Major Knitter

Hats! Hats! and even more hats!

It's been awhile. In fact, it's been over a year since I've posted. This winter was tough on all of us and now that it's May, I'm feeling better, happier, lighter. Whew!  How about you? What have you been knitting?

This winter from November 15 to March 15 I knit approximately 85 hats. Busy work is one of my main activities. Eventually, all these hats will find a home.  I anticipate doing another fundraiser for my beloved Camp Sequassen and gifting donors with their choice of a hand knit hat. But that probably won't happen until the fall.  In the mean time, here is a sampling of just a few of the hats I knit this winter.

 

It starts with my vast supply of Cascade Eco+ yarn. It's a bulky yarn and most of the hats are knit on a US Size 10 needle which means they're incredibly quick to knit. Over the winter, I averaged 1.8 hats per day. To be fair, I'm also a ridiculously speedy knitter.  

I knit up a slew of Truffle Hats designed by mu tricote la vie (on Ravelry)

Then I knit various hats using 2 skeins of Cascade Eco+. It was so much fun, I repeated the process with double skeins of the vast stash.

The fan favorite of all these hats seems to be a classic cable hat, so I knit some more.

And that is a summary of what I've been doing these past 6 months. How about you? Are you knitting? What is your favorite hat pattern? Which weight yarn do you prefer for hats?  I can't wait to hear from you.

 

Why I Love Knitting Hats

I thought this was a simple title for a post.  Why do I love knitting hats?  It seems like a pretty simple question, after all.  But it turns out that I have a few reasons for liking hats. 

1. They're relatively quick and easy.  You know I like instant gratification.
2. They're portable.  I can put it in my purse and take it on my commute.  It's just enough knitting to keep me busy for a day into NYC.
3. I have a lifetime supply of worsted weight yarn.  I often purchase too much yarn for a project.  I know that instead of returning any yarn, I will easily put the yarn to good use in a hat.
4. Hats make great gifts.  I try very hard to make beautiful hats.  I know that sounds silly... who would make an ugly hat?  But it happens.  If it's not something I would wear myself, I wouldn't expect anyone else to wear it.
5. Hats are great items to donate.  It's cold.  Everyone can wear a hat in the winter.  I have a special charity that I know can use the hats and puts them to good use.  They are actually appreciated.
6. They also make great donations for door prizes, auction gifts, etc.  
7. Fair Isle hats are especially great because you can use up the little bit of leftover yarn from a former project.  
   
   
   

See.  It's not such a simple question.  What are your favorite reasons for knitting hats?

 

Knitting for a Cause

Secundogeniture is going to school at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.  He's part of the student leadership (of course) and is going on the Alternative Spring Break to help people in Houston recover from the damage of Hurricane Harvey.  To that end, he and his crew are raising funds.  You can read more about it on the official UAF Alternative Spring Break page HERE.

I figured that one of the ways I could help was by knitting polar bear hats that I designed.  I'm going to knit anyway, so I might as well put my time and talents to use for a good cause.  Here's a picture of some of the students participating in the Alternative Spring Break posing with the polar bear hats.  UAF's mascot, by the way, is the Nanook, or polar bear.

If you'd like to donate to a good cause, and receive your very own polar bear hat - please leave a comment or email me with size and material (bright white are 100% acrylic and the natural are 100% wool).

And here's a side-by-side photo of the UAF Nanook mascot with Secundogeniture during Winterfest last month.

Go Nanooks!
 

 

Baby Shower

This weekend I trekked into the city for a baby shower in Gramercy Park.  I picked a gift from the registry and had it shipped directly to the new mom and dad to be.

But what's the fun in that?  There has to be something cute and adorable to open, so I knit my signature owl hat in a newborn size.

WHO doesn't love a baby?

I think it's time to knit a few more owl hats to have on hand.  They're one of my favorite gifts to give.  

XOXO

 

Watch Cap

Secundogeniture is studying in Alaska.  He started in January and since he's been there, the temperatures have not gotten above freezing.  I knit him one cashmere cable hat and promised him a watch cap made from the qiviuk he chose while at the LYS in Fairbanks - Inua Wool Shoppe.  It's been nearly 10 weeks and I only just finished the hat.  

This is The Boyfriend Hat designed by Purl Soho
1.25 skeins Jacques Cartier Qiviuk in natural brown
1.25 skeins Knit Picks Palette in bark

I especially like the look of the crown design for this watch cap.  As far as colors go, I chose two nearly identical colors for a solid colored watch cap.  I've already cast on for a second with matching colors as well.  For a third cap, I think I'll select two slightly different colors to give it a little bit of depth.

I'll be shipping this finished object to Secundogeniture and it will arrive just as the temperatures are finally getting above freezing. Wear it well son. 

love,
Mom

 

Bird on a Wire

I know it seems like I'm cranking out a hand knit hat every ten minutes.  I assure you that's not the case.  Most of these hats were started, and even completed, last month.  I simply forgot to photograph and post about them.  

