Knitting In The Park

I borrowed Dad’s golf cart and took the hooligans to run out their sillies last night as we feel the last dregs of warm fall. My Uptown Hat came along for the ride.

In between “mom watch this” and “mom, come start my swing” I managed to get the brim finished, folded and attached. It was a little trickier picking up this dark yarn. I was happy for the daylight!

This acrylic is not wool but the fabric is still nice. Trying not to get so tight that there is zero air flow. I tend to pull acrylic harder. This will for sure go in our donation or “safe to take to school” bin for the kids. No harm or foul if it doesn’t come back, lol.

Happy Knitting!!

Thanks, I Hate It

I should have listened to my gut. Turns out I HATED how my LSP hat was knitting up. The fabric was dense and not forgiving at all. It was so stiff that it was barely curling. So to the frog pond it went!

The yarn is back to it’s natural state. I was using US 8 needles and I think I would be better suited to go up to US 10s and then reduce down in stitch count. Rough math makes me think I could go down to 80 instead of 88. The hat is basically a swatch so I think I will start with that and see what happens. I can always rip out again!

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Uptown Hat

My rosewood circulars were bare after finishing the Classy Cashmere hat and in complete disregard to all my other WIPs, I started a new hat. I am calling this one (super creatively) my Uptown Hat.

During my summer stash re-org, I found this partially used skein of acrylic worsted and added to my hat stash. It’s really not enough for a baby knit and I wanted it gone from my pile. It is very soft for acrylic and the deep navy is very rich.

And as I am on repeat, this is another one of my hats by “recipe” of 88 sts on a US 8 needle. I am a broken record. But all this hat knitting is just scratching some part of my brain and creating dopamine so I am LEANING in. I haven’t had mojo like this in a long time!

Happy Knitting!!

FO Friday: Sally Hat

My crafting fervor has been growing as the temperatures are dropping. I swear I started this Sally Hat and then looked down and it was done!

Pattern: My own 88 stitch beanie “recipe”

Needles: US 8s

Yarn: Geektastic Fibers Star Worsted in the Sally colorway

I really don’t measure these hats anymore. I just eyeball the height or slip it on my head to see how far down it comes past my ears. And then I start the decreases. I am getting fairly predictable where I use 75% of the skein. This one was 76 grams or 145 yards.

I did use a folded brim. But with the self-striping yarn, it’s hard to see. And these stripes were fascinating as they were definitely micro stripes. The colors were always changing and maybe that is why this knit so fast?

Let’s talk about this pom pom. The ladies vending Geektastic at SSK really upsold me on this. I didn’t really look to buy it but it looks GREAT with this hat. It adds whimsy to the chaos. It just ties in with strings so I can remove as necessary very easily.

As for this new to me yarn, I would 10 out of 10 knit with again! 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: LSP Hat

I am really feeling the cast-on-itis around here. Especially with all the yummy yarn I picked up at SSK. I have given up the ghost and I now have multiple hats on the go. This latest hat is a new to me dyer, Republica Unicornia.

This is their Rambouillet Worsted in the LSP colorway. I don’t get the reference, but I’m sure the name is one. It’s a lovely neutral grey base with rainbow splatters and speckles. I think it will make a wonderful vanilla beanie where the yarn shines.

One hesitation is that I am working my standard “recipe” of 88 sts on US 8 needles. This worsted is very round and plump. The beginning fabric is very dense. But I am only three rows in and I need some more fabric before I can really tell if I like it.

It should be okay right? Happy Knitting!!

Hat Brims and Dog Chaos

I did my best knit the 2×2 ribbing for so long it felt like forever. But I have it complete and folded over. My Another Royal Hat is ready for the main hat body knitting.

Duke is in rare form and has shredded his SECOND dog bed. So until he matures a little….no more beds. And all the fluff spread across the living room, that is tomorrow’s problem. I have knitting!!

Orange Dopamine

I was having a bummer of a week at work, so I put on my tennis shoes and went for a walk on my break. My feet just so happened to take me past the yarn store and I decided I needed a dopamine hit.

I’m still all about the hats and I decided to try the singles that Malabrigo makes. It is still a worsted skein so my hat “recipe” should work. I had the yarn store wind the skein and I think this will be one of my first Pigskin Party 2024 KAL cast ons. It will qualify for extra points since it is a NFL team color!

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Wool Tweed Beanie

My Frankenstein Hat is done so I grabbed the next skein in my bag of worsted skeins.

I am back on the broken record of a folded brim on a stockinette hat. This is some “free to a good home” yarn from SSK. It’s a Lion Brand Wool Ease Tweed and its a little thicker than my Malabrigo yarns so its a denser hat at the same stitch count and needle size. It’s also not as soft but should wear well.

School is back to business so I have a lot of car time again. So this knitting is mobile!

FO Friday: Frankenstein Hat #1

I played yarn chicken and lost with my Frankenstein Hat. My medusa color ran out just after I started my decreases. So I had to dig through my scraps but I managed to find something. You can see that little bit of purple/pink pop at the very end. I think it adds to the character.

Pattern: A Musselburgh variation with worsted yarn

Needles: US 8s

Yarn: A mix of scraps (malabrigo rios/potion yarns bombshell)

I really like the two lives that hat gives. The measuring and counting paid off and it folds exactly where I want. So there is a pink story on this side and a darker purple story on the other. Bonus, I used up every inch of my scraps and this hat ended up around 220 yards of yarn.

I will definitely be making more of these with my other scraps! Happy Knitting!!