending so much knitting time on big projects, it’s a treat to knit something as small and quick as a hat. Here’s hoping they appreciate it!

Happy Sunday, friends!

A busy weekend

Jan30

Guys, I got some really lovely comments on my last post. Thank you! It was so nice to connect in that small way. I meant to post again sooner but the last two days have been just bonkers enough at work that my brain was too tired to blog in the evenings, and I wanted to make sure I had time to appreciate and respond to the comments. Now I’m all caught up with that, plus kind of caught up on my blog-reading.

I also thought I would have pretty photos to show of my new shawl, but between work and rain, I do not. Instead I’ll show you what I’ve been knitting this week. I think I mentioned that I was starting some donation hats. Well, I love knitting hats, I like getting older yarn out of my stash, and I like knowing these hats will go to people who need them. So I’ve just been knitting hats this week. The red is the Hinterland Hat (Rav link) in Rowan Pure Wool and the purple/green is the Charlie Hat (Rav Link) in Malabrigo Worsted. Right now I’ve got some green worsted on the needles for a Duality hat (Rav link). It’s fun picking a different pattern each time!

But my knitting time will be a little limited this weekend. We used our stimulus check to finally do something we’ve talked about pretty much ever since we got Duncan over three years ago: we got bookcases with doors on them. Duncan really enjoys eating books, the older and more valuable the better. I kept thinking he was getting better, but it happened again a couple of months ago so we’re just going to assume it’s always a possibility. I’m a hard-core book nerd, the kind who cares a lot about first editions and dust jackets and condition, so I’m thrilled to be protecting my collection now.

These are just Billy bookcases from IKEA, but the books and the doors dress them up so nicely and make them look fancy! We made a good start last night but this morning my view has a lot of cardboard, so we’ve still got some work to do. Maybe I’ll get to do some knitting tomorrow?

Birthday hats!

Mar10

The girl had a birthday recently, and because she wasn’t home to celebrate, I had to send a little birthday box with a few extra gifts. Over the holidays, I’d said I would make her a yellow hat, but then one of the nieces claimed it, so I got another skein of the yarn and a pompom. And what would do but to get a second skein and a second pompom, because then they could be mix and match hats??

The gold is the July hat and it was super fast to knit. The black is Winter Walk, a hat that I saw on Sarah’s blog and fell in love with, and I knew I had to make one even if it involves darn cables!

I hate to admit it, but it was pretty fun to make and didn’t even take too long. Now I kind of want to make another one. Maybe. The yarn for both is Woolstok Worsted from Blue Sky Fibers. It’s a little rougher than I might typically pick, but you can get a small skein for around $9 and that’s enough for an adult-sized hat plus maybe a small pompom. And the stitch definition in the cables is so good.

Which combo is your favorite?

A hat in a night

Sep13

The other day I saw a post on Instagram calling for hat and mitten donations for asylum-seekers in Maine, and I knew I had to send a few things. I even knew which yarn to use: I had some Cascade Superwash Aran in green, tan, and brown. I’m pretty sure the only reason I bought it in the first place is because it was on sale. It’s very nice yarn, just not my colors. It’s thick and warm, soft for kids, and easy to take care of. Plus it knits up quick: I made this in one evening after work.

This one is child-sized, which made it quicker too, and a very simple ribbed pattern. But it’ll be stretchy and forgiving, and I hope it keeps a little head warm this winter!

I’ve already got a second one done, a little smaller and in the brown, and I’ve got a few balls of leftovers that I’m hoping to make into simple mittens. But first, I discovered a partial skein of hot pink KnitPicks Brava Bulky in my stash that will make a great hat too. It’s a pretty small ball, though, so it’ll probably become a baby hat.

Happy Friday, friends! I hope you have a wonderful weekend awaiting you!

Gift Knitting

Nov6

I had SO much knitting time this weekend! We spent the entire day Saturday (I’m talking about nine hours) at a local high school for District Band auditions (the girl made it into the band for the 4th year, and earned 2nd chair flute!). Thankfully, I knew what I was getting into and planned accordingly by taking three knitting projects with me. The first got done quickly: the second half of a bobble hat. The bobbles had already been done so it was just knitting in the round and then decreasing. Piece of cake, Bobble Hat done!

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I took a short break to rest my hands and stretch before moving on to Bobble Hat 2. These will be Christmas gifts, so there wasn’t a rush, but it’s always better to get things done early, right? By early afternoon, I was finishing Bobble Hat 2.

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These aren’t my favorite hats. I hate making the bobbles. I don’t think they’re that cute. And yet they grew on me, and I confess I kind of like them. At least once they’re done. If you want more details, you can see the Ravelry page here.

My hats were done but the waiting wasn’t, so I turned to my last knitting option, and cast on for a fingerless glove in blue. These will be another gift for a friend, and I’ve done this pattern so often that it’s almost second nature. This glove practically flew off the needles.

