Hats! Hats! Hats!

Okay, there's a lot of hats going on right now! I made another hat with Big Nom (on sale through the end of Jan!!!)

And I added beads to my archangel hat. This one is definitely my new favourite. I'm wearing it all the time, now that we've got real winter here.

Another Hat

Stripes! Clearly, I'm a stripey fan. I pay attention to the stripey yarns out there. They're not always easy to buy, either, and many of the stripey dyers sell out swiftly. Additionally, most of the stripey yarn that is available, though hard-to-get, is sock yarn.

So when I discovered stripey yarn in aran weight, I immediately had two skeins come home to me.

The yarn is Big Nom by Gritty Knits. I purchased it on the 6th. It arrived on the 9th. I started knitting it on the 11th and finished it on the 13th.

Just a basic hat with a turned hem and a picot edge. I used Ann Budd's The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns for the numbers.

I want to say a little more about pompom makers, and why I like them better than using cardboard circles. The nifty feature of the pompom makers is that they fold out to allow really easy wrapping. Your hand just flows around and around, wrapping it stuffed full of yarn.

In contrast, with the cardboard maker, you need to pull the yarn through a little opening for every wrap.  The process is clumsier, and I usually run out of patience for the wrapping before it's really stuffed.  You can still make a lovely pompom with a cardboard circle, you just need to engage yourself in a lot more effort.

Archangel

What do you do with a Holy Grail skein of yarn?  You make sure you get it right.

To review, there was this skein of Malabrigo Rasta in the colourway Archangel that I admired from afar for months and months, until I finally brought it home to me.  Look at it:

So I found a pattern that is versatile and cute. You can wear it slouchy, or like a beanie. It used up the entire skein of yarn. In fact, I ran out of yarn with only 40 stitches remaining, so I ripped out the decreases, removed one row before the decreases, and finished it up so it all came out perfectly.  It was very cute.

Slouchy!

Not slouchy!

 Yes, very cute! But sadly, not on me.

The great thing about bulky is that it knits up so quickly that there's little regret in ripping the entire thing out and trying again. And this skein of yarn had to be a hat for ME. So the 2nd go was a pattern from Vogue Knitting, a tassled hat.

I knit it as directed on size 15 needles (HUGE needles!), except I changed the embellishments a little. I added a little i-cord as the hat transitions from top to tassle. And I braided the tails on the earflaps, and gave them a really long end.

The stitches are the size of cornnuts! Cornnuts are a crunchy/salty snack food that remind me of road trips and truck stops.

New favourite hat!!!