This is a kit from Knit Picks and it included 9 balls of wool Palette in gorgeous jewel colors, and a pattern. This was a lot of fun to make, but it was a challenge to knit the ear flaps, since they were knit flat, and it required stranded knitting on the wrong side. The entire hat weighs 70 gms, which is about one and a half balls so there are a lot of hats left unknit!!
I know that I probably shouldn't wear this hat because of my .... er, age, but I'm going to anyway.
I found a wonderful lace pattern beret on ravelry by Kate Gagnon, called Springtime in Philadelphia Canopy, and made my interpretation of the hat out of handspun wool and silk. The roving is from Interlacements and is the Scottish Lichen colorway, which I absolutely love. My spinning, (completed a few years ago) is extremely inconsistent in size and was a bit of a problem but it came out pretty well. The tam is knit from the top down - so cool.
It has a very nice hand to it, and is quite lightweight.
From 101 Designer One-Skein Wonders comes this cotton beanie and wristwarmers for my granddaughter's birthday. I used Lion Brand cotton ease since she is averse to wool, and I'm happy how it came out.
Boating season is starting up and my knitting is going to be primarily socks, since that is the most portable and small. But in the meantime, here is a hat, Coronet Hat from knitty.com, for one of my granddaughters (whoever likes the color better - I will do a second one in a different color). I used Cotton-Ease for the first time after hearing that a lot of other knitters liked it, and I have to say that I am pleased with it. It wasn't to painful for my hands to knit like some non-wool yarns, and it stood up to machine-washing and drying and still feels soft. I knit this up as a large swatch, really, to see if I liked the Cotton-Ease, and now I think that when I buy more yarn, I can safely use this. The stitch definition is quite good and there are some nice colors available.
Now, which one of the girls wants this?? Hmm.....
Here is the second hat from a Bea Ellis kit, in wool with a cotton liner. It came out slightly larger than the previous hat, due to my tension changing. It was also much more comfortable to knit too, since I wasn't using a death-grip on the needles.
I promised to knit a Norwegian style hat for my son who is moving to the windy city very soon, and he asked for one in navy blue, gray, and white, and I bought two kits from Bea Ellis, one in black and white, and the second in navy and light gray. Both have a knit cotton liner which will cover the forehead and ears. The first one is finished here. The next one is almost done.
Just in case the cord and tassel is too much for him, it can simply be cut off and removed. I tied a knot in it on the inside for easy removal - it is not stitched in and the integrity of the hat will not be impaired if cut off.
