The Lie of Variegated Yarn

So I go to the yarn store and see this wonderful skein of yarn. It is bright and compelling. The red is overwhelming and I have to have it. I know immediately I will use it to make a hat. I can't wait to get home to cast it on because it will make a bright and compelling hat. I might even have to buy another pair of circular needles because my current set of 3mm needles is being used on one of my many, many WIPs. (probably with another variegated yarn)

Within an hour or two, the thrill is gone. The brightness is muted by the other colors and it is no longer as compelling. Yes, it is still pretty, but it is not how my mind imagined the pattern would be. When the yarn is dyed, that bright red is in one area of the skein so it is concentrated and stands out. it is meant to fool you.

I know this.  

I never remember this in the yarn store.

I believe that there is a zone in every yarn store that temporarily erases this fact from your mind. That zone gets me every time.

However, I still like how this red-ish hat turned out. I just need to tie a string of yarn around my finger so I remember this the next time I go to the yarn store. Unfortunately, that string of yarn is probably colored in a bright and compelling color.

 

Bright Lavender

This picture does not do justice to how bright this lavender yarn is. It is bright, bright! This picture almost looks blue instead of lavender. But it is noticeable on your head. This is three-thickness brim hat, not a Musselburgh hat but it will still very warm. I knitted the brim in stockinette for 9 inches, folded in half and joined it to make a 4.5 inch cuff. Then I continued knitting for another 7 inches before starting the decreases for the crown. There is probably many patterns for this on Ravelry, but I made this pattern up on my own. I am calling it the Dane hat.

I have read a couple of articles that we are going to have a harsh winter. I hope so but this past winter was very warm. We had hardly any snow and the ski resorts really suffered. I am ready for a thick warm hat day! It is 90 today.

Light Blue to Match ME!

I hope this doesn't sound too boastful, but when I put this hat on, my eyes popped out. It is almost the exact blue of my eyes. It is really, really hot now (in the high 90's -- ugh!) so I can't wear it. However, I can't wait for cold weather so I can don this hat! 

If you know me at all, you know I hate hot weather, so I want the cold weather to come to Colorado as soon as possible no matter what color the hat is.

 

Hot Pink Hat!

Hot pink sock yarn in superwash. This color is ever brighter in real life. 

 

 

A Purpose for the Mini Skeins I have been holding onto.

In my stash, I found a series of mini skeins that I probably bought several years ago. It was in shades of navy, purple, blue, lavender, and rose. I would not be surprised if I had that little packet for more than 10 years. They were probably fairly expensive. I was working at that time so I would have been a bit more likely to spend it.  The cool part is that by turning the hat inside out, I have two different hats.

 

I may have OCD when it comes to my knitting

I have noticed that once I get into a 'groove,' I continue knitting those projects one after another until the next project starts. I have continued this pattern - so to speak -- with bags, booties, socks, potholders, dish clothes, etc. As I get older, I would rather just knit while watching TV or listening to a book on tape. 

Right now, I am on a kick for hats. Several are the popular Musselburgh hat, but some are my own design. I hesitate to post a pattern because I often use an existing pattern and modify it to my own liking. So anyway, I am going to start posting several of the hats have been making over that last six weeks. 

Stay tuned!

This hat is made with a wool superwash yarn in maroon with bits of blue intertwined. One of my friends got this one so give to her daughter.

 

Can't Forget a Musselburgh for my Hubby!

I actually made this Musselburg hat first but only posting about it now. It is made with a worsted yarn that I found in my stash, so I don't know when I got it or how long I have had it. It started me back a obsession of knitting it over and over, and fortunately, finding lots of yarn in my stash.

This is a variegated dark navy, dark green, and olive, so it is a perfect color for guy who mainly wears flannel shirts. We keep our house fairly cool since it is a solar house so it is common for us to wear hats in the house. He even wears hats to bed (remember the poem "mama in her kerchief and I in my hat, just settled down for a long winter's nap"?). 

 

Here is the link for the Musselburgh

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/musselburgh

A Musselburgh hat for my brother

I finally got to have lunch with my brother a week ago, so I gave him this Mussellburgh hat (https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/musselburgh). It is green, black, rust, and gold. He wears a hat every day because the warehouse works in is cold in the winter. He love the four-layer ear cover for that reason. Actually, he should retire but he likes working. How crazy is that? I have need retired since 2016.

