Winter Hat with Welted Brim

 Having lost all his hats, and feeling the cold of winter come on, my sweetie asked me to make him one.  On of my many favorite yarn stores, The Textile Arts Company, was having a sale a few weeks ago so I headed over.  Among other things, I found this lovely variegated 100% wool:  Wisdom Yarns Poems in Olive Grove.  I bought two skeins and got to work.

On US 9 needles, I cast on 60 sts holding the yarn double, and knit one round, followed by one round of purl.  I continued this, knitting alternate rounds of knit and purl, for about 12 rounds, then went to stockinette.

When it was long enough, I started decreasing every other round, starting by knitting two together every 14th & 15th sts (six decreases per round).  And then it was done!  The wool is very soft, not itchy, and the color variation turned out really pretty.  Hopefully this one won't get lost until winter is over...!

Slouch Hat -- Or, One of the Many Great Uses for Remnants

I found this pattern after a Google search for a basic chunky hat. And voi la, discovered the adorable Midnight Knitter. I heart her patterns. She may even inspire me to try crocheting again.

My goal was to make a quick hat in an afternoon, to use up some remnants I had floating around my knitting bag, and for it to be sort of interesting. I have cabled a few hats, but for the most part I make the typical K4 P2 ribbing, then stockinette to the crown.

So, holding my worsted weight blend double along with the lavendar mohair (now three strands), I also alternated a strand of chunky weight blue, purple and cream, for a total of 4 strands at any given time. The mohair made it SOOOOO SOOOOOFT. Dreamy.

It's pretty loose and floppy and I imagine I'll need bobby pins to keep it on. Sort of lazy beret style I guess. I'm not quite sure I got the shape of it right (that's what I get for diverging from the pattern in my choice of fibers) but I've just blocked it and it's lying flat by the fire. We'll see how it sits on my noggin when it's dry.

My SSKs didn't quite look like they do in the photo on the pattern. They almost look cabled. Which is fine. I did confirm that I'm doing them correctly, too. I like the more geometric look of MK's, though. Maybe I'll try again.

Super fun, easy project. That touch of mohair made it a total dream to work. And I love the colors. They remind me of Fashion Star Fillies :)