FO Friday: Another Royal Hat

I completely got bewitched by my WIPs and forgot to share that I finished my Another Royal Hat. I had this almost done with decreases like a week and a half ago and I finished it in like 30 minutes.

Pattern: My own beanie “recipe” with 88 sts on worsted yarn

Needles: US 8s

Yarn: TreasureGoddess Yarns Warmth Worsted in the Swimming with Fishes colorway

I was super happy with this one. The end result fabric was just the right feet, the spiraling decreases are gorgeous and it fits like a dream. True to my past performance, I used about 75% of the skein or 175 yards of yarn. I just have a deep love for these rich and saturated blue hues.

I think I have enough scraps now I need to think about another Frankenstein Hat!

Happy Knitting!!

Pooling Decreases

Another Royal Hat is ready for decreases. And I noticed something about this hand dyed skein. At my gauge it is spiral pooling around the circumference of the hat.

There are some spots of this yarn where the dye didn’t fully penetrate and it has white spots. Those light and dark spaces are circling the hat. If this was a garment, I would definitely alternate skeins. For a hat, that doesn’t matter much to me. Most muggles would never notice anyway.

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Another Royal Hat

The needles from my Classy Cashmere Hat are empty so I put some new yarn on them.

I had one last skein of Warmth Worsted from Treasure Goddess from a haul earlier this year. Not going to lie, it feels good to finish all the skeins from a package purchase. LIke a broken record, I am doing an 88 stitch hat on US 8s. I am forcing myself to work a 2×2 ribbed brim even though stockinette is faster.

I am running out of fun and punny types of names for this hat. So this one is going to be called “Another Royal Hat” because I do tend to be drawn to royal blue as a color story. I finally counted my ravelry pages and I have made 15 hats this year since January 1. I wouldn’t not have guessed that many!

Happy Knitting!!

FO Sunday: A Royal Hat

The germs hit our house post 4th and I was up all of Friday night and into Saturday morning with a 6 yo and watching Bluey. So I decided to power through my Royal Hat.

This was all stockinette for hours. So I managed to finish the brim and the main body of the hat while not sleeping. I was too bleary however to attempt the decreases. So I waited until some sleep on Saturday night to work those with coffee this morning. This hat is going into a different gift pile. There is a contest at my new job and I offered up this to the prize basket as it matches our organization main color theme. I hope it fits its new owner!

Pattern: My own vanilla beanie with a rolled brim (Rav link)

Yarn: Malabrigo Rios in Matisse Blue

Needles: US 8s

I was bang on size with all my other hats based on yarn usage. I used 74 grams or 3/4 of the skein so thats roughly 155 yards of yarn. It has nice stretch and the blue is just the perfect blue. And now I need to start my next one! I still have 3-ish hats to go for my volleyball team plan.

Happy Knitting!!

Westport Decision Point

I have reached the end of the pattern instructions for my Westport Blanket. I have completed the pattern recommended number of repeats. But I still have a yarn left and I really want this blanket to consume as much as possible. I’m at a decision point.

I know, roughly, how much yarn each of the stockinette block and garter rows repeat consumes. And I have one full and one partial skein left that I can hold together. I *Think* I have enough yarn for two or three more repeats and then the garter border and bindoff.

My only concern that is if I add too much more length that the blanket will become more of weirdly shaped rectangle and less of a usable blanket. This fabric texture and gauge has some good stretch to be able to shape it. But the high acrylic content tells me that it might not hold a blocking very well. I need some time to muddle on this one…but I REALLY want this off my needles soon!

Happy Knitting!!

Westport Halfway!

A very dear and lovely cousin informed us that the baby she and her husband are expecting will be boy arriving in October. And my knitter brain went DING! The Westport Blanket I started earlier this year will make the perfect baby boy gift. A knitter has got to love when you already have a project started and you find the most perfect home for it. So I picked this project back up and have started really working through it. I’m six pattern repeats in and I just started my second skeins.

I am holding Knit Picks Mighty Stitch held double to achieve bulky yarn gauge. I have used two skeins already, attached two more with a third pair waiting in the wings. The last pair aren’t two equal full skeins. I broke into one skein to knit a swatch I have lost to the ether somewhere. So I know I’ll have enough yarn to finish the blanket but I really want to use all the yarn up. So I may have to do a little pattern modification and re-calculation when I get to the end of the instructions and I still have yarn left. We shall see!

Happy Knitting!!

FO Friday: Midas Hat

Hip hip hooray….I have a FO!! My Midas hat is done and soooooo pretty!

Pattern: Midas Hat by Laura Reinbach

Yarn: MJ Yarns Simple Sock in King’s Blue

Needle: US 3

Mods: None

The color is a little blown out in the photo above. But boy do I love me some symmetrical hat decreases. This pattern was simple, concise and just what I needed. The double thickness brim should do quite nicely in the cold Kansas winter. And it has juuuuuust the right amount of slouch for this knitter.

The one caveat is the yarn. I LOVE the color but the knit fabric has a little “crunch” to it. MJ Simple Sock is a light fingering yarn made of 75% wool and 25% nylon. So definitely not as soft as Merino or anything but what can you expect from miscellaneous wool. It did soften after a dip in wool wash. But I may give it another bath with some gentle conditioner after a test wear. My face breaks out easily from grease or irritation so I may be a little bit of a princess on this one. But for this beautiful simple silhouette and GORGEOUS color I can suffer a little bit.

Happy Knitting!!

WIP Wednesday: Midas Hat

Happy Wednesday to all! I bring tidings of joy and a hat update. My Midas hat has grown quite a bit since I last posted about it.

Turns out you CAN knit most of the body of a hat during a movie. Jellybean had a playdate and the hubby took me to Bad Mom’s Christmas at the $2 theater (which is now closer to $3.50). Simple stockinette round and round in the dark while laughing my butt off at inappropriate jokes and innuendo.

I have already set up for the decreases! I really think I can finish this one this week!

Happy Knitting!!

FO Friday: More Mittens for Jellybean

After finishing the first pair of mittens for Jellybean I immediately cast on for a second pair. I’m under no illusion that as a 2 year old he’s not going to make every attempt to lose or destroy these mittens. Backups are a must!


Pattern: No Swatch No Gauge Mittens for Kids by Jean Gifford

Needles: US 5s

Yarn: Berroco Vintage in royal blue 

I used about 100 yards of worsted weight for this pair and the last pair. They are very quick to work up as well. This project also served as #dcspigskinparty2016 KAL project. I worked this in my team colors (aka my dad’s high school football team) to earn extra points in the KAL. And of course Jellybean gets more mittens!

These too need a good wash and block but are just waiting for winter to arrive! Happy Knitting!!

More Little Old Man Sweaters

I’m in that season of life where my friends are having ALL THE BABIES. And lately it’s been a string of boys which suits me fine because like I said last week, I’m obsessed with tiny baby old man sweaters!


I couldn’t resist and started another Baby Sophisticate by Linden Down. This time out of some deep stash Bernat Satin in Royal Blue. This is destined for a little boy that if he’s anything like his sister he’s going to have the most amazing blue eyes. 

I’m just now ready to separate from the sleeves. And of course do the finishing on my Uptown Worsted baby sophisticate….

Happy Knitting!