Rolled Brim Cabled Crossed Hat

Once again I’m wishing that I could knit faster, as this weekend’s Knit A Day pattern is very cute.

My first thought when I flipped the calendar on Friday was “oh my gosh a knitted sun hat!” It really does look like it should be a sun hat, which is kind of awesome considering that most of the hats I make are beanies and completely inappropriate for the seventy degree winters we’ve been having lately.

While looking at the pattern, wishing I had more hand so I could make several projects at once, I noticed that the author was the very same one who wrote the pattern for the pretty cable scarf that is sitting in my pattern queue. I figured that anyone who was cool enough to be featured twice so close in a row in this calendar was someone worth checking out, and I’m glad I did. Her blog is pretty awesome, filled with breathtaking works and really interesting posts, including one on making your own double point needles (score!). It almost makes me feel guilty that I have had to skip over her projects in the calendar so far.

In the meantime, I have been working on completing the winter throw I started in January. I managed to make two more blocks before I decided to switch back to working on the yoga socks. The one single one looked so lonely sitting on my desk all by itself. I decided I’d cut a chunk out of the yarn after all, this way the two socks will match. So far this one has been going by much more quickly than the first. I think I’m finally getting the hang of this sock thing!

Tiger Cat Hat

I spent the weekend finishing my Tiger Cat Hat. It’s a little more snug than I expected it to be, but that’s probably because I used a different yarn than was called for in the pattern.

I modified the original pattern a bit. Besides using a K hook to account for the difference in yarn weight, I also added ten rounds to the hat itself to make it longer. I also added a few increase rows of my own devising to each ear so that they would be larger as well. Th original ear size looked too small now that I had increased the length of the hat.

I’m really enjoying the stripped pattern created by the variegated yarn, which is one of the things I absolutely adore about working with variegated colors.

I started work on a third hat of this type, this time in white. Soon everyone I know will have kitty hats. ^_^

Beret

After breaking my circular needles last week I was stalled a bit on my beret project. While I was unable to fix them, I gave in and changed to new needles so that I could continue the project. Today it is finished!

I made it using a pattern I found on SockPixie, which is a really amazing blog might I add.

Being ever the rebel, I used Sensations Little Treat Soft and colorful yarn for this project. I made it for my grandmother, who adores the feel of cashmere, and this yarn came pretty close. The hat is made from two skeins of mitigated yarn, which created the unique color combination seen in the picture. I was unsure about the color choices early on in the creation process because both skeins have sections of white in them and there were several rows that were white instead of alternating colors. However, that part (as luck would have it) is under the fold of the hat, so no one will ever know.

The pattern itself was easy enough to follow. I had to pull out the project at one point, but that was due to my inability to work the repeating stitches properly. Apparently I was seeing too many little stars when I read the row and didn’t repeat enough of the stitches.

I am a little disappointed in the size, I thought it would have been bigger based on the picture featured with the pattern. It looks like I thought it would not worn, but it looks a little small when placed on my head. Further support of my theory that my head is bigger than those of the pattern makers. I’m thinking of making another one of these for myself, but I’ll be using bigger needles to make the hat larger.

More Cat Hats

I’ve been working diligently on a scarf lately, but I’ve grown bored. So I’ve decided to start working on more hats.

I’ve decided to start a series of hats inspired by the Crazy Cat Hat pattern that I featured in August.

The second hat in the series, which is still in the process of being created, is inspired by my kitty cat Tigger. Being a tiger cat, I chose to use Zebra yarn from Red Heart.

This yarn is a lot thinner than the one called for in the pattern. In order to make my hat fit, I used a K (6.5mm) hook. I also added to the number of rounds to make the hat long enough.

I’m going to begin working on the ear flaps for the hat today. I’m really excited to see how the patterning works out. I really like the spiral stripes it has right now, and I hope that it is able to continue to some degree.

Tabby Tam, Finished at Last!

At last, the tabby tam is finished! That only took….forever.

The cables that make this pattern really interesting also made it take so long. I’m a pretty fast knitter, but not so fast when it comes to some fancy stitching.

The hat was made with a pattern from The Fiber Republic. It’s a really interesting pattern, and the cables definitely make it look more complicated than it actually is.

