The Next Downton Hat

I have attended the Estes Park Wool Festival almost every year and I have purchased yarn at every one of them. This yarn is one of them from years ago. I think I originally thought I would make a shawl from it, but it sits year after year on my shelf.

Just after finishing my gray and black Downton hat (Feb. 16, 2013), I had to do another one right away. Before I purchase any more yarn, I owed it to my stash to see if there was anything I should use instead. It was also late on a Saturday night and I wouldn't be able to go and buy another until Monday lunchtime. I just couldn't wait. My fingers were itching to cast on the next hat.  After looking over some of the options, a unwound skein of blue yarn with random strands of a rusty brown appearing every now and then. It was calling to me. The reason I never used this yarn to make a shawl is because it was waiting to be used in a Downton hat. Never mind that I purchased this yarn several years before Downton was even a fledgling idea in the writer's brain; this is the project this yarn was destined to be.

So last Saturday night, I grabbed my needles and started this pattern again. No I didn't do a swatch. The yarn is similar to the last yarn I used, so I am just going to wind it. Besides there is some natural stretch in the pattern. So my blue yarn is happy and I am burning up my needles again.

I'll keep you informed. Back to the needles.