Hats!

This is the "Valentine's Hat" I was working on for Rob. I finally got it finished just before dinner on Valentine's Day. The yarn is Louet's "Bonnie" a 90% wool, 10% silk, from www.elann.com. It has one ply that stays orange, and one that changes colour---yellowish/teal/turquoise/green/blue/purple.... I started off with one strand...the yarn gauge said I should be able to make pattern gauge. Haa Haa. I don't know what's up lately, but that doesn't seem to be happening much....yarns seem to have a much looser recommended gauge than what I would usually want. After much starting, ripping, restarting, etc, I just wasn't happy with the gauge/fabric/my ability to count, so I opted to go with two strands. Now, due to the nature of this yarn, I wanted to keep the colours that change, the same for both strands. It was very hard to pick out any sort of repeating pattern in the yarn, but I tried, and it worked pretty well. I wanted the top orange/red mainly, because Rob's coats are orange and red, but because he is over 6ft tall, you don't really notice the top of the hat when he's wearing it. He proclaims it warm and toasty, especially with the ties actually tied. LOL.
I have three balls left in another colourway; I thought I might make a hat for next year's Christmas gift exchange. However, I have been traumatized by the Yarn Harlot's daughter saying unmatching winter accessories is uncool. I thought it was quite clever that although my hat and my mitts were not the same yarn, they were the same colour, but different textures. This hat took almost 3 balls, so that wouldn't leave me much for mitts. So, I don't know yet. I guess it will go to the stash---I was trying to avoid that!

During the Christmas break, I wanted to also try earflap hats on the knitting machine. I used one hand knitting pattern, and after altering, got a cute hat that fits Meg but Lucy claimed it. Then I made another one for Meg, although it's big enough for Lucy, LOL. Then I made this one for myself. It's left over Fiorito from Lucy's Valentine's sweater from a couple years ago. I altered the pattern for the crown, and although I'm happy with it, it looks dorky on me. I think it needs a pompom. And, I don't think it's beefy enough for the yarn/purpose of an earflap hat. I look like an egghead wearing an egg cozy. But it looks really cute on Meg!

This is the inside of another hat, handknit for me. Made just around the time of the YarnHarlot's daughter's comment, I was making this to 1) use up stash 2)have a 'go with anything' hat. It's an icky feeling lumpy yarn, perhaps Caron Fascination or something. When I got it done, it was slightly loose on me, and not very warm. I used some Patons' Decor (I wanted to keep it all machine washable) and picked up stitches on the inside, of the top of the garter band section (it's based on Thorpe). I knitted a few rows, then realized that the yarn was smaller, and the gauge was different, so if I didn't increase some sts, it would really pull in the edge of the hat. Once I increased, I realized that I WAS at the edge of the hat. So the cast off edges are a little too snug, but no wind is blowing this off my head. I continued the grey down into the earflaps for extra protections. It's a very windy walk to the kids' school!
This is what it looks like from the outside. I do not look hip and stylish like the model. I look like a crazy woman towing a toboggan full of kids and backpacks when the rest of the world is already home safe and warm, doing homework and sipping cocoa. It's tighter on me, so I think that's a big 'uncool' issue...most kids wear their earflap hats loose and floppy. Me--I've got it tied tight and snug under my chin, LOL.