Pink is My Bling

A longtime friend (separated by time and distance but reunited by Facebook!) asked me back in November to make her a hat and infinity scarf set similar in style to the grey/black/white set 

I made but in fuchsia, white, grey/black.  Of course, just before I got her message, I got orders for three mermaid cocoons, so hers got delayed.  I used that time though to go digging in my stash, a bit of shopping (the fuchsia yarn with sequins), and do some swatching.

When I got the fuchsia yarn with sequins, I asked her if she is okay with a bit of bling in her yarn.  Her answer was no, "pink is my bling".  LOL!  Love it!  So, that yarn was out (but I did sneak it into the scarf).

This was taken with a clip on macro lens on my iPad Mini.  

Again, swatching did not go well.  I was planning to make the hat in Charisma "Black Raspberry", but the yarn end was bright pink, and everything I tried made the top of the hat look like a bulls eye.  I tried starting with a grey section.  That was better, but then the next few rows were like stripes, instead of blended colours.  I tried so many combinations.  Adding a grey mohair strand.  Adding a grey strand and a black strand.  Too thick.  Trying a different stitch.  Nothing was working.  Perhaps I was over thinking.

I went back at looked at the inspiration photo she sent.  Wouldn't you know it, I'd swear it was a close up of something knit in garter stitch using this exact yarn. I exhaled, and the next morning, it came to me.  The "Slouchy Beehive Hat" from FlowerPot Designs.  I was grabbing a hat to go out, and grabbed one (pictures 6 & 7) from this post, and saw the similar one (pictures 8 & 9) I did for my daughter, with more vibrant colours.  I KNEW that was the answer.  It wasn't crocheted, so I felt like I was taking a chance, but most people don't know the difference :)

We were going out to a skating show that night (New Year's Eve) and then heading to my parents--a 2+ hour drive in the dark.  Perfect time to knit this!!  I had it almost finished the next day but hadn't taken enough yarn.  Yes, I was a little ticked it took 10gr more than one ball!!  And, I didn't write down what I did!  Ugh.  I think I ended up with 56st, on 8mm needles.

 I LOVE it.  Love, love, love.  I was even able to use up the pink section I cut off from the hat trial, in the scarf (though you can't see it in the picture).  I actually wanted to use more of the pink in the scarf, but I had so many others to choose from.  Especially since I had picked up a bunch of yarn on clearance in the fall, in two shades of gray, white, and black!  I LOVE these scrappy infinite scarves!

 In fact, I was loving working on it so much, it got a bit long so I decided it needed to be a "three wrap scarf" and added a bit more to the length.  It can still be two long loops, or three cozy short loops!  This scarf took 188gr.

I was getting cold so I headed back inside (I had taken some other photos, playing with some props ideas), and left the set up outside.  My husband came home and found this on the outside couch LOL.

My friend just posted a picture on her Facebook page, and she looks wonderful in it!  She's so rosy, and it frames her face beautifully.  If you've wanted to venture into slouchy hats but just don't like hats on yourself, I really recommend this one.  I did 2x2 rib, and made it fairly long.  I also changed the decreases, so it went a bit flatter at the top (so I compensated by making the body part a bit longer--I don't know because I didn't actually check the pattern, LOL).  And I did four rows of knit, then four rows of purl, because of the thickness of this yarn.

Yarn In: 0gr
Yarn Out: 298gr + 739gr = 1037gr
Balance:  1037gr more USED than bought
Costs:  $0