My Sparkly Hat

Because both Helen and Sophie have been knitting recently, I thought I'd ask them to write about and share their projects with everyone here. They have been doing quite a bit of writing in their own blog, which chronicles their new life here in Finland, but at this age, the more writing practice you get, the better. So I hope you enjoy the occasional post from my 12 year old knitters!

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contributed by Helen

A while ago, my Mom knit a nice hat for the shop. I got to try it on at home and I liked how it fit and how soft it was. It also had sparkles and I really like sparkles.

Here in Finland it’s getting really cold and I need a new hat. I'm making this hat in a different color. I’m also going to put on a knitted bow because I think it will look nice that way. 

This is a free pattern, called the Horizontal Ribbed Band Hat. This is great because whenever I need to look at the pattern I pull it up on my phone and I don’t have to worry about keeping track of a piece of paper. So far, I haven’t lost my phone!

Sophie and I working on our hats.

The pattern calls for Berroco Flicker, and I am using Pale Grey and the bow will be Cygne (pink). 

I hadn't knit in a while and I forgot how to cast on. So I watched Emily's video on the website and now I remember. If you don't do it a lot you can forget.

I started by knitting the band and I was supposed to knit for 19”. But I was watching TV when I was knitting and I accidentally knit for too long. My mom helped me rip out about an inch. We seamed the band into what looked like a headband and then she helped me change to a smaller pair of circular needles and showed me how to pick up stitches. I don’t really like picking up stitches because it takes a lot of concentration. But because my mom showed me how to do it the right way, it looks really nice. Now I’m just knitting in the round until I’m ready to decrease. 

I like the yarn, but it can be hard to knit with because it is a little bit stretchy. Sometimes on the band, I knit a really loose stitch and didn’t notice it right away. Instead of ripping back, my mom showed me that we could pull it to the side where I would pick up stitches. That way it will be hidden and we can tuck it in to the seam.

My idea for the bow is that I can knit a little strip out of the Berroco Flicker in pink and then tie it into a bow. I think it will look nice if I put it on the hat. I'm excited to see what my hat will look like when I'm finished. 

Here in Finland, everyone wears cowls. I have 3 extra skeins of Flicker that I was going to use for a scarf. But now I am going to make a cowl. I think a cowl will be warmer than a scarf because it will cover more of my neck. I've never had or made a cowl so I don't know what it will look like, but my mom will help me figure out how to do it.