I've been wanting to move my blog away from Blogspot for a while but could never be bothered to actually do it. This week was the tipping point though, and I've now fully migrated over to https://patsypoomakes.wordpress.com/ . The blogspot address will remain here but all new posts will only appear at https://patsypoomakes.wordpress.com/ . There are lots of reasons for the move but my biggest one is how hard Blogger has made it for people to subscribe to receive new posts via email. It's such a basic requirement but apparently, they think it's too much to offer. I'm basing this purely on how I myself prefer to consume this stuff. I can't be arsed with feed readers anymore and emails are easy and convenient. When I receive one, if I fancy reading it, I will click through to it and, if not, I'll just delete it. Another reason is the spat between Google (owners of Blogger) and Instagram/Facebook/Meta. I don't even know if this is still the case anymore
Hello, again! And looky what we have here... A finished project and bonus orange beard shots for you to feast your eyes on. Yep, I finished the hat! It was a super quick and fun knit. But as you can guess, I had to give it to Ginner.
The pattern is Skiff by Jared Flood from Brooklyn Tweed fame. I love all his hat patterns. Every one I've tried was very clear and easy to follow. This one was a little bit confusing at the beginning. It took me a while to work it out but I got there in the end.
One thing that was very different from other hat patterns I've made was how many stitches it leaves to fasten off at the end: 48! I thought it'd never work with so many stitches and worsted yarn. I had no reason to worry though. I followed the instructions as written and it worked just fine.
The yarn I used was Malabrigo Merino Worsted - surprise, surprise! And it was a pleasure to work with, as always. Soft, squishy and look at that stitch definition. I'm a huge fan. A word of advice though: it really does grow once you block it. Like, loads! When I finished knitting it, it looked just like a beanie hat. Now it's a slightly slouchier one and a bit longer.
Can we take a moment to marvel over this colour? I know a lot of people aren't fussed about them but I am a lover of greys. In all shades and hues. This colourway is Frost Grey and I am in love with it!
I wanted to keep the hat for myself but ended up having to give it to Ginner. Maybe it's a good thing. If the hat had stayed with me we wouldn't have the gorgeous ginger beard making an appearance for us! Ooooo... I had a feeling it might come out too big. There are a few comments on ravelry about how big the finished hat comes out. It does fit me but it's not as snug as I'd like it to be.
I know. I know! That's what swatching is for but I refuse to make a swatch for a hat. The amount of time and yarn it'd take me to knit a swatch would be better spent just knitting the hat itself.
For most patterns, I am a loose knitter so I know to start off at least one needle size down from what the pattern calls for. I did that - you can see the technical details here - but it wasn't enough. The yarn I picked seems to be way heavier than the one they used. But I'm ok with it. I half expected it.
Look at all these delicious cables! Seriously, how pretty is this? With each new cable project I feel more and more smug that I've learned to cable without a cable needle. It's so much faster and easier this way. Not to mention way more enjoyable than having to faff around with a cable needle several times a round...
I'm definitely knitting this again and I will use smaller needles and maybe thinner yarn, too. When I make my own I will add a pompom to it. Ginner hates them so he wouldn't let me add one this time.