Knitting projects I have completed or have in progress. My thoughts and review of the pattern, yarn, and outcome. Also knitting project ideas to consider or find for free.
Just about a year ago I purchased two hanks of hand-spun yarn at Clarion Call Fiber Arts at Etsy. One of those hanks contained some bunny fur (angora), which made it feel so wonderful, and I finally decided what to use it for. A variegated yarn such as this is great for knitting a hat. Since I only had one skein, it came down to a cowl, hat or mittens and hats are favorite projects.
Beanie
How I Made This Hat
I did not follow a pattern and simply decided to knit a 2×2 rib. I wanted a wide cuff to roll up so I knit until the hat was about 10 inches tall before I began to decrease.
I knit this hat to be quite long for a wide brim
I cast on 112 stitches using the Old Norwegian cast on and a size 6 US circular needle (16 in.). Then I began K2, P2 around. (I tend to be a tight knitter.)
I really had no idea how to correctly decrease a 2×2 rib. I decided on a SSK and K2tog side by side four times around – four decrease seams. So, 112 divided by 4 becomes 28. I placed a marker after 28 stitches around, with different marker for BOR. As I knit around, at each marker, including the BOR, I did a ssk, then a k2tog. With only a few stitches left on the needle, cut the yarn and draw through stitches to finish.
The crown ended up looking like this: I’m happy with it.
Crown showing decreases
Crown was knit with decreases in four places around.
I’m very happy with the finished hat. A ribbed hat is easy to knit anywhere, at any time. When I lived in New Hampshire this is the type of hat I would grab whenever the wind was blowing and I needed good ear coverage. (I had to snow-blow my own driveway.)
This yarn was hand spun, which means it is truly unique. For me, that is the exciting part of knitting! I love to know where my yarn came from – whether is was sheep grazing in Norway, or a little bunny living in New York.
My other current project is a stranded colorwork pattern from the Hat’s On book. I am also using hand-spun yarn, but from another source. I’ll be blogging about this one later.
Because my first Katie’s Kep (hat) came out a bit large, I decided to cast on four fewer stitches for my second knit. (Find the link to the Kep pattern at the bottom of this page.) I still used a size 3 circular needle and did the Old Norwegian cast on – or something like it! I’m not sure I did it exactly right, but it looks okay.
The brim of this hat is knit in 2×2 corrugated rib
Once the corrugated ribbing was done, I increased around by four to get back to the original pattern count. Here’s how:
*Knit 33, make 1* – 4x’s around = 4 additional stitches. Total stitches are 136 now (as pattern calls for). Continue with pattern increase row.
Now I was back to the correct number of stitches needed for the colorwork. I would love to make this hat using a 2 or 2.5 US needle size, which would work out better I think, but I don’t have those sizes in a circular needle. I might have to buy them.
My main yarn used for the tan Kep is Rauma Finullgarn color 406, Wheat Heather. Other yarn used is Jamieson & Smith in colors: 4: brown, FC7: Peach / orange, FC62: green, and 133: medium purple. The colors are more subdued than what I used for my first Kep.
The fun of knitting this colorwork hat is choosing the colors. It’s probably the reason people can’t stop at knitting only one! As you can see in my photo above, very little yarn is used to make one hat. But if you choose to use J&S yarn as the main color, you will need 2 skeins.
Where to Buy Jamieson & Smith Yarn
This was the first time I knit with J & S yarn. I found it for sale, at a very good price, at Fairlight Fibers. I saved over $1.50 PER SKEIN compared to the current price of the exact same yarn at another online shop. And shipping is FREE when you spend over $50.
At this time, many yarn sellers are low on yarn, thanks to the Covid pandemic keeping people from making the yarn.
Other yarns the designer mentions in her materials section of the pattern are: Uradale (UK based), Shetland Handspun, and Jamieson’s of Shetland.
Wool
Some people don’t like wool because they think it is scratchy, although I don’t mind it. When wool is used for a hat, it doesn’t really matter (unless you are bald). I find the Rauma and J&S to be similar in feel, and once it’s washed, it feels softer. I use Eucalan no rinse wash, and it conditions the wool.
Anything made of wool dries quickly and will of course keep the wearer warm.
Katie’s Kep is a Free Download at Ravelry, by designer Wilma Malcolmson
For summer, which is year round in Florida, I am knitting a pattern by Heidi Kirrmaier called “Over the Top Tee“. She knit it using silk yarn, and I am knitting it using linen yarn, which I have not used before.
Once I bought the pattern, I began searching for a good, summer weight yarn. My first choice was linen, but I looked at other options. I wrote a blog post about my search for summer yarns, and have collected a list of my favorites to try.
The yarn I chose for this project is Berroco Stonewash Linen Indio, which is a discontinued yarn. I first bought 7 skeins on sale at Wool and Company, but ended up buying the last 3 skeins just in case I need them for length. I was afraid I would not find matching yarn if I needed it. At $7 a skein, it was not as expensive as some yarn.
Linen yarn gauge after washing
The Over the Top Tee is a pullover style which is knit from the top down. Because my yarn choice is not what the designer used, I knit a swatch using size 3 needles to see how close I was to gauge. It was a bit small, and after I washed and blocked it, it was even smaller.
Because the stitch count was just a bit short, I began the knitting project going up to a size 4 needle. I’m knitting size L2. For this pattern you need 2 extra needles that will hold provisional cast-on stitches. I used the crochet provisional cast on. The back of the top is begun on these needles and then connected with backward loop cast-on stitches and knit to the end. I could not picture how this pattern would come together.
