Urban Hat

Hello!

I haven’t been able to knit much over the last couple of weeks as I have been away at my daughter’s. Before I went, though, I managed to finish a poncho for my two granddaughters, or ‘Princess Cape’ as the four year-old calls it, and a simple, Urban Hat for Niamh, the elder girl. This is the second of these hats I have made for her: one has a pompom, and one does not. When I made the first one, neither my daughter, nor my granddaughter could decide whether they wanted a pompom or not, so my daughter decided that I could make two hats. She is not a knitter. More about the hat, shortly.

Urban Hat

Materials:                            100g Aran or Worsted weight yarn

I used Debbie Bliss BFL Aran in Gunmetal (100% BFL wool)

Or: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran

Rowan Wool Worsted

Sublime Aran

4.5mm 40cm circular needles, or double pointed needles; one long (at least 100cm) 4.5mm circular needle if using Magic Loop; a second 40cm circular needle if using two circulars for the crown.

Tension:                               26sts and 26 rows to 10cm (4ins) in k2, p2 rib

 

Size:                                       One size but see information below about changing the size

The hat will look very narrow while knitting because of the ribbing, but k2, p2 is a very stretchy stitch and a hat that measures about 40cm (14ins) unstretched will easily fit a head measuring 55cm (22ins).

I knitted this hat for a girl with lots of hair and her head measured 53cm (21ins). If I was making this for me, I would add an extra 8 stitches to the total, and for a man with a large head, an extra 12 stitches. The pattern repeat is 4 stitches, so just ensure the total number of stitches cast on is divisible by four. If you wish to make a smaller hat, cast on fewer stitches by deducting multiples of four.

Level of Difficulty:            Suitable for knitters who can knit in the round; can work a simple k2 tog decrease; can work k2, p2 ribbing

Instructions

Using 4.5mm needle of your choice, (see above), cast on 92 sts.

Ensuring sts are not twisted, join to work in the round, placing a marker to denote the beginning of the round.

Round 1 and every round:* k2, p2, rep from * to end.

Rep this round until hat measures 26cm (10.5ins) from cast on edge.

Note: You may wish to change this measurement so the hat is suitable for its recipient. Measure from the base of the ear to the top of the crown, e.g. the measurement for my model was 19cm (7.5ins), then add on the amount of turn up desired on the cuff of the hat. I added on 9cm (3.5ins). For an adult, you may wish to work 10-12cm (4-4.5ins) for the turn up. So, if I was knitting this hat for me, I would probably knit 30cm (12ins) in rib.

Crown shaping: Change to dpns or two circulars as sts dec to make the knitting easier.

Round 1:              * k2, p2tog, rep from * around

Rounds 2 &3:     *k2, p1, rep from * around

Round 4:              *k2tog, p1, rep from * around

Round 5:              *K1, p1, rep from * around

Round 6:              *k2tog, rep from * around

Round 7:               Knit

Round 8:              *k2tog, rep from * around

Round 9:              Knit

Round 10:            *k2tog, rep from * around

Round 11:            Knit

Round 12:            *k2tog, rep from * around. 6sts remain.

Break yarn, leaving a 20cm (8ins) tail. Thread yarn through remaining sts and finish off on inside of hat. Weave in ends.

I washed the hat in Eucalan, wrapped it up in a towel and squeezed hard to remove the excess water. I then laid the hat out on a mat or towel, smoothed out the stitches gently, and placed some empty kitchen roll holders inside the hat to avoid creating fold lines as the hat dried. There is no need to pin or stretch the hat, just a gentle smooth with the hands. Enjoy!

 

Add a pompom if desired. There are some lovely pure Alpaca ones available at the moment, if a little pricey. Or you can make your own, either using a pompom maker, or the old-fashioned method with cardboard.

 

Abbreviations

K                             knit

P                             purl

K2tog                    knit two together

rep                         repeat

sts                          stitches

dec                         decrease

dpns                      double pointed needles

 

I hope you enjoy the hat pattern. If you have any questions about it, please do not hesitate to contact me via the Stash contact form.

