Hatamaran 2016: I'm on a BOAT!

A few weeks ago, my friend Sara and I were hanging out and talking about our yarn stashes - y'know, as one does - and the topic of a hat challenge came up. I had just finished some work knitting, and she was in between projects, so we decided to come up with some projects and a silly name featuring a boat pun (cause why not), and thus:

HATAMARAN 2016 was born!

  

Our challenge, if we chose to accept it:

5 hat patterns of our choice.
5 skeins of yarn each.
7 days.

Did we do it? HECK YEAH WE DID.

(I may or may not have gotten too big for my britches and cast on for an extra Hatamaran project, and theeeennnnn I might have been up until 2 am the night we finished because of my stunning brilliance and foresight... but we're not going to talk about that.)

And so, without further ado, here are the HATAMARANS: conveniently organized from least to most silly!

 

Left

Pattern: Talus by Cory Ellen Boberg
Yarn: The Plucky Knitter Bello Worsted, colorway Ogre
Ravelry page

Right

Pattern: Reversus by The Restless Knitter
Yarn: Madelinetosh Tosh Merino DK, colorway Sugar Plum
Ravelry page

 

Left

Pattern: Lazlo Beanie by Danielle Morgan
Yarn: The Plucky Knitter Cachet, colorway Steel Horse
Ravelry page

Right

Pattern: Pip by Cory Ellen Boberg
Yarn: Black Trillium Fibre Studio Pebble Worsted, colorway Super Happy Fun!
Ravelry page

 

Left

Pattern: Camas by Cory Ellen Boberg
Yarn: Madelinetosh 80/10/10 Worsted MCN, colorway Rainwater
Ravelry page

Right

Pattern: Camas by Cory Ellen Boberg
Yarn: House of A La Mode Stunning DK, colorway Forest Nymph

Ravelry page



 

Left

Pattern: Cairn by Cory Ellen Boberg
Yarn: The Plucky Knitter Traveler Aran, colorway Good Old Days
Ravelry page

Right

Pattern: Cairn by Cory Ellen Boberg
Yarn: Madelinetosh Tosh Chunky, colorway Edison Bulb

Ravelry page

 

Left

Pattern: Lolo by Jared Flood
Yarn: The Plucky Knitter Scholar 2.0, colorway Magnet and Steel
Ravelry page

Right

Pattern: Fidra by Gudrun Johnston
Yarn: Malabrigo Mecha, colorway Plomo

Ravelry page

And because I had an extra Hatamaran project, here's the last one!

Pattern: Breony by Kat Riddell
Yarn: Black Trillium Fibre Studio Quadra, colorway Black Opal

Ravelry page

Hope you all had as much fun following along - in this post or on Instagram - as we did sending each other photos of hats and boat puns! :D

Happy Wednesday, friends!

<3

Cory

Finished Object: Quincy

  

At long last, I've finished the Quincy cap I've been planning for 2 years as part of my self-imposed Hat Challenge! Bet you thought I'd forgotten - fortunately or unfortunately depending on how you slice it, my brain is like a small, yappy dog when it comes to plans and commitments. Remember that thing you said you'd do five years ago for someone you barely knew? How's that goin? Do you feel bad yet? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh?

Well anyhow. I cast on for it in July of last year, knitted for a bit, got distracted with wedding plans, and dropped it. Then Beetlegate happened, blah blah blah... long story short, two or three weeks ago, I picked it up for a paltry forty-five minutes and finished the sucker. It has been waiting, dry and happy, for woven-in ends and photos ever since. Monday morning, I decided to tackle a few little repair and finishing projects, and voila! Super cute '20s-vibe cloche and one less Work In Progress for the Brain Chihuahua to obsess over.

Done, and done.

Edited to add details!

Ravelry Page: coryellen's Quincy

Pattern: Quincy, by Jared Flood

Yarn: Araucania Azapa, color 80073

Yardage: ~130 yards

Needles: Size 10 US (6.0 mm) 16" bamboo circulars, Size 9 US (5.5 mm) double pointed needles

Hat Challenge FO #3: Pashmina Sockhead Hat

So my self-imposed Hat Challenge has actually been going really well!  This is hat #3 from the full list of 6, using both the yarns and patterns I decided on.  I like this whole list thing!

This hat was really fun to knit, due in large part to the yarn: Madelinetosh Pashmina in the colorway Chambray.  It's a very, very delicate blue, and although I wasn't sure how I'd like it since I wear a lot of greys that don't complement this color.  After wearing it with my outfit from Saturday for photos and for real with a flannel shirt today, I think it's safe to say that this hat is totally wearable.  I think it looks great with charcoal, and it's super slouchy and warm.  I will definitely be making more of these hats - actually, I already have another cast on!

Just as a warning, I was totally lazy on gauge.  After not quite getting gauge on the needles recommended for the pattern, I decided to use a size smaller for the ribbing and the recommended needles for the stockinette.  It worked out fine, and the hat fits really well.

