There was a time that my hands were itching to make a hat. Instead of just making one, I made three! For the 2 out of 3 I wanted to experiment with increases, binding off and different ribbing. The one that stands out was a present for my mother: she asked for a slouchy warm hat and even gave me the yarn! But that yarn has an interesting story.
It is reclaimed acrylic yarn from an enormous cable scarf my mother had bought a considerable time ago in a Bershka store. She didn’t use it, because it was so long that it would reach her feet. That’s not very practical.
Unraveling was quite easy, since the thing is basically one huge ball of yarn:and quite fun, too. I have been unraveling a few things lately and between sweaters, cardigans and scarfs, scarfs are naturally the best sources for yarn. This particular gray one is 100% acrylic, but if the label was not there, I would have mistaken it for a wool/acrylic blend since it does not look the ‘cheap acrylic’ type. It’s soft, warm and oh-so-bulky. It works up well too.
The pattern I used is Ion by Norah Gaughan. I had my eye on Norah Gaughan Vol. 9 for a long time, especially because of Aeneas, and I thought of killing two birds with one stone. Ion is a nice design and I like the pom pom feature, but my mother doesn’t wear that. 🙂
It is my first time trying out a Norah Gaughan pattern. By the time I write this, I have completed a second design and I have a third one on the needles. Trying to match yarn and pattern for a fourth one too!I like the design elements she uses and the overall look of many of her designs. I like how for example a specific cable stitch can define the whole garment (see Gullveig).
For the other two hats that I made, construction was my main focus. You can see from the pictures alone that they have a different form. The both are worked top-down with the same yarn, but with different needles: 4 and 4,5mm. There are some differences in the increases, the rounded one features decreases in/before the brim. My experimental goal was to see which technique would produce a hat that is not too tight at the edge, but at the same time does not fall off. I personally like the rounded version more, where I also used the tubular cast off. I will be trying that version with a hat that features stranded colorwork even at the brim.
The.. looser version was so boring (to me) that I just had to add a pom pom to it. The pom pom itself is rather big, and my first attempt to create a flower pom pom. Can you tell it’s a flower?
Since I currently have no use for them, the two purple-gray hats are available for sale [here and here].
Oh, and just yesterday, after coming across a project that has been hibernating for 2 years next month (!), I wondered about how did I work through that project improvising all the way. (It is about 50-60% done). I worried a little. Have I lost my improvising confidence? Am I turning to rely on patterns just a little but too much? Hm…