I made the hat using Vanna’s Choice yarn. I really like this yarn, it’s so soft! I’m planning on working with it again in the near future.

I have to admit, when I first started working on this project I was weary. I didn’t think the featured picture looked all that great, but my sister had picked it out so I figured that was what she wanted. After spending time working on it, the pattern really grew on me. I think the way the person was wearing the hat in the photo made it looked a little weird in my mind. I’m happy to say that I was very pleased with the result.

 

Tabby Tam Part 4

I’m almost done with the tam. I’m at the very top of it, and I was hoping it would be getting easier by now. However, the pattern doesn’t want to give up on the cables. It ends with a few rounds of cable 2. I admire the dedication of the pattern, but to me they just don’t look like cables any more.

I’m hoping to finish by Friday so I can post some pictures.

Tabby Tam Part 3

The tam is almost finished!

Now that it’s bigger the cables are much clearer than the picture that I posted last week. I’m really enjoying this pattern, mostly because I get to do cables every few rows instead of stocking knit stitching all around like with most hats.

The only downside is that the cables make the hat kind of stiff. As you can see in the picture, it stands up all by itself now. I’m not sure if I like the stiffness, but I have a feeling that it will become less stiff after its been used.

The one thing I love about patterns that are knitted from the bottom up, is that the hat gets easier to make as time goes on. Which is good, because its toward the end of the project when I start to get bored and want to move on.

I’m hoping to finish this one in the next few days.

Tabby Tam Part 2

After pulling out my tam earlier this week and starting anew on bigger needles, I have finally reached the point in the pattern where I’m cabling. Yay!

I’ve only done one round of cables so far, so you have to squint to see them in the picture, but I promise they are there. I really enjoy doing cables, and this hat is extra fun because I get to do them all the way around it.

I was having some issues with the hat early on because there are so many stitches in it they started falling off the ends of my needles when I wasn’t looking. I solved this by placing rubber bands on the ends to keep them in place while I was working on a different section. It takes time to remove and replace the rubber bands each time I change a needle, but it’s totally worth it to not have to worry about losing a big chunk of work by dropping stitches.

Tabby Tam

My sister has been bugging me for a few weeks to make her this tam hat. Now that I’m back from my interview and less stressed, I decided to oblige.

Pictured here is my second attempt at starting the hat. Initially I misread the pattern and casted on too few stitches. Several hours later, I realized the mistake and had to pull the whole thing out.

I casted on again, and began anew. A few hours after this picture was taken I had finished the increasing stitches, and was just about to begin the cables, when I realized that there was no way that this was going to fit around my sister’s head.

This isn’t the first time this has happened to me, which makes me wonder what is going on. The beanies I make typically turn out the right size, but it appears that I’m having trouble with the more complicated patterns. I have a few theories: 1. By random happenstance, I have picked out two patterns with typos in the gauging, 2. I’m knitting the pattern tighter than the gauge swatch, or 3. I just know people with huge heads.

Now I’m off to pull out this attempt and begin a third on a bigger needle size.

Fall Hat

Two weeks ago, I featured a hat I created using this pattern from Knitty. While the hat pictured with the pattern looked amazing, mine came out misshapen and far too small to fit “any adult” as the pattern claimed it would.

Because this was a request from my boyfriend, I decided not to give up based on one bad result, and instead began working on my own pattern. After working hard, I have finally come up with a result that I think looks pretty good.

On the left, is the hat created from the Knitty pattern, and on the right is the one created from my own pattern. Side by side, it’s apparent how different they actually are. This suggests that either I completely miscounted when creating the first hat, or I messed up the gauge swatch.

All in all, it has been a really good experience, I got the chance to write my own pattern, and in doing so I was able to practice the magic circle knitting technique.

I created this hat starting at the crown and working my way down, treating it more like a crochet project than a knit one, which from what I’ve seen are mostly made from the bottom up. It’s worked in a 2×2 rib stitch that continues throughout.

I think the hardest part about making this project was keeping the rib stitch while adding stitches while keeping the ribbing pattern going.

I have yet to show the boyfriend the newest version of this project, but I have a feeing he will be pleased with the outcome.