Hats, Hats, & More Hats

Hats seem to be a pretty popular project these days, so we thought we'd share some of the ones our customers have been working on.

One fun project is the Fane hat. Customers like this hat because it's lightweight... it's not your traditional worsted or bulky weight head topper. It's great for these cool mornings we've been having lately.  

The Boboli Lace comes in 6 pretty colors and this hat is knit on size 5 needles. It's easy and really cute!

Another project that people are casting on for is the Jenness Hat. We designed this for the new neon colors of Plymouth Encore, but people have made it in a wide variety of yarns, and it looks great in each one! 

You just need two colors of a worsted weight yarn. Try a variegated yarn (like Plymouth Gina or Noro Kureyon) with a solid and you'll love the result. Our Corrugated Rib Hat (another popular hat, free pattern in our shop) shows you what using a variegated yarn as one of your choices would look like.

For those folks who like instant gratification, we've got a great new yarn called Bravo Big. This yarn is available in 6 solid shades and works up quickly on size 15 needles. There's an excellent pattern booklet that has patterns for hats, mittens and other accessories. 

The yarn comes in 200 gram balls, so if you buy even just 2 colors, you can make a number of hats!

Do you like just a bit of colorwork? Then maybe our Mirror Image Hat is a good project choice for you. 

Two skeins of Berroco Ultra Alpaca will make you two hats! The colorwork is on the brim, and the 2 color braid detail is fun to work. Ultra Alpaca comes in beautiful colors. If you need help selecting two that work together, let us help!

If we've whetted your appetite for hat knitting but you don't see one you here that's quite to your liking, come on in and check out our pattern booklet. We've got many hat samples in the shop, and more patterns in our binders.

Just Fur Kicks

Can we talk about how COLD it was today? 42 degrees when I woke up and 69 and breezy this afternoon. Perfect weather for knitting and crocheting!

Sophie didn't even mind modeling our new hat out on the back deck. Made with Plymouth Just Fur Kicks yarn.

Dead or Alive?

contributed by Shawn

I caught a whopper this weekend! OK, I didn't actually go fishing. I just finished a fish related knitting project.  

The knitting pattern Fish Hat [Dead or Alive?] by Thelma Egberts appears in the winter 2008 issue of Knitty but you can find the link and listing for this project in Ravelry. 

You can make your fish dead or alive, by changing how you make the eyes. I chose to make my fish alive. I made some small white crocheted circles, and then embroidered a smaller circle in black.

I had some Manos Rittenhouse in my stash (it's a discontinued yarn) and I thought the kettle dyed shading would look nice for this project. 

Now I'm thinking I'd like to make one with some Plymouth Encore - maybe the Blue Jeans Mix and Mod Light Denim would make a really cool tweedy effect. Berroco Remix would be another great choice for this hat.   

So what will your fish be? Dead or Alive?

No More Hat Head!

contributed by Shawn


Check out this hat style and yarn combo that won't flatten your hair when you need a hat!

Classic Elite Liberty Wool Light is a 100% wool yarn that creates a warm but lightweight fabric. The slouchy style is a loose fit and these two features combine in a project that doesn't plaster your hair down on your head. The color spirals and eyelet details make it a fun project. The hats provide a nice splash of color in the rather depressing mud seasons that occur on either end of winter. 

Classic Elite's free electronic knitting pattern Eyelet Swirl Hats calls for just one skein of Liberty Wool Light yarn. With the color selection available I had a hard time choosing which one to start with. I went with the Ultra Violet Autumn (#6690) and I really like it. The color choices are so good though, that I think I'll need to knit a few more!

Lucy Hat

contributed by Shawn

We've been getting new issues of all the latest knitting and crochet magazines. Seems like in the fall we get a new one every week! When the Winter 2012 Knitscene Magazine hit the shop I paged through it and immediately was struck by the Lucy Hat by Carina Spencer.

It took me about 3 seconds to decide that I had a friend who absolutely NEEDS this hat for her birthday. I've been working with the Dream In Color Classy yarn for another project and it has gorgeous hand dyed colorways so I picked Gothic Rose and cast on that same evening as soon as I got home from the shop. The cute little flap is formed using short rows and I used a bit of the Cloud Jungle colorway from my other project for the woven stitch band.

If I knit this hat again I would increase one stitch on the purl row before the woven stitch pattern starts. An odd number of stitches would work better for the join of the band due to the way the pattern stitch is worked.  Then on the purl row after the woven stitch section of the band I would decrease one stitch to go back to the correct number of stitches to work the decrease instructions.   Hindsight...

This was a quick project and fun to knit.  I am a bit tight on my gauge so I made the larger size to ensure a good fit for my friend. I like the stiffer fabric as it gives the hat some shape. Here it is after finishing and blocking. I love the little details of the upturned brim and band stitching.

Many customers have already picked up the magazine and yarn of their choice to make a Lucy Hat of their own.  Emily brought her Berroco Blackstone Tweed version in today so she could block it.  She chose to knit the first rows of this pattern a bit differently than it is written so her brim rolls upward instead of downward in the previous photos. Cute!

Now I am eyeing up the Willamette Coat by Leah B. Thibault knit in Berroco Vintage Chunky yarn for myself. It appears in the same issue of Knitscene Magazine so I already have the pattern ready!

Customer Project: Noro Silk Garden Checkerboard Cap

Noro Silk Garden yarn is one of my favorite yarns so I wanted to be sure we shared this customer project photo with you!  

This is the Checkerboard Cap from the Noro KnittingMagazine Premiere Issue Fall 2012:

Don't you just love the colors!

New Spud & Chloe Fine Colors

contributed by Shawn

Emily and I opened a box from Spud & Chloe last week to find that Jill & Barb had conspired to bring us NEW colors.  The nice bright new colors of Spud & Chloe Fine hanging on the wall immediately got us thinking about pattern possibilities since we just HAD to take some of them home.

I think the Yarndance Slip Stich Mosaic Hat is going to be my choice.  This pattern is stunning when it is done and even though you use 2 colors to create the pattern only a single color is used in each row of knitting. You won't believe how simple it is to create one for yourself! 

Goldfish, Dolphin, Lizard, Dragonfly

I haven't decided yet if I will choose Goldfish and Dolphin, or Lizard and Dragonfly.  What do you think?

Double Knitting Strikes Again! (Upcoming Class Preview)

Our Rectangly Hat class was so popular and filled so quickly last session that we are offering it again! Double your knitting fun by learning how to knit two layers of fabric at the same time.  Put on your thinking cap and come on in for a brain-bending experience you're sure to enjoy. 

We love this hat because it's so warm when it's finished and we know you'll love it too. This completely reversible hat is an attention grabber and the mod rectangle pattern can be altered to make your own custom cap once you've mastered the double knitting technique.

This TWO SESSION class meets Wednesdays, October 17 AND October 31, 5:30 - 7 pm.

First Ever Hat (Upcoming Class Preview)

So you know how to knit and purl but you're tired of knitting scarves? This class is for you! Come in and learn how to knit a hat using circular needles.

We'll use super bulky yarn and large needles so this project will work up quickly. You'll learn how to join into a round, how to work a "k2tog", how to knit on double pointed needles and how to finish in your ends. You'll even learn how to make a pom-pom if you want to put one on your hat!

This TWO SESSION class meets Wednesdays, September 19 AND October 10, 5:30 pm - 7 pm.