Cat fort hat

Here's another finished project from last year, my Snapdragon Tam, proudly modeled by the kitties' g i a n t cat fort (last time it was modeled by a much smaller cat fort):



A better view of the tam:



It's kind of big and drapey, which at first I didn't like. But the extra fabric makes it quite cosy and warm, which is what I enjoy in a winter hat. The brim is a little loose, I would recommend knitting it with a smaller needle than the rest of the hat. I blocked it on a dinner plate as recommended.

Pattern: Snapdragon Tam by Isolda Teague
Yarn: Dream in Color Classy, color Grey Tabby
Needles: size 6

The yarn I was using was a little more than 3/4 of a skein of Dream in Color Classy, left over from another project, and I ended up running out of yarn right at the very top of the hat. Fortunately, I have some Dream in Color sock yarn in the same color, so I finished the tam by knitting with that doubled up.

Number 9 Number 9 Number 9 Number 9

I ran into some issues while knitting Socks No. 9. The leg part was turning out to be too long. If I wanted to make the foldover cuff like the pattern, I would need to rip out some knitting. Then I thought that maybe I should have used reinforcement thread in the heel. So if I was going to rip back part of the leg, perhaps I should go back and reknit the heel. Then I thought maybe I should have used some reinforcement thread in the toe as well. Which would mean I should just frog the whole thing and start over!?!


I decided to take a week off from Socks No. 9 and instead I knit most of a Snapdragon Tam:


(proudly displayed on the cardboard box cat fort that Jimmy made a few months ago and that Pistol and Inky have slowly been destroying)

And then this morning I put Sock No. 9 on my foot and realized that all I needed to do was bind off. So that's what I did, using Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off:



So no foldover cuff. No reinforced heels or toes. I love it just the way it is. Now, on to the second Sock No. 9.

A pair of hats

I really liked a stripey hat from Kim Hargreaves' pattern book Breeze, so I made two of them. The shape is pretty simple, what interested me the most were the colors used and the way they interacted. I found some Knitpicks yarn in similar colors that was much cheaper than the Rowan Milk Cotton that pattern calls for. I'm sure the Rowan yarn is great, but the Knitpicks yarn is very soft and drapey so it made a good substitute.

Pattern: Ash
Yarn: Knitpicks Comfy Fingering, in Sea Foam and Honeydew (blue and green)/Hollyberry and Blackberry (red and violet)
Needles: size 1 and 2









(Jimmy took this one for me. The part on the left is actually my reflection in a mirror.)

Here's Pistol reflected in the same mirror:

Let's Cloche

I have a weakness for wacky Japanese yarns. I couldn't resist buying some Olympus MakeMake from kpixie.com, even though I didn't know what I would do with it. It was my birthday so I figured I could indulge a little. I had to buy the yarn as a pack of 3 balls, which were wrapped in this weird clear plastic bag that feels slightly thicker and more rubbery than a regular plastic bag.

I decided to make a new hat for myself. I went with the Side Slip Cloche from Boutique Knits:





The pattern was pretty enjoyable to knit and clever as well. I think I like it. . .

So now the question is, what to make with these:



Yes, more Japanese yarn. It's supposed to be sock yarn, but like the Noro Silk Garden Sock, I don't think I want to put this on my feet.

no longer in progress

I haven't attempted blocking this yet (I don't usually block hats), so other than that, this hat is done:


To block or not to block. . .

Pattern: Relm by b r o o k l y n t w e e d, from Knit.1 magazine, Fall/Winter 2008
Yarn: Knit Picks Swish Worsted in Squirrel Heather
Needles: size 5 circ and dpns for main part, size 4 for ribbing

I wanted an understated hat for a change. I wasn't planning to use this yarn for the hat, but then it clicked. The yarn is really soft though I found it a bit splitty. The pattern is fun to knit. It has a nice rhythm.

If you're planning on knitting this hat, check the errata page so that when you start decreasing, everything turns out pretty.

The story so far

My current crop of knits-in-progress, randomly arranged. Clockwise from the top left, there's a hat (Relm by b r o o k l y n t w e e d in Knitpicks Swish Worsted), a sock (Evening Stockings from Knitting Vintage Socks in Panda Silk), a sweater (knittingschooldropout's Garter Yoke Cardigan in Skye Tweed), and another sock (Garden Gate by Emily Johnson in Socks that Rock Lightweight & Dream in Color Smooshy Sock).


Perhaps you spotted my new favorite stitch marker:



It's actually a zipper pull that someone sweet bought for me at Kid Robot!