If you have any questions about the poncho, or would like to see it as a pattern, please contact me.

As ever, knit on.

Lesley

Copyright, Lesley Conroy 2016

Debbie Bliss Angel inspiration!

If you’re looking for something a little bit special, why not try Debbie Bliss Angel?

A luxury mohair and silk lace-weight yarn, it’s prefect for autumnal knitting projects. Thanks to the beautiful blend of kid mohair and silk, it’s wonderfully soft and light, yet warm and comes in a wide range of shades so there’s a colour to suit everyone!

There is even a version of Angel with a little subtle sparkle, Party Angel perfect for evening wear!

We love this glamorous stole pattern which you can knit in either Angel or Party Angel. You can find the pattern here, and it also includes a pattern for a shrug (below), a perfect extra layer to cover your arms with a nice dress for the party season!

Happy Knitting!

Fun project inspiration for Sari Ribbon!

We love Louisa Harding Sari Ribbon!  It’s an amazing sparkly ribbon yarn, which can be used for garments (2 skeins for a little shrug), accessories, or for some really lovely and unusual trimmings making it a very versatile yarn.

With 120 metres in a 100g skein, even if you just use it as a pretty ribbon for tying around presents, it’s a bargain, working out at just over 8p per metre at full price or just over 5p per metre if you use your HEATWAVE discount code to get 35% off!

If you fancy making a cute accessory instead, how about this lovely free Easy-Peasy bag pattern which you can find on Knitting Fever’s website here?  It only takes one 100g skein!

Louisa Harding’s Etcetera book has a range of patterns for Sari Ribbon, Mila, Jesse, Mulberry, Grace Hand dyed and Mulberry Hand beaded.

If you fancy making a garment, how about this pretty little cardi? It takes 2 – 3 skeins of Sari Ribbon, just add an extra skein if you want to make the version with elbow length sleeves.  Or how about this lovely lace cushion cover?  Just 3 skeins will make a really eye catching addition to your sofa that knits up quickly on 7mm needles.

If you’re looking for another creative idea for Sari Ribbon, how about making little yarn eggs?  Anne has been busy making these cute little packages which are perfect for filling with chocolate as little gifts!

To make these, get some little balloons (those sold for making water bombs are perfect), soak the ribbon in glue and wrap it randomly around the inflated balloons, leaving a few little gaps (so you can fill them later) and leave them to dry.  Then pop the ballons, remove them from inside the yarn eggs and fill them with whatever takes your fancy.  Great fun!

Happy Knitting!

Get set for autumn with chunky yarns at Stash!

As the end of summer grows ever closer, we find ourselves planning our knitting ready for the cooler months, so with that in mind, we’ve been picking out some of our favorite quick and cozy projects in chunky yarns!

We love the soft and squishy warmth of Rowan Alpaca Chunky and this cute hat from Rowan Big Accessories knits up quickly and takes just one ball!

Rowan Tumble is another soft and warm yarn made with alpaca, this time spun up into a yarn with a slight halo.

We love this cozy waistcoat from the Tumble book, perfect for throwing on over some jeans and a t-shirt when the weather cools down.

Yarn Required: 4 (4: 4: 5: 6) balls of Rowan Tumble for sizes 32-34 (36-38: 40-42: 44-46: 48-50) inch bust

It only takes four to six balls, so you should have a finished garment nice and quickly!

Don’t forget that you can still get 35% off everything using the code HEATWAVE on our website!

Last but not least, a quick reminder about our new opening hours on Saturdays:

From September we will be opening on the first and third Saturdays of the month only.

So we will be open from 10am to 4pm on Saturday 5th September and Saturday 19th September.

When there is a fifth Saturday we will be open then too.

Happy Knitting!

What are we knitting? Part 4

Next to tell us about her project is Donna, who is knitting with some yarn that she dyed herself!  Over to you, Donna:

I’m knitting a cardigan using Sirdar pattern 7187 from the Sirdar Wool Rich Aran book.  I’ve decided to substitute the original yarn for some Debbie Bliss Rialto DK which I’ve dyed myself using madder root (a natural dye) which has given it a semi-solid orangey red colour.  I’m knitting it using my 5mm Knit Pro Symfonie interchangeable circular needles.

