Strawberries and peaches hat: free pattern.

I had some yarn left over from this summer cardi and decided to knit a matching hat for my daughter. I'm currently trying hard to use all remaining yarn in my stash, especially all the small and odd left over balls of yarn. For this summer hat I used only half a hank of pretty Araucania cotton. It was a super quick project as well and I decided to share my notes with other knitters here.

 STRAWBERRIES AND PEACHES HAT.

 *** project notes ***

Size: 18-24 months

Yarn: Araucania Pomaire Multy, circa half a hank (83m)

Needles: dpn 4mm/ US6, circular 3.75mm/ US5

Gauge: 17sts on larger needles in the round = 10cm

Abbreviations:

st st: stockinette stitch

dpn: double pointed needles

ssk: slip two stitches knit wise (one at a time), then move them back onto your left needle and knit them together through the back

kfb: knit stitch front and back

Using provisional method cast on 80 sts. 

Spread stitches evenly on 4mm dpn (20 sts on each needle).

Join in round and place marker to indicate the beginning of each round.

Knit in st st until your piece measures 9 cm.

Next round: *knit 8 stitches, ssk, repeat from * till the end of round

Next round: knit

Next round: *knit 7 sts, ssk, repeat from * till the end of round

Next round: knit

Next round: *knit 6 sts, ssk, repeat from * till the end of round

Next round: knit

Next round: *knit 5 sts, ssk, repeat from * till the end of round

Next round: knit

Next round: *knit 4 sts, ssk, repeat from * till the end of round

Next round: knit

Next round: *knit 3 sts, ssk, repeat from * till the end of round

Next round: knit

Next round: *knit 2 sts, ssk, repeat from * till the end of round

Next round: knit

Next round: knit 1 sts, ssk, repeat from * till the end of round

Cut yarn and pull it tightly through remaining stitches.

Now go back to the base of your hat.

Remove scrap yarn that you used for provisional cast on, placing the stitches evenly on 4mm dpn.

Knit one round.

Next round: purl

Next round: change to 3.75mm circular needles and kfb all your  stitches (160 sts)

Knit 6 rounds.

Next round: cable bind off which will create lovely picot edging.

Cable bind off: cast off 2 sts, *move stitch from right needle to the left one and cable cast on 3 sts,  cast off 5 sts, repeat from * until all sts are bound off.

Weave in loose ends and block the hat gently.

I hope my notes help someone to knit this summer hat for their little ones :)

***Copyright notice: These are my personal pattern notes and they belong to me. I've written them down for personal and non-profit use only. They can be used to knit for charity but they cannot be used to knit garments for commercial purposes. Thank you!***

Recent finished objects.

I haven't been a good knitter recently. Getting ready for Christmas didn't left too much time for my knitting passion. I have completely failed to finish Christmas cable sweater for C. It is sitting in my basket, untouched for the past two weeks or so. The front piece with cables came out very tight, much tighter than it was supposed to so I have to do it all over again...

But I did finish few things.
This hat, for exaple. Wasn't on my list at all but one day it was so cold here in Genoa that I knew I needed a warmer hat for little G. I also had some leftover yarn and since I don't really like to waste anything I decided to knit a nice warm hat out of it. It only took one evening to finish it. And in the end there was still some yarn left so I turned it into a pom-pom. And here it is:

Pom-pom hat for Baby G.
Pattern from: my head
Yarn: Jamieson's Shetland Heather
Needles: US6/ 4.0 mm

I also managed to finish Teddy bear for G. Just in time for Christmas. I did enjoy knitting all the pieces but it was a real pain to sew them all together. I admit, I cried. I wanted to throw this thing away. I lost hopes I could ever be a good knitter. Once again I understood that I just hate seaming. After few hours of fighting with needle and stitches and after few glasses of wine, this little guy was finally done. And he looked at me with his buttony eyes like he was sorry for all that troubles he'd caused. So I felt sorry too. And what's most important: G. seems to like him so it was all worth my work.