Pattern: Sockhead Hat by Kelly McClure

Yarn: Madelinetosh Pashmina in colorway Chambray

Yardage: About 300 yards of a 360-yard skein

Needles: Size 2 US (2.75 mm) Addi Turbo Lace 16" circular for ribbing, Size 2.5 US (3.0 mm) Addi Turbo Lace 16" circular for stockinette, Size 2.5 Hiya Hiya DPNs for crown

Modifications: None.  This pattern is awesome!

Hat Challenge FO #2: Salt Creek 2.0

Last week I got a lot of knitting done: two hats in a week, to be exact.  I started this one on the first snow day and finished it in three or four days, partially because I had to rip back some of the decreases a few times.  It's sort of crazy how much this hat grows - when it was first finished, it was a squishy, wrinkly little mess, but after it soaked for fifteen minutes, it really opened up into a nice, drapey, and very soft fabric.  When it was dry, I noticed the cashmere content much more than before it was washed.  It formed a super soft halo that makes the hat really nice to wear.  Most of the time I have Lumberjack take pictures of my FOs, then I take them off and squirrel them safely away.  The other day, I kept on wearing the hat - it even sort of went with my outfit!

I just have to read over the pattern one last time, then it's off to the test knitters.  Hooray!

Pattern: Salt Creek, by me

Yarn: Anzula Cricket MCN, colorway Boysenberry

Yardage: Just about 215 yards of a 225-yard skein

Needles: Size 4 US Addi Turbo Lace 16" circulars and size 4 US Hiya Hiya DPNs.

Snow Day WIP

Another Big Snow has descended on the greater metropolitan Seattle area in the last week or so, and because of it, I've stayed at home all week.  Yesterday I watched a car try in vain to drive up the little hill you see pictured here: it kept on sliding backwards, tires spinning, and after 15 minutes of this business the poor driver limped it back to its parking space and went back inside.



On the bright side, I've gotten a ton of knitting and pattern-writing done!  The Salt Creek (rav link) pattern has been written up and is currently being vetted for errors, and as of 7 pm last night (after these pictures were taken) the knitting is finished.  I like how it looks like a sea urchin without spines when it's flopped out on the porch.



This yarn, Anzula Cricket MCN, has been a dream to work with.  It's really squooshy and lovely, although it behaves more like a DK weight than the sport-weight it advertises.  I am finding that this pattern eats yarn like crazy: so far, the gauge I've measured for the garter trellis pattern of the body is about 6 stitches per inch (pretty normal), while the row gauge is just about 11 rows per inch (yikes).  Compared to the 9 rows per inch - on the same size needle - of Little Things, that's quite a bit more yarn being used up.  I can definitely blame that on the density of garter stitch, but a side benefit is that this hat is much more substantial and warm than it would be in stockinette.



I've been working on some alternate decreases, too; the last Salt Creek I made had a double decrease in the center of 3 columns of twisted stitches, which gave it a nice line in theory, but in practice made it fold strangely at the beginning of those decreases.  I've been messing around with twisted decreases, and have come up with single decrease alternatives that maintain the same lines that I wanted for the decreases, but distort the fabric much less.  I've already ripped back the decreases once to clean up the left-leaning version of this decrease (as many knitters know, the left-leaning decrease is notoriously sloppy) and hit upon a solution I like.  With any luck I'll get the pattern out to my test knitters sometime in the next week!

Hat Challenge: Take 2, Now With Added List!

So, back when I first proposed my Hat Challenge way back in August, I made one big mistake: I didn't actually write down all the hats I was going to make.  I'm a person who thrives on lists.  There's this delicious satisfaction in crossing things off of lists.  They're great for future reference.  Sometimes it's hard to hold onto 6 separate ideas in your head, but it's easy on paper.  Hooray lists!

So it seems like a silly mistake to not have written a list of the hats I'm going to be making.

So for Hat Challenge! 2012, I am committing to knitting 6 hats.  Here they are, in no particular order:

1.  Little Things by Veera Välimäki, using one skein of Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light in colorway Tern (420 yards) Finished 1/15/12, actually used 210 yards.

2.  Salt Creek prototype 2 by me, using one skein of Anzula Cricket MCN in colorway Boysenberry (250 yards) ETA: Finished 1/23/12, used about 220 yards of 250.

   

3.  Quincy by Jared Flood, using one skein of Araucania Azapa in color 811 (140 yards)

   

4.  Sockhead Hat by Kelly McClure, using one skein of Madelinetosh Pashmina in colorway Chambray (360 yards) ETA: Finished 3/10/12, used about 300 yards of 360.

5.  Beaumont Tam by Jared Flood, using one skein each Fibre Company Road To China Light in colorways Peridot and Garnet (318 yards)

       

6.  Rikke Hat by Sarah Young, using one skein Madelinetosh Tosh Merino DK in colorway Trodden (225 yards)

All told, that's 1,503 yards

also known as

.8540 miles.

That should keep me busy for a while!

All pattern photographs copyright their designers.