The Troll Hat.

So, while looking around Ravelry for a hat pattern for my Point Five yesterday, I was suprised by how few patterns there were for super bulky yarn. So I've decided to give you the pattern I improvised, in case you don't feel like thinking. Hence, the Troll hat, a really simple hat in super bulky thick and thin yarn. At first this hat didn't have a name, but the point at the top reminds me of the trolls' heads in Jan Brett's books, which I read as a child. And it seems to me that if a troll is going to make a hat, it would come out all lumpy and bumpy. I used Colinette Point 5 in Frangipani, a really fun Welsh yarn, but I would imagine another super bulky thick and thin yarn would work as well, although it should be noted that I used all 54 yards to make the hat and the pom pom.

The Troll Hat
by Riah Werner


Materials:
1 skein Colinette Point 5 (100% Wool, 100 grams/54 yards/50 meters)
Size 13 (9 mm) 16-inch circular needle
size 10.5 (6.5 mm) double pointed needles

Gauge:
I can't quite figure out how to get an accurate measurement with this yarn, but it works out to 2.25 st to the inch in stockinette with the bigger needles. The finished size of the hat is 21.5 inches.

Instructions:

CO 48 sts. Join, being careful not to twist sts. Work in stockinette st for 5 inches.

Begin decreases, switching to dpns when necessary.

Row 1: [K2tog, k 11] 4 x.

Row 2: [K2tog, k 10] 4 x.
Row 3: [K2tog, k 9] 4 x.
Row 4: [K2tog, k 8] 4 x.
Row 5: [K2tog, k 7] 4 x.
Row 6: [K2tog, k 6] 4 x.
Row 7: [K2tog, k 5] 4 x.
Row 8: [K2tog, k 4] 4 x.
Row 9: [K2tog, k 3] 4 x.
Row 10: [K2tog, k 2] 4 x.
Row 11: [K2tog, k 1] 4 x.
Row 12: [K2tog] 4x.

K 1 rnd.
BO.

Make a pom pom with the remaining yarn and attach to the top of the hat.

Stress Knitting + a Foreign Country = Lots of Hats

So, I've actually been knitting bunches here, in part because it's more stressful than I think I want to admit to myself. First, I made myself another charcoal Foliage, to replace the one I'd lost over Winter Break.

And then I found a pattern for the Limulidae hat in I Knit's newsletter and thought it would be perfect in the bulky turquoise mohair, which was making such a poor wisp. So I made one. And now I have two balls of the yarn leftover and no idea what to make with them.

And then I improvised a hat out of the Colinette Point Five, which I picked up because I wanted to get some British yarn when I'm here, and it's from Wales. I originally intended to make another Fourteen out of it, because it reminds me a bit of Aquarella, and that had worked so well the first time, but the yarn changed color too quickly and the thick and thin variations were too extreme to look good in the Brioche stitch. I tried a little bit of one by one ribbing, but I decided that that was too boring, so I improvised a super simple hat pattern that actually works with the yarn.

As a bit of a side note, I liked Loop in Islington, where I got the yarn. It was a charming little store and they didn't make me feel uncomfortable when I stayed there for ages even though the place was tiny, and they let me spread all of their Point Five out on the floor to see what colorway I liked best, and were generally friendly, but not too pushy and were totally willing to help me figure out what the American sizes I need were in metric. But I didn't love their selection of yarn. They had circular addi turbos, which had been proving troublesome to find in Madison, and nice buttons, but they didn't have any basic, colorful worsteds I felt like getting. And I do most of what I do in basic worsteds. But it is in walking distance, so if I need one of the things they carry, or have a sudden craving to do lots of knitting in many variations of greys and beiges and muted colors, then I would definitely go back.

Now on to the WIPs. I've been knitting the "February" fetchings, but I have realized that I have nowhere near enough yarn to finish them, so this is a bit of a dilemma. I either need to make them shorter or add another color of yarn or find some more Goldenrod Lamb's Pride here. We'll see what I wind up doing. But I think I like the patterns in the color particularly well. It reminds me of Twelfth Night, and is my not terribly inspired knitalong/readalong project for the Bardolatrists group on Ravelry. So I think I might hold off on finishing them until I get more of the yarn, but we'll see.

And then there's my V neck sweater from Fitted Knits. I've never done a top down raglan before, and I love it. There's such a feeling of completeness in knowing that as I knit something, I know exactly what it's going to wind up being. Although, transferring stitches so I can try the thing on as I go is a major pain. But I like it and it's been going so quickly, and I'm just a couple of rounds from being done with the body, because I want a longer sweater than the pattern calls for. And then onto the sleeves, which I'm pretty sure I'm going to knit in the round, because since they're already attached to the body, I see no reason why seaming them would be beneficial. The fabric that the Malabrigo is making is so lovely and soft and warm. I can absolutely see why everyone loves this yarn so much. I can't wait to wear this thing. I think that's part of the reason why I'm knitting it so quickly. I've never before been so impatient to get to the final product as I am with this sweater.

And now I'm starting to run out of the stash that I brought with me. There's still the Mrs. Darcy, which has been put on the back burner in favor of the Malabrigo V neck, and I probably will have an extra ball leftover once I'm done with that. And I've only used two and a half balls on the body of the V neck and I have five total, so unless I make monster sleeves from hell, there will be leftovers of that too. And I have the two orphaned balls of turquoise mohair, and a bit of leftover Donegal tweed, which is probably too little to do much with and then some green Lamb's Pride Worsted. And then, of course there's the Kid Silk for when I feel like making the Ice Queen, sans beads. So at the rate I'm knitting, I'll just have to get more yarn here. Tee hee. I still need something to make a Gretel with, and yarn for my next pairs of armwarmers. I'm looking forward to visiting more yarn stores here, because it gives me something to do where I can actually meet British people on terms that are not freakishly awkward. Tomorrow after studio, I think I'm actually going to go to my first knitting group, at a pub by Trafalgar Square, and while I've never been to such a thing before, I'm looking forward to it.