A Tease & A Tale

I’m finally getting around to blocking the shawl I had finished quite a while back. More about the shawl once it’s dry. Tossing this on the blocking mats made it very clear to me that I need to do more studying on blocking. I do ok but I’m not at the top of my blocking game. We’ll need to talk about blocking at some point.

Right now I want to talk about some finished objects. As I mentioned the other day I forced my mojo to return by knitting three hats as gifts the couple weeks before Christmas. Unfortunately I didn’t complete the blogger project of taking photos of them. It was laziness and lack of planning that brings me to this point. I want to do right by the hats, the patterns and the blog. So to do that you’ll have to use your imagination. I am going to tell you the tale of the three hats.

As I have mentioned I’m trying not to buy new yarn and just use stash. I broke that rule for the first hat. The recipient can’t wear wool so I had to buy some other sort of yarn. I also did not want to make a major investment since chances were pretty low that I’d even finish the hat. While wandering through Michael’s I saw Lion Brand Heartland and thought it might fit the bill. Its 100% acrylic which is what the recipient would want so I grabbed a skein of Kobuk Valley, a dusty pale purple. Next I had to decide on a pattern. I wanted something classic and timeless. I chose Bankhead by Susie Gourlay. It’s a hat with a twisted rib cuff and a broken rib body. The hat turned out lovely and the recipient has worn it. The pattern is available for free on Ravelry. It was an easy knit that was great for getting back into the groove.

The second hat was knit with stash yarn that’s been in residence for ages. The yarn, Plymouth Encore is my go to when I need a washable yarn with wool for someone who isn’t going to fuss when it comes to caring for the item. The color was a light forest green that I knew the recipient would love. The pattern I decided on was Barley by TinCanKnits. It is available for free on Ravelry. I’ve admired this pattern since I first saw it. It’s simple but still interesting. It was a pleasure to knit. I think the recipient was very happy.

The final hat was knit with deep stash yarn. I’d received the skein in a large destash from a friend of friend’s friend. It was Lion Brand WoolEase heathers in oxford grey. I used my go to pattern for fussy recipients Turn A Square by Jared Flood. It’s a minimalist fitted beanie for recipients who don’t like hats but will wear them when it’s cold or they’re in desperate need of a haircut. I got this pattern eons ago for free by signing up to receive the Brooklyn Tweed newsletter. The recipient seemed pleased with the hat.

As I look back knitting the hats is what sparked my mojo. I had to knit for others on a very short deadline or I’d still be wondering where my mojo went. It was there but I had to make it about someone else before it could come back to me. Boy am I glad it’s back.

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