Teddy
Pattern: Mr. Bean Bear by Sarah Bradberry
Yarn: Laines du Nord Giunco
Needles: US 2½ / 3.0 mm
Modifications: I made the arms much shorter as I was running out of yarn.

The hat is finally done.

Although I have been knitting few hours every day, it took me couple of days to finish this hat for C. I've been occupied with other project as well. I still have Angel top on my needles and Boheme for baby G. and I'd like to finish them before my new yarn arrives.

I'm quite satisfied with the hat. However, it came out a little too big but C. prefers if his hat is not too tight, so I wont be redoing it as I thought I would. I had some problems with decreasing and I ended up mixing few patterns together. It is as it is... C. likes it and that's what counts.

I liked knitting with Laines Du Nord "Lampedusa". If I were to knit a hat for myself, I would probably use the same yarn. But I rather focus on my other works in progress before I start a new project. I really wish that the yarn I ordered was already here so I could finish my green sweater for C. Only half a sleeve is missing and the neckband.

I have also changed my mind about that purple Giunco I wrote about in my last post. After knitting a swatch I decided to use it for a bigger project rather than for a shawl as I intended. It knits beautifully and feels very nice in my hands; now I just need to look through some patterns and find some more time to knit...

Project notes:
pattern: improvised
yarn: Laines Du Nord "Lampedusa", 1 skein
needles: US9/ 5.5mm

Something new.

Few days ago I visited one of my favourite local yarn shops in search for some new yarn. I want to knit winter hat for C., it's getting pretty cold and windy here in Genoa around this time of year. C. actually went with me because I wanted him to choose yarn himself and I must admit I am quite happy with his choice. Although I had only one hat in mind, I will be definitely knitting two: not being able to decide on color we bought two different kinds of yarn in two different colors; here is what we got:

Laines Du Nord"Giunco"

100% merino wool
gauge: 23 st/33 rows to 10 cm
needles: 3.5 mm-4 mm
2 skeins of brown color (colorway 333/ lot 8236)



Laines Du Nord
"Lampedusa"
50% wool
25% alpaca
25% acrylic
gauge: 19 st/20 rows to 10 cm
needles: 4.5 mm- 5 mm

2 skeins of green color (colorway 7/lot 8236)


I especially like "Lampedusa"- it feels very soft and warm in my fingers and I hope it knits very well too. And just look at this color... I'm a big fan of green.

I have already chosen few hat patterns in Ravelry pattern base; now I just have to narrow my choice to two patterns only (which is not going to be easy ;-) ).

Hopefully I am finished with the hats before the end of this months (I still have some wip on my needles too).

Lately, there has been lots of knitting going on. I recently tidied up my yarn basket and realized that I had lots of yarn to work with. I've chosen some projects but I still keep browsing Ravelry pattern base and keep finding new wonderful things I'd love to knit (if only I had enough time...). I'm honestly in love with Ravelry and although I've been a member since April 08 I only started usung it recently and discoverd what a magic place it is.

As I said before, I keep getting new yarn. I just can't resist buying it. Last Saturday we went to street market close to Piazza Martinez and I left with two bags of new yarn...

I finally tidied up my needles too...

I also finished knitting hat for one of our friend, Isabella. I only have to join seams- this is the worst part, I do not enjoy sewing seams together because I'm never able to do it neatly enough and feel disappointed; it's like sewing is the finishing touch and I always mess it up, it's pretty frustraiting and demotivating.

This is my first hat and I think it turned out very nice (well, as I said it, seams are not joined yet). I used 100% organic cotton and 4mm and 4.5mm needles (double knitting) and I love the effect. I'm in love with this color. It's a surprise as I rather chose green/brown/black colors for myself. But I do like this fuchsia color a lot. In fact, I think I will get some more yarn and make this hat for myself as well.
The pattern comes from Knitting Daily and is very easy to follow, it only takes few hours to finish the garment so it gives instant feeling of satisfaction.

***


PS.
Thank you all for those warm and comforting comments that you left on my last post. Your kind words mean a lot and lifted up our moods.
Thank You!