Brian and I are only 11 months apart and have been close forever. When I was 19, I went to a psychic. She told me that he and I were tied throughout time and have been reincarnated together many times. The time before this was during the Bore Wars of 1899 and 1900. We were related there as well, but not necessary brother and sister. It might have been parent and child, husband and wife, or even grandparent and grandchild. Apparently, we were tortured and killed in that war, and we were sent to this life together to 'heal.' Now I don't know how true all this is, but I always loved the story. And I have to admit that Brian and I have had relatively easy lives. We grew up on a farm in South Dakota with good parents. We had two older brothers but it was us who were close. My mom said that we even had a language of our own when we were young. We never fought and always had each other's back. In some ways, we even married people who are similar to each other. Brian went into the service and I moved to Colorado as young adults. Mom was disappointed because she wanted Brian to move back to South Dakota, but instead, he moved to Colorado to be close to me. He even lived with for a year before finding his own place.

We are both now in our 70's and we are all that is left of our immediate family, with both our parents and our two old brothers gone. We still have our spouses, and we both had two sons who are about the same ages, and are good friends. Maybe that physic knew something after all.

More MIT Hats!

I had to bring my kitty Omi into this tread, but she doesn't seem to be that happy with it. But she was a good sport anyway. This was actually a baby hat for a friend.

I made one for a friend of mine who lives in Washington State. Since she is not here in Colorado, and my son is visiting for the weekend, I made him model it.

This Might Be My New Favorite Hat!

 

I love how this hat turned out. I purchased this yarn from a sale table in my local yarn store just because I loved the marbled purples (my favorite color) and white colors. It is a wool DK made on size 6 needles. I started at the top and increased until I had 128 stitches. I worked in stockinette for 9 inches. Then I worked 1x1 ribbing until I ran out of yarn. It turned out perfect!

I am back in a hat-making kick and am making MTI hats for friends as well as just lots and lots of hats. Back to the needles.

And now hats!

Ken's favorite new hat

And now I am back to knitting hats. I have been enjoying knitting the Musselburgh Hat by Ysolda Teague.  If you are on Ravelry at all, you already know about this pattern. It is a paid pattern but worth every dollar. The link is https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/musselburgh.

I have finished four so far, and I have three (yes, three!) more on needles. Once the cast on and increased are done, it is just knit, knit, knit. With the cold weather, we are staying in, which is one of the benefits of retirement. So I am just watching TV with my kitty in my lap and knitting my hats. Life is good.

Looking good!

My new favorite!

Yarn for Pooling

I went to the Loveland Yarn Festival last April and came across this yarn specially designed for pooling. I love it! I made a hat with pink and cowl with the blue. It is worsted weight so it is very warm. 

 

Colorado Hats in a family of sizes

 

I live in the beautiful state of Colorado. Our home is south of the Denver area in the foothills. So here is my Colorado hat in three sizes. One of my best friends recently became a grandma. Her son is a friend of my son's so I have known him for a long time. When I heard they were having a baby, I knitted a family of Colorado hats for them, as well as some Denver Bronco booties (to be featured in the future). I was hoping to get a picture of the entire family in the hats soon, and when I do, I will post it.

Meanwhile, I included a free pattern for the infant hat. Enjoy.

Colorado Ski Hat – infant size

Worsted weight yarn in blue, red, white and yellow.  None of the colors need a full skein

Size 5 (5.0 mm) needles

Size 6 (5.5 mm) needles

Tapestry needle

Gauge: 8 sts and 12 rows = 2” in Stockinette

 

With smaller needles, cast on 52.  Work ribbing as: K2. P2 for 2 inches.

 

Switch to large needles and knit 2 rows.

Row 1: Knit --. Work row 1 of the chart. Knit remainder of the row.

Row 2: Purl --. Work row 2 of the chart. Purl remainder of the row.

Continue working the chart with the solid color on each side, remembering to change to white at row 5 and back to blue at row 11. Knit with blue

Crown:

Row 1: SSK, knit 11, k2tog six times (78 stitches).

Row 2: Knit and all even-numbered rows.

Row 3: SSK, knit 9, k2tog six times (66 stitches).

Row 4: Knit and all even-numbered rows.

Row 5: SSK, knit 7, k2tog six times (54 stitches).

Row 7 SSK, knit 5, k2tog six times (42 stitches).

Row 9: SSK, knit 3, k2tog six times (30 stitches).

Row 11: SSK, knit 1, k2tog six times (18 stitches).

Row 13: k3tog six times (6 stitches).

Cut yarn. Thread yarn with tapestry needle and yarn through remaining stitches. 

Sew back seam, matching the color of yarn to the hat.  Weave in all ends.

 

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To purchase adult size, go to this site: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/colorado-adult-hat