Possessed to Knit

Dahlia Hat

I started the Dahlia hat from Alice Starmore's Hat Trick kit for my mother.  It came with ten colors of Hebridean 2-ply yarn which feels a bit softer than the Jamieson & Smith 2-ply jumper weight yarn.  I'm almost through the corrugated ribbing using 3.00 mm Addi Lace 16" circular needles.  I will work the rest of the hat with 3.50 mm Addi Lace 16" needles, using a 40" Addi Lace needle and the Magic Loop to complete the crown. 

I'm keeping the knitting yarn in my right hand and the purling yarn in my left hand as I knit this k2, p2 rib.  I will use my knitting thimble for the rest of the hat and will see how it works for the Magic Loop.  I prefer to use dpns for Fair Isle socks and gloves when I use my knitting thimble as my tension looks more even.  I'm not sure what I will do about the jog.  This hat is a bit dark so it might not be too noticeable on these small needles.

Hat Trick Kit

I received my Hat Trick Kit from Alice & Jade Starmore's Virtual Yarns.  There are three patterns included in the kit and are shown on the website here.  The top hat is Hebe, the middle hat is Dahlia, and the bottom hat is Snowdrop.  Alice found the inspiration for these designs from her garden.  The ten shades of her Herbridean 2-ply wool are enough to knit all three hats.  My mother will have first pick as the King Harald hat I sent her is not very soft, though it is warm.  These yarns are a bit softer than the Jamieson & Smith 2-ply and the gauge is a little looser at 7 sts per inch vs. 8 sts per inch for King Harald.  I will have to do a little needle research as I am loath to do a gauge square for knitting in the round.  I'm not convinced it will work for me and breaking the yarn at the end of each row (to imitate knitting in the round) is a waste of this precious yarn.  The pattern calls for 2.75 mm & 3.25 mm needles and I am tempted just to give 3.00 mm and 3.50 mm needles a try as I usually need to go up a needle size. 

Selbu Modern Hat

I completed this Selbu Modern hat for my friend, Denise.  She will be attending the Tartan Parade to celebrate her birthday, and I thought this hat would be fun for her to wear.  This pattern is free on Ravely by the talented and generous designer Kate Gagnon.  I used Knit Picks Palette yarn in Blush and Ivy with 2.25 mm and 3.00 mm Knit Picks 16" circular needles and a 32" size 3.00 mm circular for the crown with the Magic Loop.  The gauge came out a little on the small side (8 sts and 9.5 rows per inch instead the recommended gauge of 7.5 sts and 9 rows per inch).  I did not do my usual "jogless" join method as I could not figure out how to handle the crown decreases.  The jog is at the 6 o'clock position and not too noticeable.  This was a fun project to knit and I look forward to knitting more of Kate's patterns. 

Blue Streak Hat Completed

I've completed my Anna Zilboorg Toque #3 hat with my spindlespun Blue Streak and silk cap yarn.  I used size 7 (4.5 mm) Addi Turbo 16" and 32" needles, giving me a gauge of about 5.5 sts and 7.5 rows to the inch.  Anna recommends 5 sts and 7 rows to the inch, so this hat is a little bit small, even after blocking.  The toque style is a close-fitting cap and it feels fine on.  Going up to a size 8 (5.0 mm) needle would have exposed the thinner parts of my silk cap even more.  I did not like knitting the braid her way as she recommends changing direction to knit the braid from the inside instead of purling the braid from the front.  This change of direction creates holes at each point.  In the future, I will be glad to just purl the braid and have no holes.  I followed Lucy Neatby's suturing advice to close the holes at each point.  I still have a second skein of Blue Streak yarn and am looking at possibly making a pair of mittens to match.

Blue Streak Hat

I selected this toque hat from Anna Zilboorg's 45 Fine and Fanciful Hats to Knit book for my spindlespun Blue Streak Art Club batt.  The other yarn is a 2-ply spindlespun hand-dyed silk cap that I purchased from Ellen's 1/2 Pint Farm at the 2007 MSWF.  The thickness of the silk cap yarn varies quite a lot as found the silk cap a challenge to spin.  I like the look of the knitted braid at the edge and crown, it just takes a little getting used to as the yarns get twisted in one round and then untwisted in the next round.  The needles are size 7 Addi Turbo 16" circulars.  When the crown gets too small for them, I will switch to my 32" needles and use the Magic Loop method to complete this fun little hat project. 

