I blinked and a hat seems to be falling off of my needles! My Baby Blend Basic Hat it cruising towards completion.
I finished the brim in snap. I did end up working a turned brim and attached the cast on end to my live stitches after six inches of stockinette. Thus by the power of math I have a three inch brim!
I did go down a needle size to a US 7 to work the body of the hat. I felt like I wanted a denser and warmer fabric for the remainder of the hat. At this rate I should be ready for decreases in two more blinks!
I’ve had a super soft skein of Shepherd’s Mill Baby Blend DK just sitting on my desk at home. It is a superwash merino, faux cashmere and silk blend in a 2 ply DK weight. I just couldn’t bear to put it in the stash, it needed knit up! So I grabbed one of my new project bag and some needles and started a basic hat.
Based on my hat experiments earlier this year I knew I needed roughly 80 stitches and I’m starting on a size 8 US needle. I think I’m just going to work stockinette and then turn the brim to create a double layer of fabric. The reason? I didn’t feel like doing ribbing and I want to use the majority of the skein inside this project, lol.
So far I’m about five rows in. I just need to stay off my spinning wheel long enough to keep knitting! Happy Knitting!!
My Worsted Green hat has leapt off the needles and I have a beautiful FO to share this wonderful Friday!
Pattern: None, just a very generic beanie made with 80 total stitches
Yarn: Shepherds Mill’s 2 Ply Worsted in a heathered green
Needles: US 8s
This is going to be a VERY warm hat due to the thick fabric. It’s not stiff by any means but it’s fairly substantial. I used up 90 grams of the 100 gram skein which is about 133 yards of yarn. Depending on the head wearing this item, this hat can double the brim for extra coziness.
Now we are off to prepare for the 4th of July long holiday weekend. Stay safe and have fun friends! Happy Knitting!!
My Green Worsted Hat is growing quickly. And it has been a nice palette cleanser from all the sock yarn I have been using in my cowls and socks.
I am totally just eyeballing this hat. I checked and I do have 80 total stiches in total for this. And I worked roughly 3 or 3.5 inches of ribbing. Next step is to knit the body of the hat until I am nervous that I won’t have enough yarn to do the crown decreases…..and then start the crown decreases, lol.
PS. It’s my wedding anniversary today so I have the day off work and I’m making the hubby drive me to KC for a fancy lunch and date SANS KIDS!! Woot!
My hat streak continues with the last cake of worsted yarn that I have wound up many moons ago. This hat is going to be eloquently called “Green Worsted Hat” as the yarn doesn’t have a colorway name and I’m not feeling creative, lol.
This is very THICK or heavy worsted yarn so I am creating robust fabric. I think I cast on 80 stitches and I’m working on a US 8 needle. The yarn is disappearing quickly so I should get close to using up the whole skein.
Still don’t have a solid plan for this hat other than my growing collection stowed away in my cedar chest. Maybe a gift? Who knows but I know I am not done knitting hats, lol.
Mom’s Bonus Hat is done and dusted! I crushed this project with only inches of yarn leftover!! (Picture me doing enthusiastic fist pumps in the air.) And perhaps by coincidence or fate….today is her birthday. So happy birthday Mom!!
Pattern: My own 88 stitch basic beanie with a flat/seamed crown
Needles: US 7
Yarn: Shepherd’s Mill 2 ply DK in the Berry Gradient colorway
Mods: None really I was just creating on the fly for this project.
This hat used up almost every last bit of the 51 grams or 141 yards of the remaining gradient I had leftover from my Mom’s first Christmas gift hat. I am SUPER pleased with how my idea for the boxed crown came out. An my Kitchener skills aren’t too shabby either, lol.
I think I will plan on wrapping up the first hat I knit and give to her for her birthday with a bottle of wine. And then this recent hat will sit until Christmas time where everyone I know will be getting hand knit hats, lol.
Now I just need to scheme my next hat cast on! Happy knitting!!
I have some more colors added to my Scrappy Marl #2. I’m drifting a little more away from “ugly” but I’m not sure I would call this elegant by any means.
I have another inch to add and then I will be ready for the decreases. I only have about 5 small balls of scraps left in my bag. So that is thrilling to get odds and ends used up into something useful. I am determined to finish this project before I hold judgement on its final aesthetics.
I do love this pattern and its simple instruction. Ten out of ten I would make this again to use up scraps or mini skeins. Happy Knitting!!
I have 48 grams of my Shepherd’s Mill 2 ply DK yarn left from my Mom’s 2021 Christmas Hat. I decided to dive right back in and cast on a second hat for my mom. With the idea that I will use up this skein of yarn and give her both ends of the gradient.
I made a couple of tweaks to try and set myself up for success. First, I took the stitch count down to 88 total for the cast on. This will hopefully increase the height I can achieve given I have less yarn for the second. Second I think I am going to forgo standard/typical crown decreases. I am going to knit until I run out of yarn and the Kitchener the top closed in a “square”.
This could end in a fail or in a quirky project. I don’t think my mom will care as long as its warm and her ears don’t hurt when she takes her dogs outside in the winter, lol.
While my needles and project bag were still at hand I did cast on a second Scrappy Marl. I tried to group my tiny scraps into coordinating pairs to use when I hold them double. So far I am not convinced about this project….its reading a bit more “ugly” than “chaotic” to me.
My husband told me to put my OCD brain on hold and wait until I have added all the colors added in. He thinks it will all blend more when I get some other colors added in. He could be right but my sequential and orderly brain just rebels against this, lol.
For sure this hat will go into the gift/donation bin. While I am confident I can make this into a perfectly serviceable hat….I don’t see myself keeping or wearing this one. But I am jazzed about how many tiny balls of scraps are disappearing from my stash!
After accidently leaving my project bag at my parents house…I can finally show you that I finished my Mom’s 2021 Christmas Hat!
I took advantage of a grandparent babysitting weekend to really power through this project. I only had like 3 inches of hat and the decreases to go so it wasn’t too bad. But it felt great to get another gift hat off the needles. So much so that I tossed the project bag behind their recliner and forgot it when I left for home, lol.
Pattern: None, just a 96 stitch basic beanie
Needle: US 7
Yarn: Shepherd’s Mill 2 Ply DK in the Berry Gradient
Mods: really none because I just made things up as I went (including the decreases)
I purposely made the brim super long so it could be folded up and keep ears warm. This yarn is made of wool and bamboo so it blocked quite a bit with little stretching. So I gained a lot of length in blocking. I used roughly 52 grams or just over half the skein of this long gradient. I think I have enough for a second (and slightly shorter) hat….
The only bummer of this project is that the yarn my mom chose was too long of a gradient to really get much color difference in one hat. It does change from bright berry to dull berry but I never got to any of the browns. I guess I’ll save those for a bonus hat!
My mom was pleased with the finished product so that is all that counts. And it’s another hat down this year with my hat mojo still going strong. Happy Knitting!!
