What I Learned: This is an interesting pattern construction, starting at the top of the head with a few stitches, casting on until it’s big enough around, then knitting straight for a really long time, then decrease. See below, the photo explains this better than I can. It leaves you with a double-layer hat that is very cozy.
Yarn/Pattern rating: *****/*****. Clearly written pattern, can be used for a wide range of yarn weights and hat sizes. This yarn is just divine. It is soft and lofty, but also durable. The kid mohair gives it a nice sheen.
Here’s a photo of the whole hat:
I do have a few more colors of this yarn in the stash. This hat is for me, but John tried it on, and he’s picked out his color.
Last but not least is Hank! He’s growing, learning, and in general being a whole lot of fun.
I finally got around to blocking this shawl. Don’t judge me, I have a 14 week old puppy to wrangle.
No apologies for the photos in the bathroom mirror. John isn’t home right now, and I just needed to get this posted.
Project Details:
Pattern: Pattern? I made it up. It’s a plain garter triangle shawl, increases at each end and along the center spine every right side row. I just knit each color until it was gone and attached the next one.
Yarn: This is Icelandic wool, from an Etsy shop, Hespa. I’m pretty sure this is Istex Einband that is hand dyed. She dyes her skeins with plant dyes local to Iceland. I bought all but that last light brown stripe as a kit from her Etsy shop. The last color I bought on our trip through Iceland. It’s the same wool, from the same dyer, and matches the color scheme well.
Needle: Oh, holy hell. I didn’t record that. I’m pretty sure I used a 3.25 mm Chiaogoo bamboo circular, as it is sitting on my desk still instead of being in the case.
Started: June 12, 2022
Finished: Oh, who knows. I apparently didn’t record that either. Let’s just say sometime since the end of July.
What I learned: Great yarn doesn’t always need a fancy pattern. Just cast on and knit. This was a perfect travel project, and I LOVE the colors.
I still haven’t gotten around to doing a remodel post. I will tell you the Arlo story that goes with it though. The last day of the major work was the day the plumbers came to drop the tub in and get the plumbing hooked up for it. It was sort of an all-day project. They built a plywood platform under the tub, with an opening to access the plumbing works. When they were ready to put the tub in, I sort of joked that they should make sure that all the cats were accounted for.
You can guess where this is going, right? They finished up late in the day and left. I hadn’t seen Arlo all day, and was beginning to get a bit suspicious. After the noise of the construction was done, I could clearly hear him in the dining room. Coming from the ceiling, where he was trapped between the subfloor of the tub and the dining room ceiling.
Our neighbor came over with power tools to help. This is a small hole he drilled in the ceiling to make sure we were in the right crawl space. Then the fun began.
I wasn’t nearly as cheerful about this as I look in this photo. My little worrier brain had already traveled the distance between “cat trapped in the ceiling” to “dead cat in the ceiling, we’ll never see Arlo again”.
It took a bit of coaxing, but we got him out. The guys came back the next day and patched the hole in the ceiling. And Arlo promises to never do anything like that again.
