One Hat

I don't know why I hardly ever knit hats- they have no thumbs, they have no heels, they have no sleeves, they have no seams, and you only have to make one of them. Seems like a no-brainer, but I probably knit one hat for every 10 pairs of socks, 4 sweaters and 5 pairs of mittens.

Today, I ran across a bag of handspun yarn that I put aside specifically for socks. I even had a Fair Isle chart packed away with the yarn (there are other colors with this set: white, gray, purple, green, and a lighter brown), but the yarn told me that it didn't want to be socks. It also reminded me that I had adapted a traditional Nordic-style chart for socks awhile back, and that that chart wanted to be a hat instead. Over the years, I've learned not to argue with yarn or charts. So the yarn is now a hat- or about half of a hat.

I don't remember what breed of wool this is- it's pretty springy, and I had a bunch of corriedale roving, so it could be Corrie. The white (not pictured) has some sheen, so I think it's Romney lamb. The rest is anyone's guess. So far, I'm just using the darkest brown (which has flecks of lighter colors) and the yellow (which is about 20% gray)- I don't think there's enough of either to finish the hat, so I'll switch to the lighter brown and the gray when they run out. This yarn is a 2 ply, and it's not spun or plied tightly enough for sturdy socks anyway. I'm using Size 3 needles, and 6-24 st repeats. I have another inch or so and then I'll start the decreases- the pattern just repeats from there.

I'm glad I found the yarn. And I'm glad I listened to it. (And no, I haven't finished my workshop sample knitting yet. Why do you ask?)