We had a sample garment of this pattern in the shop, which I would sometimes borrow when working in the shop in the cooler months and I fell in love with it and thought it would be the perfect match for the yarn I’d dyed myself.

I’m only a short way into the pattern.  I’ve knitted two pattern repeats on the back so far and I’m enjoying it very much.

The recommended yarn (Sirdar Wool Rich Aran) is quite thin compared to some Aran weight yarns, so I felt that Rialto DK would work quite well as it is quite a plump and bouncy DK yarn (see how they compare in the picture above).

The pattern has a variety of stitches which would keep an intermediate knitter interested, however you do have to pay attention to keep your place in the pattern, so it’s not a project to take to knit group!  Despite the complexity of the pattern, I’m finding that it’s growing quite quickly because of the 5mm needles.

I’m really looking forward to wearing the cardigan and think that the autumnal colours will really fit the coming seasons!

Thank you Donna!  It’s looking great!

Happy Knitting!

What are we knitting? Part 3

Next in our series of posts on what we’ve been knitting is Lottie, who’s knitting a shawl in Louisa Harding Amitola.  Tell us about your project Lottie….

I’m knitting with Louisa Harding Amitola shade #120/Winter Rose, using Stephen West’s Dotted Rays shawl pattern (available to download on Ravelry) on my favourite Addi Premium circular needles (the shawl isn’t knitted in the round, but as the rows get longer you need a circular needle to accommodate all the stitches comfortably, so I’m using a 100cm long needle).  I like to try out new constructions and techniques because for me part of the fun of knitting is that there is always something new to learn!

The pattern is is really interesting construction with short rows creating wedges of garter stitch between the rows of eyelets, so I chose to knit it in Amitola as I thought a self striping yarn would create some really interesting effects and highlight the unusual construction.

Although the pattern calls for 4ply weight yarn, Amitola is quite thin for a DK weight yarn so although garter stitch would usually create a fairly dense fabric with DK weight yarn on 4mm needles, in this yarn it makes a lovely lightweight fabric which drapes nicely, perfect for a shawl.  With shawls, as long as you have plenty of yarn and are happy for your shawl to come out a bit bigger or smaller you can experiment with different yarn weights!  This pattern is perfect candidate for this as it is written so that you can cast off after any of the short row sections to make a larger or smaller shawl.

I’ve only made one alteration  to the pattern, I have a little less yarn than recommended so I’ve decided to work all but one short row wedge for the small size, so that I don’t run out of yarn.

I’ve actually just cast off the shawl, so I’ve only got to block it now as I’ve already sewn in all the ends!  I’m pretty excited to wear it when the weather cools off again!

The thing I’ve enjoyed most about this project is the way the shifting colours of the yarn have worked with the short rows in the pattern.  I really love working with self striping yarns, I always want to knit just one more row to see which colour is coming next!  As the whole shawl is worked in garter stitch it leaves you to concentrate on the short row shaping, which is a surprisingly simple technique, so it’s actually quite relaxing to knit. A really fun project!

Great colours aren’t they?  Thanks of telling us about your project Lottie!

Happy Knitting! 🙂

Summer Madness! 35% off everything!

Yes, that’s right, you can get 35% off everything in our Summer Madness Sale!

Just use the code ‘HEATWAVE’ at the checkout to get your discount, but hurry, this offer is only valid on current stock, so if there’s something you’ve got your eye on, get it now before it’s gone!

Happy Knitting!  🙂

What are we knitting? Part 2

Continuing our series of posts about what we’ve been knitting, this time it’s Les’ turn to share her project!  

So Les, what have you been knitting?  

I’m knitting a jumper with cabled sleeves for my Mum from the Sirdar Giselle pattern 9892 using Louisa Harding Mila.  I decided to substitute Louisa Harding Mila because it was more to my Mum’s taste than the Giselle yarn.  She prefers a solid coloured yarn to a self striping yarn like Giselle, but Mila still has a bit of sparkle to keep it interesting!

