Finished: Iris Hat

This hat vexed me and yet here we are with a finished Iris Hat.

Pattern: A frustrating mix of basic beanie with influences of the Pussy Hat with 72 stiches

Needles: US 10s

Yarn: Malabrigo Mecha in the Iris colorway

I am very proud of my Kitchener skills and used up almost every last inch of this skein. I accurately left a tail long enough to close up the entire hat. The finished hat does fit an adult sized head and create the cat like ears with the two corners. However, it’s not a hat you can pull super low or do any additional folds.

This is definitely going into the gift pile and I will course correct for the other hat that I have going with the Malabrigo Mecha. This bulky single definitely calls for a top down approach….even if I hate starting a hat on DPNs.

Happy Knitting!!

That’s Better

This is WAY better for my Iris Hat!

I am beginning to think I should have started top down instead of bottom up. I have ZERO clue on how to gauge when to do decreases and not run out of yarn. And I have such little bitty bit of previous hat left.

I think I am just going to knit until it’s almost gone and then Kitchener it closed. It would be a quasi Pussy Hat ala the late 2010s. It should then make a decent adult sized hat right? I really should know better by now, lol.

Happy Knitting!!

Trying Again

I got my Iris Hat up and going new needles!

I am on US 10s with 72 total stitches. I worked like a one inch folded brim and then the remainder of this yarn is going into the body of the hat. Trying to avoid yarn chicken. I have told myself to decide on the brim when I get to the end of the skein. That’s a future Rachelle problem…..

Happy Knitting!!

This Isn’t Going To Work

Okay, I have to admit defeat. This hat at this gauge and with this yarn….is not going to work. RIP first attempt at my Iris Hat.

I am flat going to run out of yarn on this project. My needles are too small and the stitch count is too high. Not to mention that I can’t get this brim over my head. It’s weirdly to dense and small. All around failure.

I ran over to my LYS, which is closing, and grabbed some US 10s on a 16 inch circular cord so I can frog this hat and restart. I will:

  • Use bigger needles
  • Modify the stitch count down
  • Reduce the height of the folded brim
  • Possibly consider a straight cast off and go for the cat ears look?

Good news, is that I haven’t wasted that much time and this should get up and going quickly again. Thank goodness for bulky yarn. I am not even going to rewind this. I am finding the other end of the yarn and knitting the new hat from the old hat, lol.

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Dewberry Hat

My mom’s trip is bearing down on me and I need to get these last hats done! I already had the Iris Hat on the needles and I also started this second hat in Malabrigo Mecha in a color called Dewberry.

I am sensing some doom on my other hat. So for this one I cast on fewer stitches to make this bulky skein go farther. I think I am at 70 ish stitches for a vanilla stockinette beanie. I am waffling on folded brim or no folded brim.

I really should finish the Iris first so I don’t make the same mistakes twice. But where is the fun in that! Happy Knitting!!

Dog For Cuteness

I don’t really have any updates today. It’s a dreary cold winter Monday morning and I’m struggling to find ambition. Yearning for some sunshine and longer days!

So I decided to just share a cute photo of my baby dog loving on me while I was knitting my Chiefs Hat #7. He was dreaming and snoring and living his best life. Not a bad leg warmer for me either! I would be lost without my puppers….

Happy Monday!

Cast On: Iris Hat

I had an awful no good dog of a morning the other day at work. And over my lunch I had to run into a store for a birthday gift. And there was a yarn store right next door. So I wandered in and grabbed some dopamine.

I picked up two skeins of Malabrigo Mecha which is a singles in a bulky weight. This color is called Iris. The idea was a soft and super fast hat. I am going to my friend’s for a little girls trip and I want to give away more hats. I had the yarn store wind the yarn so I could get off the races.

I am using my US 8s as I don’t feel this bulky is really that much different than the heavy worsted I have been using. I may live to regret that decision but so far this skein and color is working up beautifully. I am hoping for a folded brim hat and powering through with a LARGE sugar free iced coffee.

Happy Knitting!

Chiefing Along

I have had singular focus the past couple of days on this Chiefs Hat #7. I’m already fully chugging through the main hat body

I did stop and install/sew on the patch for the brim. Also weaving in the ends for the color changes on the inside! I hope future Rachelle really enjoys the work that past Rachelle did for her, lol.

Just a few more rows of yellow to get to 20 rows and then I will install the decrease in the final red color stripe. My yarn cakes are shrinking rapidly so I am hoping I get all the way there!

Happy Knitting!!

Finished Friday: 2025 Chiefs Hat

The 2025 Chiefs Hat is done and fully complete with the decal installed!

Pattern: My own vanilla “recipe” for a beanie with 72 stitches (because I can’t count) with a folded stockinette brim

Needles: US 8s

Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Sauterne and Sealing Wax

For sure this hat is snugger and smaller than my standard adult hat. It can fit over my large noggin but I can feel the squeeze. And that showed in the yardage used with a total of 189 yards of yarn. I think that is like 0.9 of a full skein so I for sure will be fine for my second hat with this yarn.

Happy Knitting!!

And Now The Chiefs Decreases

I blinked and my 2025 Chiefs Hat was at the brim.

For no good reason that I can explain, I went with larger and chunkier stripes that my previous sports ball hats. The folded brim is roughly 30 rows tall and then the main body is like 20 rows tall.

It does mean that I don’t have as many stripes as before and I’m not using the two colors in an equal/balanced manner. I still think I will have enough leftovers to flip the color sequence and make a second hat.

OH! And I discovered something putting in the needles for these decreases….I in fact made this hat with 78 stitches and not 88. No wonder this hat went so crazy fast. This hat will just be smaller and tighter than my others. I guess that is what I get for lack of attention, lol.

Happy Knitting!!