I Need to Stop Making Charity Hats on the LK150!

 I seem to have become addicted to making hats on my LK150. I can easily make one, start to finish, in 2.5 hours. Less for some of the designs--depends also on the number of tails to weave in. I have a lot of stash, but I'm starting to feel limited--colours that don't go together, yarns too thick, etc. So I'm trying to get creative. I'm also going into the yarns that I had bought long ago for planned projects that just never happened. These pictures are actually in reverse order to when I made them this weekend.

I thought I had been through the bins on my shelves, but another search yielded a bag with 3 different balls of Bernat Mosaic. I loved this yarn, many years ago, but HATED how it felt. It's acrylic, unspun, and has a very dry feel, like raw silk. 87gr

I had said I was done making hats this weekend after the one below, but then the school board announced schools would be closed today! It's SO rare to close schools here, and to do it the night before is really unusual--but greatly appreciated. Last week we had a terrible snowstorm and they only cancelled buses and got a LOT of upset feedback. We had more snow then but yesterday, it was really hit or miss if you got a lot.  Toronto itself got pummeled, but here just to the east, we got a fairly manageable amount--it's just a lot of clean up now. I did see yesterday that one town sidewalk leading to a school hadn't gotten cleaned after last week's snow! I'm happy because this was a day I was supposed to work (I work two mornings a week in one job and then supply at other times), and I was to have recess duty! I'm also annoyed because all my classes were having assessments and now it's delayed. But, if it had just been a no-bus day, then so many would have been away that I wouldn't have been able to do them either.

Same pattern, but this time, I used the inside as the outside. When hanging the hem, I use both strands of the empty needle, instead of just the cast on strand. This keeps it a little tighter and I didn't do any other finishing to that. The tuck pattern is 5 rows, the yarn colour changes is four rows. I'm not sure what yarn this is as it was donated. It's a very shiny acrylic. I had used the beige as waste yarn for another hat, so I had several small balls unwound from that, and then I realized the green was the same yarn. Neither was enough for a hat, and although they don't really go together, I felt this tuck pattern, offset from the stripes, would blend them. In the end, I used every bit of the tan, and had a bit of green left. 89gr.

This was all the hats, up to the first two in this post.

Random blue worsted weight from my stash.  98gr.

This is the same as the olive green one that I did last time, but did an extra section or two.

It looks a little odd because it's really stretched for the brim, but then that one knit section sort of stands out. I think with hair, it would nestle all together better! This is the bright green that I used in the second hat in this post. 86gr.

I originally tried this pattern with that yarn I'm not sure what I was using for the contrast) but there wasn't enough. It's another Anna Haferman pattern. It creates these sort of 3D bubbles, which you could steam out if you wanted.

Instead, I pulled some Sirdar Country Style DK from my stash. I had collected a fair bit to make a Fair Isle cardigan but it's been over 10 years so I'm probably never getting to it. The inside shows all the dimples. It's pretty cool. 

I think it's rather   quirky! I wouldn't use too thick of yarn though. 49gr

I had noticed some mistakes when I was seaming it up, so I made another using more Country Style DK.

This time, I tried to be super careful about checking for stitches that hadn't knit properly (tuck stitch needs a LOT of weight), and totally didn't notice until I was done sewing it up that I had messed up the second row of hexagons! I polled the family and they said it looked fine!  47gr.

There's still a month until the cut off for winter hats but I think I'm done. I'm having some wrist pain, I think from pushing the carriage. I've suddenly become obsessed with crocheting a "quick" sweater. I don't often wear sweaters, especially not something thick. Also, I need to make some red scarves to get a jump on that donation. And I still have a pair of socks I was knitting for Lucy's boyfriend. Although, he just hurt his hand pretty band and will be off work for awhile.

Yarn In:  0gr

Yarn Out: 456gr + 713gr = 1169gr

Balance:  1169gr more OUT than in

Costs:  $0

Two More Charity Hats on the LK150!

 I headed back down to my LK150 and "whipped up" two more adult hats from patterns by Anna Haferman.

I was chugging along and then checked the pattern and realized I had done two sections too many. I also got fancy on the decreases, but shouldn't have bothered. 

I also added 8 stitches, but I kept the tension at what she uses in the video.  This hat weighed 122gr. I wonder if I could have done it with 100gr if I actually followed the pattern. I've just found the other hats to all be a bit small and I wanted a manly hat.

Another of the Snowball beanies, but in higher contrast yarns. Again, I added 8 stitches. This is the same plum yarn as the previous "crochet look" hat. 

