So Much for Quick Knitting

When I started the week, I had visions of finishing up Rainbow's sweater and starting my own. In reality, that hasn't happened. I'm still plugging away on the first sleeve, but I think I'm getting close to starting the cuff (I've been having her try on the sweater as I go to make sure the sleeve is long enough but not too long). The good news is that I've been keeping track of how many rounds I've knit in each color, so I won't have to do any measuring for the second sleeve.

The faster knitting for the week turned out to be the Arne & Carlos socks, which I finished up on Monday night. There's nothing terribly special about them -- they're just my regular stockinette sock recipe worked over 70 stitches on US 0/2.0 mm needles, and I didn't even bother to try to match the color pattern (though they are fairly close).

Rather than starting another pair of socks right away, I decided to cast on for a hat for my lunchtime knitting. One of my goals for the year was to do more charity knitting (which will serve the dual purpose of soothing my soul and using up some stash), and as luck would have it, the KnitGirllls will be collecting hats at SSK this year. A hat I've long wanted to make is the 1898 Hat, a relatively simple earflap hat with a really clever construction. The discovery of a couple of skeins of Malabrigo Rios in my stash (in a color I probably wouldn't wear) led me to decide that now was the time.

Completed brim before grafting, laid flat (sort of)

The hat starts with the brim, which is knit in garter stitch with the exception of the three center stitches, which are knit on right side rows and slipped on wrong side rows. The result is a very clear fold line, and once the whole brim is knit, it's folded in half lengthwise to create a double thickness of fabric. The earflaps are shaped with increases and decreases on either side of the middle stitches -- like I said, simple, yet clever. It's even seamless, because you start with a provisional cast on and graft the two ends of the brim together. Then, once you've done that and folded it, you pick up stitches all around the edge for the crown.

After grafting and picking up stitches all the way around

The skein I am using for this hat is, I think, a partial skein, but I'm hoping it's enough to finish up this hat. I might end up making two of them to use up both skeins, and Rainbow's also expressed interest in getting one, though hers might wait until the fall when it's more likely she'll actually be needing a hat (it's supposed to go up to the mid-70s here tomorrow!). I have a feeling this is a hat that's going to get made many times, and the construction makes it really good for leftovers because you can do the brim in one color and the crown in another.