Fall Hats

Mark and I both took vacation last week. We didn't go anywhere other than the pumpkin patch and a state park but that is ok because we both really needed some down time.

I had a lot of things I could have (and perhaps should have) done but I concentrated my efforts on knitting.

E has one hat from late last winter that fits but it was time for new hats and here is the trio I completed.

First up is Miles' Goldfish Hat. This was a fun knit and a different construction than I've done before. E was really excited about this hat. I was working on it in the car and showed it to him after I had duplicate stitched one goldfish (at that point it was just the orange band) and he took it from me and insisted on wearing it at that point. In fact, it escalated into a little tantrum when I asked for it back. I could have done without that, but I guess it is proof that he thought it was cool.
Inspired by a discussion on Stash and Burn I was listening to on my way to the yarn store, I picked up a skein of Noro and subsequently knitted Quynn. I just bought this pattern on its own, but now I kind of wish I had bought the whole ebook. I really liked this pattern, it took a few rounds to get the idea of what I was doing but then I was able to see what was going on and set the pattern aside. I like patterns like that because I was doing something that wasn't boring, but I didn't need to stay chained to the pattern either.

I actually really love the way the earflaps work on this hat too.

E seemed to really like this hat, as soon as I was done blocking it (and it did need washed and blocked to become wearable because the fit is snug) he took it from me and put it on.

Now of the three his least favorite seems to be Cozy but I'm not really sure why. I don't know if he doesn't like the strings or what. I've had this in my queue for awhile now and finally sat down to work on it. Despite my almost-2-year-old's opinion, I like this hat. Maybe I just need different colors for him?

The pattern was actually written for cotton but I think it works well with wool anyway. I think I will knit it again in this cotton/alpaca blend yarn I've had for 4 years now and never know what to do with. Knitting this again I might consider some small changes. I think I may do some garter stitch edging on it instead of the single crochet border and see how that works out. I think I will also use a different cast-on for the main body of the hat. I've never been able to get the backward loop cast-on very even.

The other big accomplishment I had this past week was organizing my patterns. I finally went and bought some more binders and page protectors and set about printing off some patterns and organized them by alphabetically within pattern type. I also ended up pitching some absolutely hideous patterns I had received for free over the years because I really didn't need see-through lace ruffly or super chunky cropped cardigans taking up room.

I've been kind of neglecting the organizational tools on Ravelry for awhile now and since I have a computer that is working correctly, a little more time, and more knitting mojo I decided to get on the ball with it again. I have to say I am thrilled with some of the enhancements that have occurred! Now that I can link stash yarn with patterns in my queue I am finding that so much more useful to use. If you haven't played around with it for awhile try it out. I also took a peak at The List and noticed that a lot of really wonderful features are on deck so I'm very excited!