Even though Mila is an Aran weight yarn, because it has a chainette construction it knits up into a nice, soft, lightweight fabric and goes quite a long way.  It gives brilliant stitch definition over the cable pattern too, I think that being a solid colour it shows the pattern better than the recommended yarn.

It’s such a shame that Louisa Harding Mila is discontinued, (we do still have quite a good selection of it in our sale section, but when it’s gone, it’s gone) as it knits up really nicely for a variety of uses.  Last year I made some fab Christmas decorations in the red (#11/Cracker) and white (#01/White) shades!

I changed the pattern a bit, I’m knitting the body in the round to the armholes as I thought it would be neater without a seam.  I’ve had to make the sleeves shorter to fit my Mum, so because I’m knitting fewer rows I’ve worked increases every 8th row instead of every 10th row so I can fit them all in.

The yarn is nice to work with and it grows quite quickly so it’s quite relaxing to work on.  I’m enjoying the cabling most of all because it sits so nicely.  I’ve just got one more sleeve to do and once I’ve sewn them in that’s it!

Thanks for telling us about your project Les, it’s looking great!

Happy Knitting! 🙂

 

What are we knitting?

We love to see what you have been knitting, it’s always really exciting when a customer brings in a lovely project in progress or a beautiful finished object to show us.  So we thought it would be fun to share what we have been making with you!

First to share her project with us is Anne, who’s knitting a cardigan in Fyberspates Cumulus.  Over to you Anne…..

Fyberspates Cumulus is so light and airy that it really does remind me of clouds!  I was keen to knit a cardigan in it ever since I first had a ball to squish.

Finally I came across a pattern which I could use… ‘Wave’ from Kim Hargreaves’ Echoes book.  I know it’s not a pattern for Cumulus, but it’s working out superbly.

‘Wave’ is designed to be knitted using Rowan Kidsilk Haze doubled, which is near enough the same weight as a single strand of Cumulus and for this slouchy cardigan it is ideal!  So I am one happy knitter.

I’m making a few modifications to the pattern.  I’ve knitted the body in one piece as it gets rid of the seams; as the knitted fabric is be so light I didn’t want them showing.

The pattern uses a 4.5mm for the knit row and 8mm for the purl row to create the striped effect so I’m using Knit Pro Symfonie interchangeable needles with one point of each size on a single cable so I’ve just got one long circular needle!

I used at three needle cast off on the shoulders so there was no sewing up.  I know some folk have trouble with finishing garments….

At the moment I have picked up the stitches for the front band and am trying to decide how wide to do it.  In the pattern there are only 10 rows, but I think I will make it wider so that I can wrap it round me.

Then it will be time to knit the sleeves!  I’m planning to pick up stitches round the armholes and knit down with short rows to create shaping for the sleeve caps instead of knitting the sleeves separately from the bottom up and seaming them.  I’ve never used this technique before so I’ll be looking for guidance from this informative blog post on DayanaKnits.

When it’s finished I’ll let you know!

Happy Knitting! 🙂

Pompoms and baubles in Louisa Harding Luzia

Pompoms seem to have been everywhere recently, so although it’s summer, we’ve been thinking about the best way to make some!

We love those faux fur pompoms that are fashionable right now, so we thought we’d have a go at making some in a luxury fur yarn that we have in the shop; Louisa Harding Luzia, which knits up into an amazingly convincing fur effect fabric.

We had a go at making a traditional pompom (above) using Luzia, but it tends to shed and moult fibres everywhere – not ideal!

So we decided to try a different approach and knit one!  We used a fab free bauble pattern by Veera Välimäki, which you can find on Ravelry here.  To give it structure we used 3mm needles, making a dense fabric that holds its shape.  Because of this, it doesn’t even need any filling!

Perfect!

A fun little project and a lovely light bobble ideal for hats 🙂

Happy Knitting!