FO: Habitat

Pattern: Habitat
Source: brooklyn tweed
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Lettuce
Needle: Knit Picks Options, size 7 & 8
Started: January 1, 2010
Finished: January 31, 2010
Mods:
Ravel It!

If my claim to a Gordie Howe hat trick is to have a leg to stand on, this hat is essential. It ended up being my fight. I pretty much knit the hat twice. The first time through, I didn't knit the ribbing tall enough for my liking. It didn't quite cover my ears, which by now you should know is very important. I let it sit for awhile, like to two hockey fighters circling each other on the ice shift after shift. Finally, I dropped the gloves and frogged the darn thing.

On the second go-round, I got the ribbing long enough, but the cable chart gave me fits. I think I took it for granted because I had knit it once already. Also, I was probably more distracted the second time, since I originally started knitting during Christmas/New Year's break.

I finally finished the hat on the last day of the month only to realize that for as beautiful a hat it is with all the gorgeous cables, half the hat is ribbing! Ugh! At this point I'm calling it done, with a chance of being reknit later on.

FO: Blue Aran Toque

Pattern: Irish Moss Toque
Yarn: Cascade 220, Blue Velvet
Needle: Knit Picks Options, size 6 & 7
Started: January 12, 2010
Finished: January 18, 2010
Mods: Knit the brim extra long, changed cable crosses
Ravel It!

This was the third hat I knit for the 2010 Hat Trick. I love cables and really fell in love with the design when I saw it on Ravelry. I also liked the idea of folded brim as I sometimes have trouble getting hats just the right length. They either don't cover my ears or slip down and cover my eyes. I haven't worn this one out yet, but I think it'll avoid those problems.

The blue yarn really makes the cables and seed stitch pop, which I totally love. What I wasn't totally excited about were the decreases. They're not evenly spaced over the pattern, so they almost formed corners on the hat where they began. Blocking helped as does actually wearing the hat. The yarn stretches to fit my head and the 'corners' go away.

I made two modifications to the pattern. First, I knit the ribbing deeper than called for since I need to lengthen most hat patterns anyway. Even though the brim is folded - and therefore longer than normal - I didn't want to end up with a really small fold. Second, I changed the way the large cable crossed on row 1 and row 13. It just made more sense in my brain that way, it makes the cable look more 'woven' which is what I like.

FO: Swatch Cap

Pattern: Elizabeth Zimmerman's swatch cap
Source: Knitting Workshop
Yarn: Bartlettyarns Fisherman 2-Ply in Medium Sheeps Gray
Needle: Knit Picks Options, size 8
Started: January 16, 2010
Finished: January 18, 2010
Mods: none
Ravel It!

This one is, admittedly, pretty darn boring. One of those goals where you just lull the defense and goalie to sleep only to tuck a dribbler in between his pads. It truly was intended as a swatch cap, one to check my gauge for my Ravelympics project. It does fit nicely, although I should have knit the ribbing on smaller needles. The yarn softened up nicely after washing; I actually cooked it on the stove like I would dye yarn since it felt like there was some oil still left in the yarn. I'll keep it around until my sweater is finished in case I need the yarn, but I may end up donating this one. Which is ok too.

FO: Wood Hollow Hat

Pattern: Wood Hollow Hat
Source: Through the Loops!
Yarn: Stonehedge Fiber Mill Shepherd's Wool in Berries
Needle: Knit Picks Options, size 6 & 7
Started: January 6, 2010
Finished: January 11, 2010
Mods: Went up one needle size for body of hat, knit an extra cable repeat
Ravel It!

I. Love. This. Hat.

Another home run from Kirsten of Through the Loops! Every other pattern she publishes I want to knit. I think she might be responsible for 25% of my Ravelry queue right now. But can you blame me? Kirsten designs some really fabulous stuff.

This hat and I had a bit of a rocky start. I began knitting with some Cascade 220 in dark gray and just was not feeling it; the yarn felt too rough for my liking. I totally messed up the small cable pattern, knitting a twisted cable instead of the wavy cables called for. Of course, I realized it about halfway through and totally lost momentum.

When I came back around, I decided I needed new yarn and knew the perfect one. I saw the dark red color on the yarn store shelf and grabbed it up immediately. I love the depth it gives the pattern and it's SO soft. Once I got going again there was no turning back. It took me less than a week to finish the hat. I think it took me longer than that to actually photograph it!

The fit is perfect, long enough to cover my ears and not too tight. I went up a needle size for the body of the hat both to make it slightly larger, but also too keep that luscious softness of the yarn. I think that's one reason the Cascade 220 wasn't working out. I also knit an extra repeat of the cable pattern to make sure the hat fit the way I wanted. Quite a few of the hats I've knit in the past I end up making too tight because they're not long enough. I constantly pull them down trying to cover my ears and they end up squishing the top of my head. With the larger gauge and size, this hat may not keep that bitterly cold winter wind at bay quite as well, but the comfortable fit is a good trade off.

Hat Trick 2010

It's that time of year again, time to knit some hats! We started discussing the second annual Puck This! knit-a-long back in November and I've been chomping at the bit to get started. The goal is to knit (at least) three hats in the month of January, but that shouldn't be a problem for me; I had 50 different hat designs in my queue! It was seriously hard to wait until New Year's Day to cast on.

Unfortunately, in all my excitement, I messed up my first hat. I started to make Kirsten Kapur's (Through the Loops) Wood Hollow Hat in Cascade 220, but mis-read the pattern and mis-crossed the smaller cable in the design. I wasn't really enjoying the feel of the yarn either, and I already have a hat with that same yarn, so I set it aside for frogging.

In the meantime, I picked out another pattern I've been wanting to knit for a really long time, Jared Flood's (BrooklynTweed) Habitat. I really enjoyed knitting his Koolhaas pattern with Malabrigo and I planned to do the same this time.

I knit the brim extra long and folded it in half for double the thickness, squishiness and deliciousness of Malabrigo. Hopefully it keeps my ears nice and toasty warm this winter. I love the way cables look in Malabrigo and Jared has designed such an interesting hat both to look at/wear and knit. No two rows are the same - so that means lots of chart tracking - but you don't get bored. I just started the crown decreases last night, so I should be able to finish soon!

As soon as I do finish my Habitat, I'll be back at the Wood Hollow Hat. I really do love that pattern, and yesterday I picked up the perfect yarn for it. After discovering Stonehedge Fiber Mill Shepherd's Wool this summer, I knew it would be perfect for a hat. Plus I love the fact that it's a locally spun yarn. Bonus: I found a new yarn shop near work that carries the yarn I wanted! Heritage Spinning and Weaving in Lake Orion, MI is less than 10 miles from work and was very nice. I'm always apprehensive about new yarn shops, how they react to a guy walking in. Everyone was very nice and helpful and did not once assume I was there for someone else. I picked out two skeins of Shepherd's Wool in the Berries colorway.

The color is pretty close in this photo - berries really is the perfect name for it - though I really had to massage it in Photoshop. I'll try to get a better photo this weekend when we have some freaking daylight! Maybe I'll already have another finished hat.