Today's hat is something I finished this morning.  I was inspired by the other hats and I picked it up again and focused entire on its completion.

• Passerine designed by Erica Heusser
• US Size 3 needles (I probably should have used a US 2)
• 1 skein Fibre Alive Merino Mania
• 1 skein Knit Picks Palette

I love how the birds are just sitting on a wire in this hat.  The colorwork is satisfying and keeps the knitting interesting.  I also think that this pattern is absolutely perfect for spring as the birds are starting to build their nests while chirping outside my windows.

Mini Roni Hat

On the stash-busting binge, I am looking seriously at every bit of yarn I own.  I ask myself, "What can I make with this?"  I had two skeins of this Rowan 4-ply soft in gray in my stash (given to me when a friend was purging their own yarn stash).  I quickly did a Ravelry search for hats in fingering weight yarn.  This interesting design  - Mini Roni Hat by Jane Tanner - caught my eye.

It turns out this hat is knit on US Size 3 needles and takes up nearly one entire skein.  I think it's safe to say I used 99% of the skein for this one.  

My glass jar doesn't quite model this hat well enough to show off its best features.

Fortunately for me, Secundogeniture modeled the hat for me, as long as he wasn't feature in the photo.  Here you can see how this ribbed hat has an interesting pattern that make knitting a hat in fingering weight completely worth the extra time and effort.  I think it's a perfect indoor hat - which seems to be the thing these days.  And I even have one entire skein leftover for another hat.  Must start thinking about that project.  

Click HERE for the Mini Roni Hat pattern by Jane Tanner

Stash Busting Hats

This year I'm really, really, really trying to use up my stash yarn.  One of the great ways to do this is with hats.  Hats perfectly eat up that one cute skein of yarn I couldn't resist in the sale bin, or that is leftover from a project.  And color work hats are even better ways to artfully weave those itty bitty bobs and bits into a new well-loved item rather than being relegated to a trash bin.  I found the free Siksak hat pattern and knit up three.  You saw the pink baby version.  Now I have two adult versions as well.

I like that it combines three popular elements this year - color, slouch and pompom.  And let me tell you how a pompom is God's gift to stash busting enthusiasts!  All the yarn you wanted to use up disappears in the space of minutes!

With this hat's very wide cuff, it will keep your ears extra warm.  The color work section, being doubly thick, continues to warm you.  Once on the head, you have to tug and adjust to give your hat the slouchy personality you like best.

I think it's best to use some bold colors that will really help your Siksak hat pop.  The orange and magenta contrasted with the turquoise and blue really say "Hello!"

What's your favorite stash busting hat pattern?

31 Projects in 31 Days

Wow!  I like knitting lots of quick knits.  So much so that I actually knit 31 projects in the month of January.  I should say more accurately, that I finished 31 projects in 31 days.  Yes - there were many hats and jumbo Christmas stockings which are all very quick - but still THIRTY-ONE projects is a lot of knitting.  I don't think I posted every single on in the blog.  You can look at my Ravelry project page (click on the tab that says 2016) to see what I've been up to so far this year.

Now we're on to February.  I hope it's equally as good a month.  So far, I have quite a few felted hats and felted projects in mind for this month.  I hope it goes as planned.

Remember the Size 2 Wonderful Wallaby I knit last year?  It's for a friend who has had her first grandchild and I wanted to knit something special that her little darling could grow into.  As you know, the Wonderful Wallaby is one of my favorite projects to knit.  But it needed something else to give it a little extra pizzazz so I found Hanna Leväniemi's Siksak hat pattern that was featured on the front page of Ravelry on February 1st and knew that was the perfect accent for this gift.

It turned out quite nicely and my Curious George was more than happy to model the finished hat.

I made a pair of children's mittens and incorporated an abbreviated version of the zigzag pattern.  I added the crocheted string to go through the sleeves of the sweater so the mittens won't get lost on a toddler.  Is this a thing anymore?  

Together I think they make a nice set.  Now there is some life to the pink baby set.

And my friend was here for Super Bowl Sunday and she loved the set.  It's always good to knit the extra mile.

Another Baa-ble Hat

The Baa-ble Hat is so darned cute that I had to knit another one.  This time I had to use some darker green yarn and I wasn't sure how I would like it.  

I also used a darker blue for the sky and I think it worked out just fine indeed.  Baa.

I love a good close-up selfie.  It's pretty hard to take a picture of your own head (without getting your face).  Baa.

We're actually scheduled for a very cold weekend (-6 below zero!) so I'm very glad to have so many cute and adorable hats to wear.  Baa.

I'm not going to promise that this will be the last Baa-ble hat.  Perhaps I need one with black sheep instead of fluffy white sheep.  What say you?

Baa.