citadel hat: ta-da!

May 30, 2015 by 8 Comments

It’s finished!  Using yarn from Welthase and the pattern here, this didn’t take too long to finish (at least, for knitting)!

Citadel knitted hat

The lining is slightly smaller than the outer shell but that’s my fault — I think I skipped a few rows in the decreases, or maybe the different yarn just knitted a tighter gauge.  I did use the Navajo 3-Ply technique for the lining instead of just using the recommended 2 strands of the lace weight yarn, and I’m glad I did because with 2 strands it defnitely would have been too small.

citadel hat liningI really love this hat — I think I’m going to make another sometime!  Maybe next time with a completely solid and lighter colored outside, and a brighter pop of color inside.

Well, that’s all for today, thanks for stopping by!

 

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citadel hat progress

May 26, 2015 by 6 Comments

I’ve been working on the Citadel hat and I’m using the yarn from the frogged Angel scarf for the lining.  Originally I’d planned the reddish coral yarn from here to be the lining but I decided I loved it so much I wanted to save it for something you’d see a bit more.  Well, the provisional cast-on has been removed and here’s what I’ve got:

citadel hat color join

I’m using the Navajo 3-Ply Technique to triple the thickness of the yarn, even though the pattern says you only need to hold 2 strands of the lace weight yarn together…  3 is working well!

The silky yarn will be better against hair than the wooly one would be, anyway, so maybe this is best.

There was an issue with the join that I wanted to ask you about: when you do a provisional cast on and start knitting the other way, do you prefer the last row of the old color or the first row of the new color to be twisted?  See what I mean here, my last row of the dark grey is twisted:

citadel hat color join closeup

Well, I’ll update soon hopefully.  I’m really liking this hat (although I don’t know when it will ever be cold enough to use it in South Carolina)!

Thanks for stopping by, see you soon!

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Citadel hat: halfway done!

May 23, 2015 by 6 Comments

I’ve been working on a knitting project called the Citadel hat (free pattern), and I’m already halfway through!

Citadel hat halfway through
“But that looks almost complete,” you might be thinking, but the Citadel hat is lined! The provisional cast-on will soon be connected to either a light silver or a coral colored yarn (not sure which yet), which will be worked in stockinette for the entire second layer.  The yarn I used (click here for more info) might not have been the best idea, even though it’s gorgeous and works up so nicely, because the slight variations in color make the stitch pattern a bit difficult to see, but I love it anyway.

Upon trying it on, it’s a tad big for my smallish head, but with the lining I bet some of that space will be filled up (and I like roomy hats that will cover my ears, anyway, so it’s perfect).

Well, that’s all for now!  Thanks for stopping by!

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Star Anise hat ta-da!

March 28, 2015 by 4 Comments

Not quite like I expected but I’m happy.

Star Anise knit hat

This was made with 131 yards of Arroyo yarn by Malabrigo (100% merino, sport weight) in the Coffee Toffee colorway, which is one of those colors that’s oddly difficult to photograph accurately.  The yarn is so soft — I’d had it forever and forgotten about it, and I love it!  Have to get some more sometime.

Despite my love of the yarn, the needles called for (US 3 & 4) were not quite right — my hat is not slouchy or loose at all like the ones in the pictures on the pattern page.  Of course, maybe that’s my fault — I could have been knitting way too tightly, and I didn’t make a gauge swatch.  Even so, I like the hat:

Star Anise hatIt turns out it’s hard to take pictures of the top of your own head.  Well, the KBLs that go up the whole thing are a little wonky — maybe because I didn’t block it — but I’m hoping it will all straighten out with wear.

The cast on was difficult because it was my first [successful] long tail tubular cast on, but I love how it turned out!  Might start using it for things that don’t even call for  it.

Star Anise hat knitted

Anyway, I think the pattern is worth the $6.  It was enjoyable to make and I do like the end result.  Let me know what you think, and if you’ve made it, how did yours turn out?

Well, that’s all for today.  Thanks for stopping by!

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Giftie Slouchie Beanie #4

September 24, 2014 by 11 Comments

With a number 4, you can probably guess that this is a great knit hat to make. And with a name like Giftie Slouchie Beanie it’s pretty easy to infer that this particular hat is great for gifts.

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It’s great for gifts for a few reasons: it uses chunky yarn and bigger needles so you can make it quickly; it looks difficult even though it’s not that hard; it’s very stretchy so it can fit almost any adult head. In fact, all of my versions of this have been gifted to men I know for these reasons!

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This one in particular is going to my uncle. He’s starting chemo this week (in fact it could have already started by now), and he’ll be in the hospital for a few weeks at least. I’m worried about him of course, but he’s got such a great positive attitude and I know that that can make all the difference in the world! The doctors said he’d almost certainly lose his hair, though, and since hospitals are often very cold anyway and it’ll be late October-ish when he gets out, I figured a hat would be a nice gift that says that I care and am thinking about him. The great thing is, he doesn’t even know that I knit and crochet, so it’ll be a surprise! I’ll try to mail it within the next couple of days so that he’ll get it ASAP and can start using it! Hopefully he’ll like it!

Here’s a close-up of the stitches:

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For some reason it was hard to get the color of the hat right in the photos — it’s a slightly dark teal (and I almost forgot to mention it’s Berroco Vintage Chunky — a soft wool blend).

Well, that’s it for today. I’d paused on the Paulie cardi and the garter stitch blanket to work on this but updates on either one of those should be coming in the near future. Thanks so much for stopping by!

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