Off the Needles: Twisted Toque

Another hat finished, this time a knitted one. The pattern is "Twisted Toque" from 60 Quick Knits: 20 Hats, 20 Scarves, 20 Mittens in Cascade 220 (Sixth&Spring Books/Cascade Yarn, 2010, pgs. 52-3). Knit in the round, this hat worked up quickly and, of course, there was no sewing other than working in the beginning and ending yarn tails.

The generous 3.5" ribbing allows you two ways to wear the hat.

Ribbing turned up:

Ribbing turned down:

Although the book was written for Cascade 220 yarn, based on this and other projects I've knitted from this book, I think any worsted-weight yarn will do. 

I used Plymouth Yarn Company's "Encore Colorspun" in colorway "Drifting," a heathery light oatmeal shade. Encore is my go-to yarn when I want to use a nicer acrylic than what I often find in the big craft stores. It's 75% acrylic and 25% wool; you can still machine wash and dry like other acrylics, but the wool addition gives it a softer feel.

Off the Needles: Scarf with Colorful Tufts

Continuing to work through my stash of odd balls of yarn, I made this scarf out of one ball of Premier Yarns' "Flowers" in colorway "Spring Bouquet." The yarn is a mix of 88% acrylic and 12% wool. The colorful tufts are carried along on a separate strand that is wound around the thicker strand. I'm not sure why I only bought one skein; maybe it was to just try it out to see if I'd like it in a project.

I knitted the piece in a simple K1P1 rib until I ran out of yarn. I'm disappointed that the scarf came out a lot smaller than I'd hoped. The finished size is 5.5" by 28.5"...too small for an adult-size scarf. I'll probably put it in the charity projects collection in the hope that some child will love wearing it.

Pink Pussycat Hats

In preparation for the Women's March in Raleigh on January 20, I've been knitting pink pussycat hats for my sister, daughter, and me.

The yarn is just some odd balls of acrylic that I had on hand. The labels were long gone, but I suspect the solid pink might be a Bernat brand yarn that I bought for charity knitting.

And I'm pretty sure the pink ombre is a James C. Brett's "Marble" yarn, but I don't know what colorway it is. 

Since this was meant to be a quickie project, I didn't want to use a pattern that required much work. After searching through Ravelry, I found Louise Santa Ana's free pattern, "Pussy Hat in the Round", which requires no sewing other than weaving in yarn tails and a 3-needle bind off. There are quite a few pink pussycat hat patterns on the Web, but I don't think you'd find a simpler, quicker one to knit up. And it doesn't take much yarn; in fact, I got 2 hats from the the full skein of the James C. Brett yarn. 

Off the Hook: 1st Project of 2018 Finished

Wow. has it gotten cold here in central North Carolina this week. I want to be completely bundled up from head to toe when I go out, so I crocheted this hat this week. The pattern is one I used for two berets I made for my daughter in past years. It's "Phannie", a free pattern from the Berroco yarn company.

 I used a bit over one skein of Universal Yarn's 100% acrylic yarn "Patchwork" in colorway Granite #204. I hate scratchy directly on my skin, so I like this yarn because it's soft and squishy and not itchy at all. I make the single-crochet rows that form the headband a bit wider than the pattern calls for so that I could pull the hat down over my ears when it's bitter cold outside.