The Month of Woolly Hats.....

Hello there,

     January seemed to be the month of the hat! I ended up knitting three and casting on another, it wasn't planned but once I'd finished one, I was hooked.

The first hat was the Barley Hat by Hilary Grant from a book in my knitting library called Knitting From the North. This is a great book full of colourwork projects from accessories to garments, I plan on using more patterns that I already own either from my Ravelry library or books/magazines this year.

I used some Jamieson and Smith 2ply Jumper Weight in three colours that I have in my stash. If I'm honest, I should have chosen more contrasting colours, I really like the soft muted tones but if I knit it again I will go for brighter colour yarns.

As soon as the Barley Hat was off the needles, I cast on the Sparkling Cider Hat by Voolenvine, a design knit with a 4ply/fingering weight yarn, held double with mohair silk and beads.

I used Hill View Farm Dabbler in charcoal held together with Shubui Silk Cloud in Ash. I love the look and feel of mohair held together with another yarn, it makes the project really soft and squishy with a beautiful halo.

I love how the beads look on this hat, I used a size 6 miyuki bead from The Bead Merchant. I enjoyed the process of adding the beads, I know people are put off with beading, thinking it's complicated but it's actually very simple. I use a 0.5mm crochet hook which I find the easiest way to add beads.

This is my most favourite hat that I've knit and would love to knit another one, maybe in burgundy. I like the fit on me and how it looks.

The third hat that I cast on in January is the Heart End Hat, a test knit for Ainsworth & Prin, also known as The Knitting Shed, who sell the most gorgeous yarn in a wonderful array of colours.

I used The Fibre Company Lore, in the Gentle colourway, it's a beautiful, 100% lambswool from the English Romney. It's a proper woolly yarn but softens up beautifully once blocked.

The Hearts End is a cabled design which is simple to knit and easy to follow from the well-written pattern but looks very intricate. I used the smaller needles, suggested in the pattern to make it slightly smaller. I thought it looked quite big as I was knitting it but it fits perfectly and is a very warm, cosy hat for these chilly, winter days. I still haven't attached the pompom yet, as I can't decide if I want one on this hat.

I have just cast on another hat which uses two strands of DK called the Skyhill Hat by Emily Foden. This is from the fabulous Knits about Winter book which I might do a separate blog post about this book. It has so many stunning designs, I want to knit everything in this book.

I used John Arbon Knit by Numbers in 79KBN held with two strands of Rowan Mohair Haze which is a 4ply yarn. I'm using yarn, leftover from other projects, I'm so pleased with how this is turning out. You might think it could be a pain holding three strands together but actually, I'm not finding it difficult at all. The only tip that I would give is making sure that you are knitting all three yarns, sometimes you might have a stray loop so you just need to be mindful of this.

Do you have a certain thing that you like to knit? I use to be a big sock knitter and I still always have a sock or two on the needles but don't get as many finished as I did. I love the instant gratification of hats.

The last thing before I sign off is the winner of The Handmade Sock Society 2 by Curious Handmade is..........

Kate P

If you could let me know your Ravelry name, I will get Helen to send you the pattern collection.

Happy Knitting
xxxxDebxxxx

Barley Hat by Tincan Knits and more.......

Hello my friends, how are you all doing? This week I've knit a new hat for Caiden, he's outgrown all of his handknit hats that I made him before he was born. I looked through lots of patterns and the one that Jodie and I both liked was the Barley Hat by Tincan Knits, the sizes range from baby through to adult.

It is a free pattern from The Simple Collection which contains eight patterns including accessories and sweaters. As the title says, they are simple and basic knits aimed at beginner knitters or more experienced knitters who want a quick simple knit. The great thing about this collection apart from been beautiful projects, which goes without saying as they are by Tincan Knits and I love all their patterns but the whole collection is FREE.

I would knit every one of them and the are sized from newborn to large adult something for the whole family. The patterns are seamless using worsted weight yarn in stockinette and garter stitch so perfect for beginners. If you've always want to learn to knit in the round or knit a sweater but have always been a little bit imtimitated, these patterns would be perfect for you.

Here's my little hipster grandson wearing his new hat, I didn't have any suitable worsted weight so I used some Drops Lima DK. I would have knit the baby size but as I was using a DK , I knit the toddler size on the same needles as they recommended and it turned out perfectly.

I didn't swatch for the hat, I just took a chance, I thought as it was a small, quick knit ( it took one evening), I had nothing to lose if it was too big, I could just start again with smaller needles. Caiden has quite a large head for his age so I was aiming for 17" head circumference, which I achieved once it had been blocked. I was so pleased how it turned out, it was the perfect size and he looks so cute in it. I will definitely be casting on another one soon.

I've finished my purple "Fairisle" socks which I knit in Rico Design Superba Mexico, these are going to my friend who has a birthday coming up she has been very kind to me over the last few weeks so deserved a special gift. She does a lot of walking and she loves my handknit socks, she says they are so much more comfortable and warmer than shop bought, I've been promising her a new pair for a while now.

Since finishing another pair of socks, I've picked one of my brown paper bags with my Personal Mystery Sock Yarn 2015 inside. February's sock yarn was this, Rico Design Superba Santa Fé, this is very similar to the last sock yarn. I've got to say, I really like this brand for a hardwearing sock yarn, it's not as luxurious like some of the beautiful selfstriping or indie dyed yarns but I think it will stand the test of time like the Regia and Opal.

When I picked this yarn for the bag, I knew I would knit my husband another pair of socks, I love the colours from dark chocolate brown to rust to a taupe with a tweedy look, I wouldn't mind a pair for me.

I wanted to try a new to me cast on for my next pair of socks after listening to Jo's Shiny Bees podcast And her Sock Surgery segment. They were talking about different cast on techniques for socks and the recommended one was the German Twisted Cast-On which the said gave a neat,stretchy cuff. I absolutely love it, it really is the best cast on I've used. I looked on the web for a good tutorial and went for a You Tube video by the Knit Witch, it was easy to follow and I picked it up really quickly.

I've spent a cheeky half hour on them this morning while I enjoyed a cup of Earl Grey. I'm knitting a plain Vanilla sock with 72 stitches.

Now to what I'm reading this week, I've nearly finished Harry Potter and the Philophers Stone so hopefully should be starting a new book by the end of the week. I am enjoying it far more than I thought I would and will definitely read the other books, eventually.

I've also been reading the new Spring PomPom magazine, again it is full of beautiful patterns,mit never disappoints. I'm linking to Ginny's Yarn Along and Nicole's Keep Calm, Craft On, check out all the gorgeous projects for lots of inspiration.

Have a good week.

xxxxDebxxxx

I've just linked up to another link up called Lunamon Design.