Category: Newly Finished Knit Projects

I'm pretty sure you all got a sense of how happy I was about Silver Spoons while I was knitting it.  Cables & Cashmere.  That's pretty much all it takes for me to be head over heels about a project.  The Plucky Knitter, who writes really sassy patterns that work perfectly with her yarn really outdid herself with this one.

Knit in a worsted weight yarn, this is a quick and easy project.  Although I really like it in cashmere, and have worn it almost constantly since finishing it, I would also like to see it knit in a summer cotton/linen blend and I think it would knit up nicely in a variegated yarn.

[If you are looking for this week's yarn giveaway for the Adventurous April Knitalong, the post is here.  Sign ups for the KAL are here.  Come knit with us!]

Today's post is about a hat.  A special hat.

© elliebelly: Knit in The Plucky Knitter's Sweater in the Antiqued Colorway

This hat is Faiza/HandSoOn's newest pattern, Pile Ou Face.  It's knit at a DK weight and is a pleasure to wear.  It was fun to knit too!  Here is Faiza's description, "[t]he 3/1 ribbing (the brim) is subtly unusual, punctuated by an eyelets line. A ribbed stripe runs diagonally through the body of the hat, separating stockinette and reverse stockinette and providing a little twist as well as many options for wearing the hat."

I love both the stockinette and reverse stockinette side of the hat, and it was fun to figure out what Faiza was doing early on, as I test knit this hat without a photo to work from.  A few rounds in, I realized she was making a little band of ribbing that would traverse the hat on a diagonal.  Very, very clever.  I haven't seen anything like this, and really appreciate her ingenuity.

Faiza is a French knitter, and this hat was her distraction from the terrorist attacks that took place in her neighborhood late in 2015.  Go grab the pattern today and knit it!  It's the perfect hat for early spring dog walks and hikes.

Although it took me a week to finish these mitts, knitting a few rows here and there, you could easily manage them in a couple of tv binge-watching nights on the sofa.  The pattern, Ice Scrapers, is fun but easily memorized.  If you've already purchased it, make sure you get the updated version, as Amy has just tweaked it to make the directions for the thumb parts a bit easier to follow.

I knit my version in Plucky Cashmere Sport, and although that may seem a bit splurgy (and it was!), I used about half a skein.  You could get two pair out of a skein, especially if you did one pair a bit shorter.  I might have done mine an inch or so shorter before separating for the thumbs in any event, so this seems like a keeper of an idea to me.

Everyone needs a few quick knits in their tool kit for gift-giving, or, as in my case, for cold hands when your family swipes your gloves.  This pattern is definitely a keeper.

'Tis this season.

Or, no.  It's really not the season.  September in 'Bama is definitely not hat season.  But the mornings have been chilly, which gives me hope of sweater weather ahead and makes my thoughts turn to knitting that I can wear as soon as it comes off the needles.  So, I thought I would recap some of my favorite knitted hat projects today and help everyone with some start up ideas for hat accessory knitting.

Deux by Lisa Mutch is such a simple knit that even a novice knitter can manage it.  And, it's quick because it's knit in Bulky yarn.  I did this version for our trip to Iceland last year and loved wearing it.  In the world of quick, satisfying knits, Deux is the king.

Nevermind, by Melissa Schaschwary, also knit in bulky yarn, is a simple, addictive cable pattern.  I've knit it twice and both times I enjoyed it so much that I didn't put it down until it was done.  Have a couple of football games to watch?  Knit a Nevermind.  The Plucky Knitter's Snug Bulky is the perfect yarn for this hat.

My Lutz Jump Hat is such a marvel!  Its cables are complex, but not too difficult to conquer for an advanced beginner.  Monika Sirna's well-written patterns are always a pleasure to knit and this one was no exception.  I used Malabrigo Worsted Merino.  It was the perfect yarn for this hat.  It's fluffy and the colors are rich.

Honegart by Stephen West is such a feel good knit!  I dyed the yarn for it myself and enjoyed watching the honeycomb patterns take shape.  The construction is interesting and the result is a hat you feel proud to say you've knit.  It made me feel accomplished and kept a child going to school up north warm.

We are crazy Wes Anderson fans in our house.  We love all of his movies, but especially The Life   Aquatic with Steve Zissou.  I had to knit my darling husband (the hat is modeled here by one of the kids), the ubiquitous Zissou hat that was worn by all of the crew members in the movie.  My version is in a light weight worsted yarn that knit up more like a dk weight yarn.  It's got a delicate swirl pattern in the decreases that's fun to knit.  There are several interpretations of this hat on Ravelry, but I thought Lalla Pohjanpolo's version came the closest to what I wanted and it was easy to knit.

You can never have enough hats.  Never ever.  My Ravelry queue, which I try to limit to patterns I seriously plan to knit in the next year, has 15 hats in it.  Four of them are in my short term plans for knitting, including Northport, Greystone, Happy Thoughts, and Howzat.

Are there hats in your future?  I'd love to see your thoughts in the comments with links to hat patterns you've knit or are planning on trying out.

 

The wonderful thing about teenage girls is that if you catch them in exactly the right moment (i.e. they want the car keys), they will agree to model your knits for you.  They won't be able to keep the slightly superior expression off of their faces, but at least they will indulge you.

In case you've forgotten, even though I was so in love with this project that I seem to have blogged every day of its on-the-needles life, this is Peerie Flooers by Kate Davies.  I love how it turned out.  It is one of my all time favorite projects.  I'm pretty fond of the model, too.

 

If you're me, it apparently takes six and one-half months to knit a sweater that fits perfectly and is exactly what you hoped for.  Here it is, my Vodka Lemonade, knit from the Plucky Knitter's Crew (merino/cotton blend) in the Fiona Colorway.

I started Vodka Lemonade on December 31, 2014.  In between the time I started and finished the sweater, I've also started and finished these projects.

And, I finished these three projects, which were on my needles before I casted on for Vodka Lemonade.

All that to say, perhaps I should learn to focus, but I've had an awfully good time with my projects for the first half of the year!

I'm pretty sure it took me longer to knit the seed stitch collar on Vodka Lemonade than the rest of the sweater. But my favorite detail is the lace motifs.

I loved Thea Coleman's pattern and am motivated to cast on all of her things at once today. Vodka Lemonade was really that good of a knit.

It's great to know that your effort is appreciated.  It looks like I'm going to have competition for this one.

I wore my new sweater out to dinner last night, since we were having dinner with friends who appreciate my knitting, and haven't take it off since I put it back on as soon as I got out of bed this morning.  I love it!  And, I can't say enough nice things about Plucky Crew.  The cotton/merino blend yarn is lovely.  I'm delighted to have knit a sweater that's a keeper!