Ethan's Hat

Here is the hat I knitted for Ethan, the 2-year old son of our neighbors, Nathalie and Nicolas.  They were very kind to deliver dog toys to Caitlin and Colin for Christmas, and I completed this hat for Ethan just after the holidays.  The pattern is from my favorite hat book, Hats On! by Charlene Schurch.  It is the Lusekofte pattern I knitted for my nephews, but with the zigzag design instead of the X design.  I used Knit Picks Swish Worsted in Red Pepper and Bare with size 6 Addi Turbo needles (16" and 32" for the crown using the Magic Loop).  I placed the jog in the middle and you can see the joining blip on the cast-on edge.  The jog moves from right to left starting in the white row above this blip.  I move the beginning of the round to the left one stitch after each round, even when there is a solid color round.  This technique leaves some stretched stitches in its wake and every few rounds I go back and adjust them accordingly.  It's a little extra effort and well worth it to eliminate the jog.

Fuscia Lace Rib Watch Cap

I knitted this hat for my sister, Teresa, over the weekend.  It turns out that someone at her son's basketball practice inadvertently picked up her hat with their things.  I had this Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran yarn in fuscia to make another pair of slippers for her.  It is very bright and will not likely meet the same fate as her other hat. 

I took this opportunity to improve my tubular cast-on.  I used a contrasting yarn and a size 4 needle and I worked the slip 1, work 1 stitch for 4 rounds.  I think the tubular cast-on is more challenging in the round.  I moved to the size 6 Addi Turbo 16 inch needles and knitted k1, p1 rib for 36 rounds.  I gave the Russian join another try in the last round of this ribbing and it turned out a little better this time.  I worked 28 rounds of the lace ribbing pattern before starting the crown decreases.  I used my size 6 Addi Turbo 32 inch needle and the magic loop when the crown became too small for the 16 inch needles.  This hat uses 120 sts for the large size and the pattern is from Hats On! by Charlene Schurch and it took two entire balls of the Cashmerino Aran yarn. 

Lace Rib Watch Cap Completed

Here is the completed Lace Rib Watch cap for my sister, Teresa.  I put the place where I joined the tubular cast on in the middle, at least the bump is not too obvious in this dark yarn.  I used two balls of Knit Picks Swish Worsted in the Indigo Heather colorway.  The five inches of k1, p1 ribbing nearly took up the first ball of yarn.  I did not want to start a new ball of yarn in the lace part of the cap so I started it near the end of the ribbing.  I tried the Russian join yet again and was not happy with the results.  Wendy's technique of knitting a few stitches with both yarns works better for me.  This hat is in the large size from Hats On!.  I usually make that size for myself, however, when I tried it on, it was a bit small.  It fits Teresa fine, but if I ever want to make a hat with this much ribbing for myself, I learned I should knit it in extra-large.

Fair Isle Hat Completed

A lovely new coffee shop opened in our neighborhood.  It's called Grounded Coffee and is owned by Candy and Wilfrid Briffa, who are both pastry chefs.  The coffee is wonderful, the pastries are scrumptious, and the staff is incredibly welcoming.  As Al and I are semi-regulars by now and I am often knitting when we are there, one of the servers asked if I would knit him something.  Since I've been in a Fair Isle hat phase, we agreed that I would knit him a hat.  So here is the hat I knitted for Matthew, completed just in the nick of time for our current windy and cold weather.  I used Cascade 220 Superwash and Knit Picks Bare on size 6 (4.00 mm) Addi Turbo circular needles (16" and 32").  The pattern is Lusekofte Cap from Hats On! with the X design in size extra-large.

Lace Rib Watch Cap

I'm knitting this Lace Rib Watch cap from Hats On! for my sister, Teresa.  It starts with a tubular cast-on so I tried this Italian Tubular cast on and then realized that it is this cast on, but without waste yarn.  These cast ons are a bit fiddly and keeping them untwisted and then joining them together is quite a challenge.  The ItalianTubular cast on suggests working the four "k1, slip 1 with yarn in front" rows back and forth and then joining the work in the round.  I am using Knit Picks Swish Worsted in the Indigo Heather colorway with Opal's beautiful markers showing me where to decrease and decorating my knitting at the same time.