An update on my latest hat knitting project. This one is a very long hat called the Doublemassa.
The dark blue yarn skein is just about finished up. This morning was quite chilly for a March morning in Florida. I was bundled up in my newest Warm Up sweater, hat and mitts while I checked on the garden and filled the bird feeders. I decided to show my progress on the Doublemassa hat.
As you can see this is a very long hat! It looks huge, and I am hoping it will fit properly.
The colorwork designs are pretty cool, and I just finished up the birds rows. When looking at this hat finished, on Ravelry, the brim will fold up to either the birds or the hearts (which I have not even begun yet)!
Here is how the hat will fold: From the top of those snowflakes down, everything is tucked up inside. Then the snowflake brim part will be folded out and up. The snowflakes will cover most of those two colorwork sections above the snowflakes. This creates 4 layers of fabric at the brim. I’m not good at visualizing this and can’t wait to actually do it.
Even though this hat is already quite long, I have many rows of colorwork left to knit. It’s been a very fun pattern, as I love doing Fair Isle. The Rauma yarn is quite awesome as well.
As I knit more, I will be attaching a new skein of blue, and will probably need more of the natural color eventually.
If you have knit the Musselburgh hat, the Doublemassa hat style is very similar. It is more involved because of all the colorwork, but begins at one end and makes a tube to the other end. The Musselburgh can be worn inside out, as if it were two hats, but this one is worn on one side only. It will have a tassel too!
Beginning to knit the deal loop beanie pattern in heavy wool.
After knitting sweaters for a while, I decided to try a smaller project. The Dual Loop Beanie, by Other Loops, looked like a nice hat. (Pattern link below.) I purchased the pattern and began the project. Yup, one more knitting project on the needles!
Here it is all finished, but still needing a soak. Read on and make one of your own.
Dual Loop Beanie knit using Plotulopi wool
The Pattern
The pattern is easy to follow. One thing to be aware of is you will always be following the 2×2 rib for the top part. One line in the directions says, “knit to two stitches before the next marker” but it should be knit and purl.
Also, a thumbs down for this pattern is the fact that the needle size is listed ONLY in mm and size / length is ONLY in cm. For those of us in the US we have to convert. It’s not a big deal, but most patterns do list both.
The beginning directions are for a tubular cast on. If you don’t know how to do it, then you must look it up (I have a video link below). There are no directions or links in the pattern. There are no other cast on options listed either. But, if you feel more comfortable using a long tail, or other cast on, go for it!
I am not a fan of doing the tubular cast on. Many ribbed hats use it to make the edge rounded. And, it does look nice. The cast on is not difficult, BUT keeping the stitches straight gives me a headache. To solve this problem, I used a straight needle this time. A wooden straight needle would be perfect, but I only had my grandmother’s old steel needles. They worked fine.
If possible, do the tubular cast on onto a long, straight needle. Doing this will help keep the stitches from twisting around like they do on a circular needle.
If you are wondering why I would cast on for a hat using a straight needle, here’s the answer. The tubular cast on is worked in back and forth rows called the “set up” rows. Once those are done, then the round is joined.
The pattern begins with, “cast on using a tubular cast on in rib stitch”. My help for this came from Stephen West’s video. I followed his cast on directions. Also his first set up row directions (he knits through the back loop on the first row). At his suggestion, I used one needle size smaller (size 3US) for this part of the project.
After finishing the cast on and set up rows, I slipped all of the stitches onto a size 4 circular needle (the main size). Then, I made the join by simply continuing in pattern. I will have to close up that gap when I weave in the ends. *I had no trouble closing the gap and it looks perfect.
Any type of Cast On will work. It may not look as good as the tubular, but don’t let that stop you from knitting the hat.
Stitches transferred to circular needle size 4.
Now I am working using the main yarn, which is Plotulopi unspun held double. I’m pulling a strand from each of two cakes. But to cast on and begin with set up rows, I used dark green-brown Alafosslopi. It is sturdier and I needed something to make that cast on as easy as possible. Both yarns came from my stash.
I do NOT recommend using Plotulopi for a hat. I love the way it came out but there was a lot of yarn breaking during this knit.
Because I couldn’t fit more stitches on the straight needle, I cast on for the small size hat. This yarn is thick and the hat size is perfect.
The Dual Loop Beanie is pretty much a basic hat pattern. Once I was beyond the cast on, it’s round and round knits and purls. The decreases for the top are well written out and I’m looking forward to the end result.
Just beginning the decrease rounds on my Dual Loop beanie. Isn’t that yarn pretty!
The beanie is nearly ready to wear. Just needs a soak and then drying out. I had a lot of trouble with this yarn at the top. Unspun yarn like this Plotulopi can’t stand any stress or it comes apart like cotton candy. Fortunately it can be spit-spliced easily. If you prefer a very tall point at the top – add more rows. I followed the directions and mine is not all that tall.
Here in central Florida we are certainly not suffering with horrid freezing temperatures like most of the county. We have had a cold, gloomy January. For the past week or so temps have been in the 40’s and 50’s for highs, with wind chills lower. I can hear you… “Oh poor baby” “Those Florida wussies” I know, I know… I’m not whining, just saying it is unusual. And it has given me lots of opportunities to wear my hand knits, so I’m happy. It snowed in the Panhandle, and I hope next time the snow comes here. I love snow.
I have the yarn and will soon begin knitting the Birthday61 sweater pattern by Ankestrick. The yarn from Loop has arrived and it very nice. First time using this brand and ordering from this online shop.
I should not be starting a new knitting project. I’ve been in a bit of a knitting funk lately. This has caused me to jump from one project to another without finishing any of them! That is a bad habit to get into.
