Knitted slouchy beanie

Posted on December 12, 2013 by The Little Room of Rachell

During the last couple of evenings i’ve been knitting a beanie

I used this basic beanie knitting guide from Kirsten but have adapted it by making a slouchy beanie and you can see that I’ve ribbed my hat brim. Next time I’d do a double rib of k2, p2 for an even stretchier brim.

I’ve used up the rest of the marble chunky, that you’ll recognise from other makes, with 40cm long 6mm circular needles. It’s a fast way to knit a hat. Of course you can also use straight needles and sew a seam.

Basic slouchy beanie pattern

::Cast on 80 stitches
::Rib (k1,p1) until the band is as thick as you like
::Stocking stitch around (actually on circular needles you just knit every round and the SS stitch magically appears. I love that!)
::Keep knitting until the hole appears well above you head. If you want a regular beanie then stop when it’s just past the top of your head
::Knit 8, knit 2 tog around. Repeat for the round.
::Knit the next round
::Knit 7, knit 2 tog around. Repeat for the round
::Knit the next round
::Knit 6, knit 2 tog around. Repeat for the round
::Knit the next round
::And so on until you have 16 stitches left. You could change to DPNs or use the magic loop method with circulars like I did when the going gets tough because of too few stitches
::Knit 2 tog, repeat for the round (8 stitches left)
:: Knit 2 tog, repeat for the round (4 stitches left)
::Cut the yarn, run the tail through the remaining four loops using a darning needle, darn in the ends. Make hot chocolate with marshmallows and drink while wearing your beanie.

First circular hat!

Posted on December 5, 2013 by The Little Room of Rachell

I’m pretty pleased with this hat. It’s very stretchy and warm. As the title says it’s my first on circular needles. Just getting the correct 40cm cable with the right 6mm short tips was a little time consuming. 40 cm cable is so short it needs 10cm Symfonie KnitPro needle tips to be useable, rather than the standard interchangeable circular set. Mine look pretty short to me, but are 12.5cm. I got there in the end despite being rather fuzzy about it all. But this was, I freely admit, a #firstworldproblem !

I used yarn left over from my crochet Seashell Scarf and Cabled Owl Jar Cosy mainly because it’s the only chunky I have. It’s Marble Chunky by James C. Brett by the way. Cheap and very cheerful. I do like the variegated colours and the stripy effect near the ribbing.

How differently the colours look in this photo! It’s the shifting light. Scotland has 100 mph winds today and the north of England is also suffering. Traffic news is full of lorries blown over on roads. Down south we just have a blustery day with very grey skies.

This Slouchie Beanie pattern designed by Tanis Gray is available free on Ravelry. I first saw the hat on Hannah’s Not Your Average Crochet blog. Mine has a mistake or so well, technically it’s got many more than one or two I think, but you can only really tell if you look inside and who would be rude enough to check and scrutinise? The first of anything using a completely new technique is unlikely to be perfect. If I knit another I would try to make it slouchier as it’s not really very, but I’m more likely to surf for different patterns as I like to try new projects all the time. If you have a good recommendation please let me know.

I hope you’re warm and well wherever you are, hot chocolate and a hat is the way forward here I reckon!

Waffle knit cloth ~ ready to scrub

Posted on July 26, 2013 by The Little Room of Rachell

As you know I’ve been using the knitty sticks again lately. I finished the cloth early Wednesday evening, as you can probably tell by the golden sun which streamed in through the windows as I took these photos. 138

I used more of my Planet Penny Cotton with 4mm circular needles. Mine measures a genteel 6″ by 7″.

140

I *think* this was another of my Pinterest finds, but you know how it is – I’ve got a folder of printed patterns, saved patterns and links on three lap tops and on my iphone, plus, more in my Ravelry library. It gets a bit crazy but you save what you see at the time (and then often forget all about it for ages!)

141

I really love the texture of this knit. It’s almost too nice for scrubbing dishes so I’m going to try it as a wash cloth. I haven’t used any cotton for ‘wet use’ so am wondering if my face will turn yellow! So far it’s been perfect for owl I and owl II as well as the three string bags you’ve seen lately, but I’ll let you know if I end up looking jaundiced….

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Today I’ve been sitting in the garden, in the lovely sun, trying out a new crochet mouse pattern (see the KAL: A Mile of Mice group on Ravelry for the details) for the Mile of Mice charity fund-raiser. I’ll post a piccy of him tomorrow. This song goes well with summer outdoor crochet – I’ve been listening to a double album of theirs –