Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Hats and Socks

I have been a busy bee knitting these days. Every year when the season starts to change to fall and the weather gets colder and damper my hands begin to itch to make something cozy and warm. I finally decided to listen to them and made myself a hat. I used up the handspun I made a couple years back to knit up an Urchin hat. I just love how it came. The pattern itself is genius. It's such a simple knit and it knit up fast! After the first couple of pattern repeats it becomes easily memorized making it completely effortless. It was super easy to resize as well. The yarn I used was pretty thin and I wasn't able to achieve the gauge the pattern called for with a bulky weight yarn. All I had to do was add extra repeats until it fit my head. I didn't have to bother with adding more stitches and adjusting the pattern. It was also a great chance to practice my short rows. Since the hat is garter stitch I didn't have to worry about picking up my wraps.


I love the way the color switches worked up and feel like it showcases my yarn perfectly. This was the first project I have actually made with myself in mind to receive it and it felt really satisfying to finish it. Originally I added a pink ribbon seeing as that was all I had in the house at the time. Since then I have replaced it with a nice teal/jade ribbon. I just love it. It really made a great fall hat. It is a bit big on me and slides a bit when I'm wearing it but a few bobby pins fix that. I can also tighten the ribbon so it doesn't slide.

Not too long ago while looking through ravelry I came a cross a link that brought me to Knitpicks youtube page. I believe their youtube videos can also be viewed on their site under tutorials. I personally prefer watching them on youtube, they seem to load faster for me. Anyways while browsing their videos I came across a series for sock knitting. I took some notes and used them to make a pair of socks for myself. They are made with Caron simply soft in the color way Ocean. I just love this color! My socks aren't perfect, one of has a looser gauge and the descreases are not as clean as I would like but I fixed all these problem on its twin half. I am very pleased with the end result and had a lot of fun making them. I have only made one other pair of socks prior to this and I am now working on another pair of socks for my boyfriend in the same colorway but with a gray toe and heel. Once I finish I will post a pattern/guide for them.


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