i like lemons

I’ve been having some fun knitting hats for my Sackboy. Since he’s small, his hats are tiny and that means quick, instantly gratifying knits.

I’ve already posted the snow hat with pom pom, but the striped beanie and the earflap ones I knit this past week. The black and grey striped beanie I made so that it resembles a unisex beanie I bought several years ago (before I learned to knit). The orange earflap one just *needed* to be done. Sackie’s cuteness just demands an earflap hat! I added in the bit of colorwork to break up all that orangeness.

All the hats were pretty much improvised. I looked at some patterns to get the technique for the earflap one (I’ve never done earflaps or had to pick up stiches before), but otherwise it was just estimating cast-on and how many rows to knit to get the right scale for Sackie.

I’ll be putting the needles down for a while (except for olives!). As long as there aren’t any more surprise delays, Little Big Planet should be arriving this week and I intend to get playing next weekend. After that, Mirror’s Edge is soon approaching. No, I won’t be knitting Faith!

Wanett Clyde’s Felicity Hat (pdf link) is a little bit hipster and a lot of casual.

This is a quick knit and just what I needed as a break from working on the lacy Arches & Columns scarf. I cast on in the evening, got through half the hat in a few hours before bed and finished the next evening. I’m guessing I used about 180 - 190 yards of worsted weight yarn. Out of all the slouchy hats I’ve knit so far, this one is my favorite. It’s also the simplest.

Now, I know I tend to knit tight. *I* don’t think I knit particularly tight, but gauge swatches say otherwise. The pattern calls for using US sz 5s and 7s and to cast on 70 sts. Knowing my tight gauge and my preference for looser-fitting hats, I decided to use sz 7s and 10s, and cast on 80 sts. Added an extra 4 rounds to the recommended 6 that go between the increase and decrease sections, for lots of slouch. And finally, I did another set of k2tog/knit rounds at the end.

The adjustments turned out to be good choices. The hat is comfortably loose and sufficiently slouchy. I think if I had used the recommended needle sizes, with my tight gauge, I would have fainted from lack of circulation if I was able to get the hat on my head at all.

Felicity is so comfy, cute and casually hip. Just right for cool spring days and foggy summer nights. I want to make one in a light grey. And maybe another in a color-blocked scheme. And maybe another in …. You get the idea. I’m definitely going to knit this one again.

The first thing I thought when I saw pictures of the Trinity Stitch Beret was “Ooooh, that’s lovely!” My second thought was “That’s going to be difficult to knit.” I’m happy to say I was wrong on the second thought.

The beret uses (surprise!) the trinity stitch - also sometimes called blackberry or popcorn stitch - to create the bobbles all over its surface. If you can do a kfb and a p2tog, it isn’t that much more difficult to do the trinity stitch. You’ll be doing a k1, p1, k1 into the same stitch and then p3tog. Do a little swatch on dpns if you’re unsure. Don’t be surprised that the pattern is on the “wrong” side, that’s the way it’s suppose to be.

I didn’t do many modifications. I did use US sz 10s for the ribbing instead of 9s, knit for 6 inches before starting the decrease rounds, and I was only doing two rounds between decreases when I got towards the end. I probably should have followed the pattern exactly for more slouch and a less pointy decrease. Also, I used two strands of worsted weight yarn held together since I didn’t have any chunky yarn. The hat does use a lot of yarn. If you decide to use two strands of worsted, I’d recommend having around 400 yds to be safe.

The beret took me a while to complete, about 8 days, working on it a couple hours a day. The p3togs hurt my fingers a bit. The hat is very thick/heavy, a little too heavy for spring in California. I’m not too happy with the way it turned out, but I’d be willing to give it another try.

Some women are able to jump out of the shower, run a comb through their wet hair and walk out the door. When their hair dries, they end up looking effortlessly beautiful. I’m not one of those women. I need to blowdry, and then either straighten or curl if I don’t want to commit a hair crime.

When I plan on staying in for the day, I just don’t bother. Inevitably, on those days, I find that I need to make a quick trip to the store for that one forgotten item. That’s when hats come in handy. However with my long hair it’s difficult to tuck it all under a hat. Beanies don’t work, nor do brimmed hats.

That’s where Wendy Bernard’s Last Minute “Purled” Beret (pdf link) comes to the rescue. I can pin up the bulk of my hair, wear the beret on the back of my head to cover the mess and go out in public without scaring small children.

I followed the option for the small-sized beret, but knitted it on US sz 10s. The other change I made was to knit for 5 inches (instead of 4.5 for the small size) before decreasing. I think I should have done 6 inches, for a bit more slouch. I prefer the stockinette side, so I won’t be turning the hat inside out, as suggested in the instructions. A very quick knit that only took a few hours.

The Claudia Hat is the first hat that I’ve knit since the end of December. It’s a beautiful but fairly simple pattern and only took a day and a half, knitting at a leisurely pace. The design is suitable for men and women.

I went up a size on the suggested needles, since I like my hats to fit a little looser. There was a bit of laddering when I switched from circulars to dpns, but that is completely my fault. I’m still hit-and-miss with dpns: sometimes I ladder, sometimes I don’t. Practice, practice, practice.

The pattern is a definite keeper and I will knit it again when the opportunity arises.