And again, I did the decreases a bit different. I actually really like the inside of this hat too. It would be good done in two similar colours for a nice subtle effect. This hat weighed 106gr.  Total, 228gr. 

I started another one but ran out of yarn so I'll have to re-work it. Also working on a child ribbed hat.

Yarn In:  0gr

Yarn Out: 228gr + 485gr = 713gr

Balance:  713gr more OUT than in

Costs:  $0

New Charity Hats, LK150 and Handknit

 I'm on a roll with the LK150 now! The group I'm donating to has a February deadline for adult hats, so I'm getting these done. They can also be wool which is awesome. The baby items can't be wool though, and they do collect those all year.

This adult hat was made with Georga Wool "Mercerized" that I'm pretty sure I bought at Wal-Mart a long time ago. It used 122gr, a little more than one ball. Annoying. Now I know not to do a doubled brim on other hats using this yarn.

I did do the doubling up decreases several times until I was down to around 12 stitches.

Makes a nice, smooshy fabric.  Pattern is the same Anna Haferman one from the last post (on YouTube).

Now this little hat. Ugh.

I didn't think I'd have enough of the pink to do the whole hat, but I have some left over. The pink is a chenille that was not liking the needles I was using. It has no stretch or recovery. But it is soft and used only 20gr. 

Yarn In:  0gr

Yarn Out: 122gr + 20gr + 363gr =  485gr

Balance:  485gr more OUT than in

Costs:  $0

 

Nice! Not even half way into January and I've used a pound of yarn!

Adult Hats on the LK150 for Charity

 While I was looking for headband patterns (see the last post), I found Anna Haferman's YouTube channel. She has all kinds of videos for items you can make on the LK150. It's a great machine if you like to work with DK or light worsted, or knit for charity. I decided to knit up some hats to kick off the year. 

I can't remember which came first. I did start this hat, thinking I was being smart by making the inside of the brim in black. Well, because the "wrong" side is the public side in this hat, I had used the black on what would become the outside of the brim. So instead of ripping it out, I went with it, and did a different tuck pattern.

It's in a wool I got 10+ years ago from Wal-Mart. It said it's a "mercerized" wool, which is not a word normally used with wool--it's used with cotton. Once washed up, it was quite soft. 

This is the inside. Often, this is used as the "public" side. This hat weighs 109grams.

This hat is the "Snowball Hat". It's very similar to the pattern above.

I do the top a bit different. I don't like to just double up and then take it off. I double up, move most stitches over to fill the gaps, knit two rows, repeat. I also tighten the tension to help take up the slack.  This one is in Patons "Decor" which is 25% wool. The colours aren't as contrasting as they looked in the balls. It has a mock ribbing hem.  It weighs 80gr.

This hat is from Ray Knitivity, however, he doesn't have it on his website anymore. I've knit it before and struggled with the sizing. This one is snug on me. It's unknown worsted yarn.  The pattern called for 10 rows of real ribbing, by reforming Every Other Needle.  For some reason, I decided to do 20 rows. Ugh. I was wedged in between my machine and a fridge, I couldn't focus properly, I had to sit on short folding step. It took forever. Don't do this. Do 2x2 rib or a mock rib or keep it at 10 rows.

The top has decreases that are done creatively, but you have to understand the pattern/chart.

I actually really liked the inside of the hat. However, the inside where the decreases are, is not very pretty. Also, I would have to seam it differently.

The tuck pattern, while not difficult, can really challenge you, especially with a heavier worsted weight. You have to push stitches back, and other ones forward, and just have to be careful that the needles are doing what they're supposed to.

However, something went wrong with seaming. I'm not sure if it's the pattern, or what. Like, maybe I lost a stitch on the edge? I could have taken in more on the seam but then the seam would be bulky, and it barely fit me!  It weighs 77gr. 

This is the crochet look beanie. I started with one ball of Decor, but it wasn't enough. I had another one that I really couldn't tell if it was the same dye lot or not. So I unraveled to the brim, and then did 2 rows of each.

The head has no hair, so it fits a little weird.

I tried to get fancy with the top decreases. Not really worth it! 

Up close, you can't really see any differences.

Step back a bit and there does seem to be a bit of heathering. And of course, I have about 12gr of each ball left. They do look different side by side now. This hat took 97gr--that double brim takes up a lot of yarn!! 

I have quite a bit of Decor left, though much is part balls that don't work together. I also have some thicker Red Heart wool but I don't think the LK150 will like it. I might need to get the KnitSmart out! 

All together, the hats weigh 363gr.

Yarn In:  0gr

Yarn Out: 363gr

Balance:  363gr more OUT than in

Costs:  $0