Hat Pattern on Straight Needles.

So, I promised you a reveal of the hat I've been knitting over the last few days. To be honest, it took me a couple of hours, but I redid it once, and I might re-do it again and use the same lace pattern I did for the scarf. 

The hat, like the scarf, is really simple. Again, it uses Knit, Purl and K2 or P2 TOG. 

This pattern is also for use on straight needles, other than circular of double-pointed (which a lot of hat patterns are for). 

I used the Debbie Bliss Paloma in Mustard, which calls for 10mm (but I used 9mm) needles. It's gives a very elastic finish, which is of course great for hats and gives a perfect fit. 

CO Cast On 

K Knit

P Purl

K2P2 Knit two Purl two

K2TOG Knit two together

CO 56 Stitches.

K2P2 for 8 rows. 

This gives the ribbing on the edge of the hat, making the fit even better.

Knit in Stockinette stitch (K a row, P a row) or in Garter (K all rows) for 26 rows. 

In the hat below, I did about 8 rows of Garter, followed by stockinette starting with a K row on the wrong side, so that the purl rows show on the same side as the first 8 rows of knit (I was experimenting a bit here!) and even when you start decreasing in the next step, continue with the type of stitch you are doing, e.g. if you are using stockinette use P2TOG (on P rows) or K2TOG (on K rows) depending on the row that you are on.

Decrease by K2TOG or P2TOG four times on every row. 

On the first decreasing row, knit(or purl) the 11th and 12th stitch, second row 10th and 11th row, and so on (do count your stitches and divide by 4, and minus 2 to work out how many stitches are in between your k2/p2tog stitches). 

Repeat until you have 8 stitches left, then cut yarn leaving 12" tail.

Pull the yarn through remaining stitches, cinch tight and weave in ends. 

You can pull the yarn through the remaining stitches by using the end of your other needle. When weaving in the ends you can pull the stitches (close to the edge of the hat) apart a little and pull the wool through, making sure to keep it as tight as you can. When weaved to the end, just tie off (either to itself by looping through stitches or to your BO wool). 

(Sorry about the overexposed-ness; dang PhotoBooth!) 

This is on the P side, so you can see the 8 rows or so of K, followed by the ws side of the stockinette and so all the P stitches. 

I showed you a pattern earlier this week for a simple lace-like scarf, here. And this is the finished scarf (or cowl). After getting to the desired length, I bound off, leaving a 6" tail and weaved through the two ends, pulling tight and tying off. I like cowls, there a bit more useful than just a scarf :)

Any questions about either pattern just ask :)

Rebekah

x

British Wool Week 2011: Part 1

This week is British Wool Week, celebrating everything that is great about the amazing textile that is Wool, from British herds, with British Designers (and a few italian ones thrown in there too). 

To kickstart this week, La Galleria in London, is hosting "an exhibition that showcases the true versatility of the natural wool fibre. It will feature exclusive creations by renowned fashion designers and interior decorations. It will show wool in all forms of application from fashion to technical and intelligent textiles, to car interiors, safety needs, crafts and the built environment."

It sounds utterly fantastic! It opened today (8/9/11) and runs till the end of the month (29/9/11). If you can get to London, do it, they have over 50 contributors, from Vivienne Westwood and Paul Smith to YSL and Alexander McQueen, incredible! 

Easy Pattern Scarf

Hello again! Hope you're having a great day :)

As promised, here are some updates of the scarf that I'm currently knitting, you'll find a brief explanation of the pattern I'm using to, so simple, but great results!

The original pattern recommends using two strands of different wool together, as it calls for 5.5mm needles (us size 9). I however just used a single strand of wool that called for 6mm, you can still see the pattern, but I can imagine it being nicer with the lighter weighted yarn. 

The pattern is actually very simple to do, I've been strongly avoiding any kind of pattern where I don't understand the abbreviations! ha! I had actually looked at this pattern before, but ignored it because of that reason, how wrong was I?! If you know how to knit, and how to purl, then you're good to go!

Update: New Knitting Project

  Good evening, Dolls! 

  Today I've been working on a new scarf for the autumn. It follows this pattern and is a light way pattern for when those days are just getting a little colder and don't quite demand the wearing of a thick scarf. And as I've chosen a wool with a lot of oranges, purples, reds and yellows, it's very autumnal to me, lovely!

  A few pictures to come tomorrow so you can see the pattern and the fantastic colour, and also a few images from the vintage market (I seriously can't wait for this!). 

  As always, I leave you with a few images from my pinterest that caught my eye today, have a good day and make the most of this bank holiday if you're in the UK, hopefully the weather will improve. And for those of you in North Carolina/New York/East Coast, keep safe!