It's time

There's been a snafu in the October's Hat Trix pattern and yarn pairing. Again.

This month's random pattern to be drawn out of my bag o' hat trix is Danielle (Ravlink), which I - for reasons which now completely elude me - had chosen to pair with The Knittery's 4-ply merino sock (Ravlink), now discontinued..

Now, I was actually off to a pretty good start with this month's hat. I drew the "kit" on October 1st and wound the yarn up into a lovely cake right then and there. Feeling good and "totally on top of it", I moved on to other projects, and the yarn and pattern have been sitting happily - and somehow immune to Lori's yarn-chewing tendencies - on my coffee table ever since.

(About Lori's yarn-chewing habit, I think I've figured out why some yarn is irresistible to her while other yarn has all the appeal of a dung beetle: it's the yarn that's actively in use that she's after. Diabolical, I tell you).

Anyhoo, now that we've passed the mid-month point, I figured it might maybe - perhaps! - be time to start thinking about knitting up this month's hat.

That's when I actually READ the pattern (as opposed to just looking at the pretty pictures). Stated gauge is 22 sts to 4 inches using 4.0 mm needles (that's be a 6 for my US readers). Not my preferred gauge for a fingering weight yarn (which is what the pattern calls for), but still doable.

The only problem is that the Knittery yarn is a really, really fine fingering, and all you need to do is LOOK at it to know that it's going to knit up to a fabric as droopy as grandma's cleavage at that gauge.

So what to do? Change the pattern? Change the yarn? Draw another kit with a hefty "screw it" thrown in for good measure?

I admit that I briefly considered option 3. But only very, very briefly. The whole point of this self-imposed hat club is to actually - you know - knit some of the patterns I own with some of the yarn in the stash. Drawing another kit would only be a temporary fix.

The first option was also quite attractive, in that I could potentially justify buying ANOTHER pattern (and maybe even yarn to go with it????) to fill the October hat club slot. Again, the whole point of the club would then be right out the freakin' window with that one...

So I went with option 2: change the yarn. I had a look through the stash, and I'm going to be using.... drumroll please.... mystery yarn.

I have no idea what this yarn is. I think it's the first EVER sock yarn I ever bought. It's a merino fingering, and I remember being really concerned about having "enough yarn" for a pair of socks, so I thought it would be prudent to buy 2 skeins (each skein is about 450 yards...). I made a pair of socks for my mother with the first skein, and this one's been sitting in the stash every since (probably going on 4 years now).

Your time is up, mystery yarn. Let the hat knitting commence.

Happy Knitting Everyone!

Effulgent

As we've seen, there's been a flurry of knit-related activity this past week chez Dear. Not only has there been serious stash enhancement and moderate knitting library enhancement (which we'll get to in a later post), but there's been a parade of finished objects as well.

May I present Tamya, the pattern I selected at random for my self-imposed Had Trix club for September.

I love Woolly Wormhead's patterns. I've knit 5 of them so far, and have no intention of stopping, something that's bound to cause mild to moderate storage issues in the future. I went through the Winter accessories bin this weekend, and was shocked when I realized that I already have 9 hats (whereas Phil has 1, Maxime has 3 and Emilie has none left that fit). Oh well, I'll jump off that bridge when I have to, heh.

I used under one skein of Cascade 220 (about 190 yards worth) to make the largest size (what can I say? I've got a large noggin'), and while it wasn't as quick as the Star Crossed Slouchy Beret, it was still a pretty quick knit. Cables are always fun, and the twisted stitches that run along the sides give the hat just the right touch. I was a wee bit terrified that it would stretch to monstrous proportions after blocking, but I think it turned out alright :)


So yeah... not counting today's post, I've got another FO photographed and ready to share with you next time, as well as another I just finished tonight that still needs to be blocked and photographed after I find some suitable buttons.

Which meant that I was actually sans the active WIP this evening! Panic! (for about 10 minutes, anyway). I had no desire to work on the dreaded Oven Mitts of Doom (my Dad's mittens and I aren't on speaking terms at the moment, as I suspect I'm going to run out of yarn before I finish the second one), and couldn't find the pattern I drew for October's hat of the month (Danielle). All I had wound up was a skein of String Theory for the Castlegar Cardigan... With Christmas and Winter looking, I really should just suck it up and finish the mittens...

Naturally I swatched for the cardigan and cast on at once! So I hope you enjoy the FO parade over the next few posts, because Castlegar is knit with a fingering weight yarn at 28 stitches and 32 rows for 4 inches. I figure it'll take about.... oh.... 600 years for me to finish it? Oh boy.

Happy Knitting Everyone!

Hat Trix

As I mentioned a while back, inspired by the Yarn Harlot, I decided to start a self-imposed club of my own, only with hats instead of socks (mostly 'cause I'm lazy, heh). My first pattern turned out to be a bust, but I regrouped and managed to complete August's project in the nick of time. Indeed, I cast on for the Star Crossed Slouchy Beret on August 31st at approximately 7:30 PM, and was weaving in the ends at 11 the same evening. Sweet!

This is why I love hats. They're quick, satisfying, and let's face it: when you live in a cold country, they're a must. And they look good on me too (or so I've been told).

Next up is Tamya, by Woolly Wormhead, which I'll knit with Cascade 220. If all goes well, I should be finishing the Aestlight shawl tonight. Definitely got my knitting mojo back!

Happy Knitting Everyone!