This new sweater pattern is by a designer I am familiar with – Ankestrick. She wrote the pattern for the Rebel Cardigan, which I have knit and successfully finished. The Birthday61 sweater is a textured pullover. It is knit in all one color using a fingering weight yarn. The pattern is the half-fisherman’s rib. Needle size is very small, between 0-1.5US size, depending on gauge.
Buying Yarn
The designer knit her sweater using Biches & Bûches cashmere and lambswool yarn. I bet it’s gorgeous. The yarn is quite expensive and hard to find in the US. So, I looked at the Biches & Bûches lambswool – no cashmere. It is the same weight and costs less. Also, it is easier to find.
Ravelry has a feature where a yarn page links to shops that sell the yarn. I use it a lot. It does not list every place the yarn is sold, but enough to give me an idea of pricing.
If others have an opinion on the yarn, they can leave comments.
To see what types of yarn have already been used for a project, go to the Birthday61 projects page and click the “yarn ideas” link at the top. When I do that for Birthday61, I see that Biches & Bûches La Petite Lambswool has been used for six of these sweaters already. I ended up ordering seven skeins from Loop Yarn. They offer free shipping for orders over $95. I chose color Beige.
I’ve read that Biches & Bûches is changing their skeins from hanks (that have to be wound) to skeins that don’t. When ordering, it seems you could get either type. On the Loop site they showed hanks on the ordering page. Here is what I got … & YAY – no winding required! I’m so happy.
I’ve already been knitting a sample of the Birthday61 sweater pattern. Mainly, I wanted to see if I could do it. Check out my page here. I’m not convinced that I will not mess this up. A light colored yarn is going to show all the goofs, but it will also be easier to see the stitches as I knit.
The Swatch on Needle Size 1 US (2.25mm)
Initially I had hoped that my sample piece would serve as a swatch, but the new Biches & Bûches yarn is thinner than the Rauma. I needed to knit a swatch. Swatch stitch amounts (for a 4×4 size – before and after blocking) are given but I wasn’t sure how to knit the swatch in the half-fisherman’s rib.
I ended up knitting a flat piece (using size US1 / 2.25mm needle) following directions for this on page 2. The wrong side is knit and the right side is done in the kbl, purl. I left 3 border stitches on each side of each row. I began and ended the swatch with 4 knit rows.
Before I got the swatch finished I could tell it would end up being too tall / long.
My gauge is really off on rounds. Width / stitch number in 4 inches is very close, but I should have 8 more rows. What this means to me is that my sweater will end up very long. I’ll have to watch the length as I knit.
This swatch should be 64 rounds that equal 4 inches. If I knit 64 rounds I get something like 6 inches. Knitters also say that this type of stitch stretches downward with washing.
I began to wonder if I knit the swatch incorrectly. So I asked on the Ankestrick designs forum at Ravelry (this is the place to ask pattern questions). I got a quick reply and found I had knit it correctly. So maybe I need a smaller needle. I ripped out this swatch and began again with the smaller needle.
Front
Back
However, my swatch with size 0 needles did not change much. My plan is to cast on with size 0 and switch to size 1 for the sweater. I am hoping that the cast on edge will look okay.
While I don’t really need another project on my knitting needles, I began a new sweater pattern anyway.
This pretty Shetland yarn, by Harrisville Designs, has been calling to me. The color is Peacock, and is so pretty. The contrast colorwork design will be done with a variety of wool colors I already have.
Here, I am using Tukuwool, J&S and Rauma. My plan is to have a low contrast between the main color and contrast color.
Solvi means “sun strength” in Norwegian (info from Jenn’s Ravelry page). The pullover has a colorwork yoke and long sleeves. After the cast-on, choose either a rolled neckline or 1×1 rib. The designer says it is a good pattern for beginners. I assume she means beginner colorwork knitters. If you can follow the chart, you can knit the yoke. Only two colors are used at any one time. One small section of the chart can be omitted to shorten the yoke.
As a beginner knitter, this pattern would have been tough for me. The reason being that I was not a good chart reader at the beginning of my knitting journey. I also had no idea what short rows did for a sweater.
Now, I would only knit sweaters that do include short rows. In the Solvi pattern, short rows are incorporated after the colorwork section. This happens way down by the armpit area, which is odd. Short rows are usually made near the upper back area to lift the back of the neck.
Why I Chose This Pattern
I was hoping to find a pattern that inspired me, and the Fallow sweater was at the top of my list … for a while. Then I discovered Solvi in my knitting folder (an actual folder, not online) which I had purchased a while ago.
The Peacock blue yarn amounts to a little less than 1300 yards, which is not enough for my size. But we’ll see. I’m now knitting the body ribbing and have two full skeins of yarn left. I’m thinking that one for each sleeve should be plenty.
Knitting body ribbing
Fall is a hard time of year for me. While everyone is winding down from summer, and viewing the foliage, and breathing fresh autumn air, I am still sweltering in the Florida heat. Sweater season has arrived, and new patterns are showing up all over the place. Everyone (it seems) is digging out their hand knits and wearing them.
For me, it’s the time of year to keep an eye on the tropical storms and hurricanes (Milton hit my area as a Category 1 in October).
I’ve lost interest in knitting over the past few months, and I’m not sure why. Even so, I have not stopped knitting. My projects are many, because when one begins to bore me, I take up another. You may say, “me too” or “that is normal, we all do that!” but the passion is not there. It is just a life slump. They come, and go, so I’ll wait and it will pass.
I am a bit excited to try some new yarn, which will arrive any day now. I may use it to knit Fallow. We’ll see.
New England's Narrow Road 