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The pattern is 75 Yard Malabrigo Fingerless Mitts and I used Mochi Plus in a beautiful sapphire blue. My only modification to the pattern was to go down a needle size, to make them for women’s hands instead of men’s. I should be able to knock out the second glove quickly…if I can resist casting on one of the other four projects I’ve got waiting for me!

Stupid Hat

Oct7

I had plans for the weekend: I was going to go to Nerd Girl Yarns’ Grand Opening at her new studio. Then I was going to go to a band competition and out to dinner with the mother. In between all those things, I was going to finish a proofreading job. Well, I can make plans all I want, and then life happens.

I’m closing my Etsy shop, as I mentioned before, and have everything marked down to cost, basically, to clear stuff out. These are things that have been hanging around for a year or so, packed up in bags in my craft show supply tub. I sold a hat last week, and in a hurry before work one morning, I packed it up and sent it out. Last night, I heard from the buyer: the hat had a big hole in it. What?? So now I’m embarrassed that I didn’t check it, worried that either I didn’t do a good job finishing it or I have moths, and disappointed that I sent out an inferior product to a customer, regardless of the price. Of course I’m replacing it, but I don’t have more of that yarn, so that means an emergency trip to my LYS to get the yarn, and then emergency hat knitting to make a replacement hat. And all of that means I will probably lose money on that sale. (If you’re interested, check out what’s left here. Low prices and free shipping!) BUT. It’s the right thing to do, and it doesn’t matter that I’m closing my shop, I’m still going to do the right thing. But. Sighhh. At least it’s a quick pattern in bulky yarn, and I do love to knit hats. This can be my band competition knitting tonight. Gotta look for the silver lining, right?

I’ve been doing some service projects instead of selfish knitting, so not too much knitting to show. I actually switched to crochet this week. We’re working on a Welcome Blanket at work, with several of us making squares that we’ll sew together into a blanket. The blankets will go on display for short time and then distributed to refugees. You can read more about the project here. I’ve got four squares done; our theme is black plus a bright color. Of course some of mine had to be purple!

I’ll be sure to share a photo of the finished blanket! It’s due by November 4th, so we’re trying to work fast. What’s your favorite service project?

WIP Assessment

Feb11

Whew, there are a lot of projects floating around my living room right now! I’ve cast on several new things lately and now the WIPs are in abundance. Here’s a peek:

And this isn’t all of them: I’ve got another shawl and a blanket that aren’t shown. Miss Winkle, the pink/black one at the top, hasn’t grown at all in the last few weeks. She’s a little fiddly so I haven’t been in the mood for her. The purple/teal/black cowl looks finished, I know, but it’s really not. I bound off and it squished down shorter than I expected, and since I have yarn left over I’m going to try picking up stitches to add another section. The big shawl is the Hitchhiker Beyond and I’ve been working on that one a lot. It’s good TV knitting and I’m getting close enough to the end that I’m motivated to work on it. There’s a ribbed edge for a long gray cowl on the left side there, something I’m modifying from another pattern, so that’s been an adventure trying to figure out the right number to cast on. The purple hat just needs the top closed and furry pompom added. The little cuff is the start of my Hermione’s Everyday Socks, and the hot pink is another cat hat, requested by a friend.

So you can see, even though I have no finished projects to share, I have been doing much knitting, and will continue to do so as life allows! Oh, and after three swatches, I did finally match gauge for my first sweater, but haven’t cast on yet. I know that will be a more involved process, so I’ve been waiting for a time when I have enough mental energy. Happy knitting, friends!

Fairy SnowCap

Nov13

I finished a hat this morning and it’s so pretty! This was my spur of the moment “I need to make a hat” knitting this weekend, and it fit the bill perfectly.

Pattern: Fairy SnowCap It was well-written, included lots of tips and instruction and photos. Very little repetition in the lace pattern so it made me think without making my lose my head. Yarn: Classic Elite Yarns Jil Eaton Minnow Merino in dark pink. Used every bit of 154 yards, and that was making a slightly smaller pompom than the designer.

Now, here’s what I didn’t like: making a hat top-down! You have to start on DPNs, which aren’t my favorite, and this pattern has a lot of YOs and my YOs never ended up at a good spot on my needles so I switched to 9″ circs as soon as I could, but they were metal Addis and way too slick for this yarn/pattern. Once I was able to get to my bamboo 16″ circs, it was okay, but then you run into the bottom edge problem: it needs to be stretchy without being too big. The pattern recommended a sewn Kitchener bindoff, and included a handy phototutorial and everything, but I’m a lazy knitter and I just did Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy bindoff instead. It fits my medium-size head well, maybe loose enough that it would work well on a large head too. So I’m calling this a win, but I probably wouldn’t knit this pattern again. That’s totally me and my preferences, and not the pattern.

I hope you’re all enjoying your weekend as much as I am mine. (It’s wonderfully unscheduled, leaving my lots of crafty time.) I even have plans to go to a LYS today!