Over the Top Tee provisional cast-ons (2) and beginning the project
Heidi’s pattern looks overwhelming (to me!) at first glance – it’s 9 pages long, but sizes are grouped into sections, so only one part of some pages applies to my size. I always read through and highlight all the parts pertaining to the size I am knitting – L2 in this case. I am familiar with this type of pattern writing from knitting her Fine Sand sweater.
After a few days of knitting, here is where I am on this project. The back sections have been knit and I am finishing up the second shoulder. I learned that my provisional yarn was too fuzzy, and I need to find something else to use next time. I had no problem picking up the stitches, but occasionally I would catch some of the waste yarn. A smoother waste yarn is what I need – notes made!
Provisional cast on’s removed
At first I was happy enough with this yarn, but further into the project I changed my mind.
Even though I am still a bit confused when looking at the project – I believe it will all come together as it should. The directions are easy to follow, so I am just doing as I’m told and expecting a top shape here soon… LOL.
Connecting to Work in The Round
Once the shoulders and front and back yoke areas are knit, the project is knit on the wrong side. Now the edges are connected, front and back so I am knitting, and purling a little, around and around. It’s stress-free knitting I can even do at night!
There are some short rows to do, and I am skipping those!!! When I knit the Fine Sand sweater, I had a lot of trouble with my short rows – mainly because I had never done them. I think this top will be fine for me without the shaping.
I now have lots of circular knitting (and a little purling) to do down to the hem, where a ribbing will be added. Then the neck and sleeves will need to be finished. I’ll be able to get this done quickly I think as I have other projects lined up behind this one. I’m trying to be a more monogamous knitter so I don’t have projects calling to me as I pass by the baskets.
Project on Hold
As I have been knitting down the body of this top, and there is a lot of that to do, I’m realizing that I don’t like the yarn. It looks and feels more like a burlap sack than a comfortable top. For now, this is on hold until I decide what to do. This yarn would be more suitable for a bag. I may use it to crochet one.
The pattern is a good one, and I would love to try again with a better yarn. But I am not going to continue with this.
Putting this on hold
Also On My Needles
A linen cap (not using the linen yarn above) for myself to wear while we are flying around in our boat. Hair can become very knotted without a covering, and a regular hat flies off. I’m using the Ribbed Watchcap & Beanie pattern by Churchmouse Yarns & Teas.
Snowfall Socks, using Tukuwool yarn, which is very scratchy. I’m not sure I will finish these because of the yarn … and because I really don’t enjoy knitting socks!
Honey Cowl (#2) using Miss Babs K2 bulky yarn. This is a very easy, free pattern.
I’m back to knitting hats, and this pretty cable hat caught my eye. It’s called the Skiff Hat by Jared Flood. The hat can be knit as a Beanie or Watchcap and I chose the beanie as a trial. I’m not an experienced cable knitter and had to see if I could figure this out. I could… it’s easy, but it’s all in chart form, and I had to do some pre-knitting preparation.
Many previous Skiff Hat knitters remarked that their hats came out very big. The pattern calls for Brooklyn Tweed Shelter yarn, which is a worsted weight. I’ve never knit with Shelter, but I have knit with Quarry, which I think is similar only chunkier.
One suggestion was to use DK yarn instead of worsted and go down a needle size, or more (yes, more). I used the size called for on the ribbing and went down one needle size for the top. I could have gone even smaller.
For this trial knit, I choose to use up some yarn in my stash. The lighter blue is Madeline Tosh “Baltic” and the darker color is “Dubrovnik”, I think, and both are DK weight.
The semi-solid blue is very pretty, but the color stained my fingers and my bamboo needles! I wasn’t too happy about that. The yarn would also occasionally split when I was trying to do some of the stitches.
Blue dye colored my bamboo needles
End Thoughts on Knitting “Skiff”
The beanie did come out large. It’s loose around the cuff and tall on my head, and I consider my head to be average size. I am still waiting for it to dry, but I don’t anticipate it to become smaller.
The hat is knit from a chart with perfect explanations for each of the cables. One of the cable stitches uses two cable needles, but it’s pretty easy to do and I enjoyed seeing the twisting of the stitches bring this beauty to life.
Before I began knitting, I went through the pattern Legend, showing all the stitches, and cables, and I used color pencils to differentiate each type of cable on the chart.
I also wrote out the cables next to each color on the Legend page, such as 2F, K2, K2 for the pink color – So when I saw the pink cable in my row, I would know to slip 2 onto the cable needle and hold to the front, knit two regular, then knit two from the cable needle. This was a big help for me, because the printing is tiny on the pattern, and my eyesight is poor.
DPNs Work as Cable Needles
I used DPN’s in place of cable needles throughout, which worked fine. At the crown I used 3 DPNs to hold the stitches, one to knit, and another to do the cables. Five DPN’s is all you need. I also did one extra round after the pattern ends, with a K2tog all the way around. Otherwise you are left with an enormous number of stitches to pull up with yarn to close the opening.
The Watchcap version is the one I want to make, with a wide roll brim and pompom. I’d like to make it for my daughter, who has a small head, so I’ll have to figure out how to knit it differently. I definitely need to use smaller needles and possibly fewer stitches around the brim, with an increase before the cable pattern begins.
Top of hat
More Fun Hats I Have Knit
Katies Kep – Free colorwork (Fair Isle) pattern hat
