Sugar Pine Sister

This hat was a good learning experience.  By the time I tackled this hat, I was familiar with worsted weight yarn.  I knew there were other weights, but my mind associated them as thinner than worsted and thicker than worsted.  I didn't realize how bulky a bulky yarn should truly be.

My friend Shelley knitted some gorgeous Sugar Pine Hats with Malabrigo Rasta.  I thought I could substitute some Manos del Uruguay Clasica that I had picked up on sale.  Because the yarn wasn't as thick as the yarn called for in the pattern, my hat came out a tad small.  The smaller size worked great for me because I like to show some hair sticking out from under a cap.  I made one for my sister, and she loves it.  Although, in hindsight, I should have used a super bulky yarn.

Abby is always happy to model.

Hurricane Hat

The best thing about this hat is how difficult it looks.  It was really quite simple to make.  The owner of Yarnhouse in Charlotte, North Carolina, helped me select the yarn.  He steered me toward something that contained wool because wool holds it's shape better than cotton or acrylic.  I adore the variegated colors of the Universal Yarn Classic Shades.  The purples and blues are nicely rich.

The Hurricane Hat is an excellent pattern for a beginner.  It requires counting, but only basic knit and purl stitches as well as simple decreases.  It is sure to impress all of your friends.

My styrofoam head underwent an extreme makeover!  Not really, I just added lipstick (which is simply red paint pen) and named her Lulu.  I thought she needed a little pizzaz.

Lulu is a necessity for two reasons.  I don't look great in hats.  I don't have long beachy waves like you see on Pinterest.  I look bald in hats face-on, and I also tend to favor my dad with a lack of hair showing.  Secondly, it's very difficult to take my own picture.  Selfies and pictures taken by my kids do not show off hats in the best light.  I apologize in advance for my lack of photography skills.

I do like to put the hats on my kiddos.  One of them has a ridiculously large head for her age.  She inherited that trait from her father.  I'll let you figure out which daughter I'm referring to.

You decide who wears it better, Lulu or Audrey.

Maroon Monstrosity

Surely there is a learning curve in everything.  I happily completed three wash clothes, therefore I considered myself qualified to make a hat.  I have a tendency to jump into things with both feet.

My good friend and fellow knitter, Stephanie, generously shared some of her stash with me.  I chose a maroon acrylic yarn (lesson learned #1).  Stephanie quickly pointed out that I would need circular needles (lesson learned #2).  Then I had to join in the round without twisting the yarn.  Geez, there are lots of rules!

I knitted with gusto.  I poured my heart into making this hat and was well on my way.  In fact, I was well on my way to North Carolina to accompany my husband on a business trip.  But then, my knitting train came to a screeching halt.  I had to use dpns?  Obviously I didn't own dpns because I was borrowing the circular needs.  To solve my problem, I searched for the local yarn stores and trusted iMap to get me there.  I purchased the double-pointed needles and hunkered down in the hotel to master the beast.

The heavens parted and beams of light shown down as I clumsily weaved in the ends.  (Not really, slight exaggeration, but I'm taking artistic liberties here).

I did it!  I actually knitted a hat.  A real hat.  I placed it atop my noggin in anticipation of the fashion statement I would make in the mirror.  Sadly, it was ugly.  

The acrylic yarn made it floppy and bulky.  Upon further research, I learned that wool holds its shape better than acrylic.  So that's why knitters love those gorgeous soft merino wools.  Fiber really does make a difference.

Now I have a hideous maroon hat.  I will never wear it in public, but I will keep it to fondly remind myself of where I began.  And on rainy days, I can entertain my children with the ridiculous ways to wear it.

The styrofoam head wears it better for sure.

A New Hat

I'm trying on a new hat today-blog author.  Hats have never been an essential accessory in my wardrobe.  However, since I learned to knit almost a year ago, I have fallen in love with knitting a hat.  Hats are rewarding to knit because there are so many styles to conquer, and you can have a finished creation in your paws pretty quickly.

My new obsession began innocently on a trip to Salt Lake City, Utah.  This gorgeous city hosts an even more gorgeous yarn store, Blazing Needles.  As I perused the luxurious yarn offerings, my eyes fell on an avocado green beret.  I mentally pictured how bald I would look with a hat covering all of my short hair, but my friend encouraged me to try it on.  Lo and behold, it looked good.  Really good.  I must have the pattern for this hat!  I inquired as to the source of this pattern and found it was published in Weekend Hats by Cecily Macdonald and Melissa LaBarre.

Upon purchase of this book, I gleefully decided that I HAD to knit all of the patterns.  So here I am, armed with a tubful of yarn, bamboo knitting needles, my Weekend Hats, and a very patient family.  My goal is to blog my journey as I knit my way through the book.
I'll begin with publishing the hats I have previously made to catalog what I've done so far, but mostly to bask in the glory of past accomplishments and allow you to laugh at the hats I learned on.