A Hat So Nice, I Knit It Thrice

When you find a good pattern, you stick with it. I love this one from Caron x Pantone by way of Knifty Knittings and decided to make the most of my yarn and experiment with different color arrangements.

In the spirit of using up yarn and chipping away at (or at least not adding to) my giant stash, I thought making three hats from the same yarn would help, but now I just have small amounts of all five colors left. Does anyone’s chihuahua need a winter hat?

These hats are knit in the round and, despite the intricate fair isle pattern, it’s a really quick and easy project. It only took a night to knit one!

Joann Fabrics has these cute faux-fur pompons which work great for the tops. I love this gray hat topper—and it was only a couple bucks! It helps even out the price of the wool yarn from a fancy yarn shop. I am very weak once I enter one of these places…especially when I have in-depth conversations with the owner and spend three hours touching her yarns.

And, if at this point in the blog you’re asking yourself just what does a hat look like on a human head?! Ask no more. I apologize for this, and also you would not believe how many times I attempted retaking it. Cheers to winter!

A Kate Middleton-Inspired Knit Shawl

I’m a bit of a Kate Middleton fan, but I hide it really well by trying to dress like her always and writing for a Kate Middleton style fan blog in my free time (it’s actually really good and you should read What Would Kate Do? every single day!). For my most recent blog post, I decided to combine interests and knit myself a replica item of Kate’s (or repliKate, as we in the know call it): a knit green shawl she was photographed wearing to the grocery store a couple of years ago.

Via Bruce Adams, Daily Mail

The clincher? I found this replica pattern of the exact shawl by Cat Wong on Ravelry!

Via Cat Wong, Ravelry

It started super easy and I was like, oh yeah girl, you’ve got this. Cruisin’ USA, right? But since triangles start small at one point and then get larger towards the opposite side, each consecutive row took longer to knit. (I realize this is an obvious fact, but it really took me by surprise, so if I can help one person, this PSA is worth it.) But after some late nights and sore arms (don’t laugh), I finished it!

Overall, the pattern was pretty easy to follow (just a little time-consuming) and turned out really great. There are a few different pattern options for the ruffle. As opposed to Kate’s, with ruffles on all three edges, I toned it down and just added the ruffles on two edges of the shawl.

I’m also a fan of how this can be worn as a shawl or a scarf or a wrap. The possibilities are endless if endless equals three possibilities!

Please give me a haircut someone.

Slouchy Knit Hat with Pink Accents (and a Pom-Pom!)

Photo cred: my sister Ellen. Awkward facial expression cred: me.

Where do I submit my hat for the fastest-project-ever-completed award? As opposed to the pillow that never seemed to end, I did this one from start to finish in under a week. I think it only took about three total nights of sitting down to knit for an hour or two to finish it—a refreshing change!

Tan and bright pink—who knew?!

This was a fun, super-easy pattern (that I found on Ravelry) to knit that started on circular needles and then switched to double-pointed needles. I must brag that the pom-pom was not part of the pattern—that was all me, baby! As usual, I didn’t check the gauge and winged it with the yarns that I used (both of which I already had lying around) but it worked out. The thick tan yarn (Patons Classic Wool Roving in Natural) and the bright pink yarn (a cotton yarn I had from a dishcloth I made awhile back when that seemed like a fun idea) turned out looking pretty good together. The whole hat required less than one skein of the main tan color and hardly any of the accent color (perfect for using up leftovers). I definitely want to make more of this hat and I especially like the pop of bright color in the purled rows.

That pom-pom tho…

My stock of yarn is making me question one thing, though. Am I so boring that my favorite color might actually be tan or gray? I don’t think so but, man, for everything I knit, I’m drawn to using shades of grays, browns, and neutrals. Oh well. Maybe I’ll make a neon green turban next.

The perfect chunky hat for a snowy day.

A Knitted Union Jack Pillow

That’s right—I’m not burying the lead. Here’s the finished product before I even say a word. #generous

Good gravy, it’s been ages since I’ve posted! Which is about how long it’s taken me to knit this pillow. Seriously, I started it at least a year ago and while, of course, I wasn’t working on it constantly, it was really putzy. It didn’t help that I had to start over twice (during which time I learned a new word and a new knitting technique called intarsia) and that the needles required for this were approximately the same circumference as toothpicks. But I did it! I’m finished! And no, I will not make one for you! Sorry. But just no.

Aw, it’s already fitting in and getting along with my other pillows!

Even though the pillow is way bigger than I was expecting, I love how it turned out. I especially love the colors because they’re muted and go with almost anything. My apartment is starting to go a bit England crazy, so this is one relatively subtle addition to the decor. I used this pattern from Ravelry which, once I figured out what intarsia was and how to do it (look it up), was pretty easy to follow and execute—just time consuming.

Close up of the colors (there are actually 2 slightly different dark browns that I used) and the INTARSIA I finally mastered.

The finishing detail—buttons to close the opening in the back. I now see that the ribbing doesn’t line up 100% but screw it; it’s on the back anyways.

Now that I’ve finally finished my epic knitting project, I am jazzed about it again and excited to start knitting something else. I’m thinking this hat will be up next. Stay tuned, little turkeys. Yah? yah. #MakingAMurderer

My picture-perfect apartment. Just kidding. I moved about 10 pounds of crap off the couch to take this picture and there are dead leaves all over the floor to the right. Oh well.