My Hat, It Has Three Corners The third and final hat for the month is a triangular tam. Because I've had such a very excellent track record of running out of yarn at the end, and because I was planning on knitting this hat from scraps, I decided to begin the hat with a very small amount of turquoise, then finish it in a large amount of brown. Thus, I would have planned to make the hat two colors from the beginning, and this hat would not have an odd splotch in the middle of it. So I swatched, cast on, and knit the hat. I must say, it did make a hat-shaped object. And it is triangular. However, upon closer...
First Dwarves, Now Gnomes Note: This article was originally posted on the Skein Shop News feed due to a touch of user error. My apologies. Next up is the Ganomy hat, whose name is obviously a play on a literal pronunciation of "gnome". I've made this hat before, and it is a real winner. The shaping is elegant, functional, and warm. I think it results in a totally adorable hat, but I've found that the other adults around me tend to find the shape rather childish. Their loss. So I set out to use up some stash. Can you see where this is going already? Of course I chose a discontinued yarn. Of course I ran short. The good news...
Diggy Diggy Hole This hat is genius. It is quick, simple, and, to quote Mary Poppins, practically perfect in every way. The thick yarn knits up quickly and will be warm in the winter, the shaping at the back of the neck curves the earflaps down elegantly, and the tassel adds a bit of whimsy. The only possible modification I would make on future versions would be to put a buttonhole in the corner of one earflap so they could be buttoned securely under the chin. However, true to form I ran short of yarn. I was testing a skein of Kraemer Perfection Super Bulky, and there was just not quite enough. If I had made the neck flap a...
Did I really not blog about this? You'll have to forgive my tardiness with this post. I am still learning to strike a balance between Ravelry, Twitter, Instagram, Blog, etc...and sometimes I forget to mention things in all the pertinent places. This hat pattern is certainly one of those. Designed swiftly and on a whim, it takes you quickly from stranded colorwork newbie to ready-for-anything. While there are not specific instructions for stranded colorwork included in the pattern, this small, low-risk project does give you the opportunity to try everything you might encounter in a more complicated pattern. Two skeins of Araucanía Huasco Worsted will easily make two hats, so quit waiting and cast on! If you don't know how...
January's Project is an Aran Sweater EZ was so obsessed with gauge and teaching knitters to understand its importance that she insisted on printing it in a completely different font each time it appeared in her books. It should be no surprise, then, that the first step of making a sweater is to do a swatch - and a large one at that. Allow me to make a bit of a confession. I am highly resistant to swatching. I would much rather cast on a sleeve or something small and rip it all out if the gauge doesn't come out right than swatch. If I feel I must swatch, I usually try to knit the smallest amount I think I...
