I’m trying to make this at least a monthly thing – we will see if this keeps up through the winter. This month’s review is a bit different though, because there was no pattern.
Two years ago, I bought some bulky yarn from Youghiogheny Yarns in the “Autumnal Woods” colorway with the goal of knitting a hat for myself. Of course, there is lots of yarn, and lots of projects, and the yarn fell to the back of a bin after a while. In getting ready for our big family Disney trip though, I needed something simple to work on during the plane ride – especially since I would be sitting with my very active 3 year old, and figured focus wasn’t going to be in ample supply.
I searched all over Ravelry for a pattern that matched what I wanted, but I couldn’t quite find what I was looking for. Isn’t that the hardest part, having a visualization, but nothing exists that matches it?
So, I set out to knit the hat I wanted. Overall, a hat isn’t too terribly difficult, so I wasn’t too worried about this mental pattern being a challenge. For this hat, I cast on 58 stitches, and did 8 rows in a 2×2 ribbing, before going into a seed stitch, with one 5×5 cable. (ta-da! You have a free hat pattern!). This was cast on while sitting in the airport and waiting for our flight, and was great entertainment! It also fit great in a small project bag, which helped with trying to limit the size of our travel items.
This hat went so fast, and I LOVED working with the yarn. I knit until it “felt” like it was tall enough, then started my crown shaping to close the top. I wove in the ends, wore the hat for a week…and realized it was NOT long enough. So last week I ripped out all the decrease rounds, knit another eight-ish rounds, THEN started the crown shaping. THIS was definitely long enough, and I love how this hat fits and feels! It’s not a slouchy hat, and not overly stretchy because of the seed stitch.
All that’s left is to make a pom for the top with the remaining yarn, then a nice photo shoot!
This month, I’m working on my husband’s long overdue Christmas stocking. I highly doubt it will be completed by Christmas Day, but it’s worth a shot. What holiday knitting are you working on?