Knitting: Finished items; knitted cowl and ribbed hat

Yesterday, I finished knitting two WIP’s (works in progress.) These were completed while on a road trip to visit my brother and his family. Since a one way trip is about three hours, I knew this would give me sufficient time to complete both.

On the way, I finished knitting this autumn ribbed hat. It’s made out of wool.

The hat’s long enough that you can have a cuff around the brim. I love hat cuffs. I used worsted weight wool yarn, and my size 6 Hiya Hiya Stainless Steel Sharps circular interchangeable knitting needles. Although I did not use a pattern, it’s simple to follow since it only consists of knit 2 (k2) and purl 2 (p2.) I can knit this simple pattern with my eyes closed. Actually I did, since we left out early in the morning. It was so dark, I could not see my hands. It’s what I call ‘no brainer’ knitting. You k2, p2, until you almost reach the desired hat length,  and then you start your decrease round until done.

Hand wash only

The yarn I knitted with, is a soft wool, but not as soft as malabrigo. The simple rib stitch makes it extra thick, stretchy and warm, but it isn’t machine washable.  You will have to hand wash and set out to dry. If you don’t remember this, the hat will shrink and if you washed/dried it on hot you might have an unwanted shrunken felted project. Felting is great when that’s your goal, but frustration can arise when it’s not. 🙂

On the road home…

During the ride home, I finished knitting this cowl. No pattern was used. It’s just alternating rows of various stitches; rib, stockinette, seed, stockinette, purl, stockinette, seed, stockinette and rib. This is a pretty yarn,  it compliments my complexion and it also has a thin thread of silver woven throughout the yarn. Which adds a bit of glitter when the light hits the yarn. In hindsight, I should have added beads. I can always do that next time, right? I do think it will make a nice gift for someone special.

I like them small…

This cowl was knitted with my size 3 Hiya Hiya needles. My Hiya Hiya needles go down to a 000, but I thought the size 3 was perfect for this cowl. The yarn weight is fingering weight yarn. So it definitely won’t be as warm as the autumn ribbed hat, but it sure will be stylish. The last cowl I knitted was the checkered cowl.  I’ve had this yarn for almost a year, it’s some of the Stroll Glimmer: Carnation yarn that I’d purchased from KnitPicks during their Cyber Monday sale in November 2013. There wasn’t much of this yarn left when I saw it online, and so I bought the rest that was in stock. Which was about six skeins of yarn.

I normally don’t use anything above a size 4. I like the dense fabric produced by a smaller gauge. Knitting hats, with worsted weight yarn, using size 3 knitting needles? I’m in knitting heaven. The small needles produce a dense fabric, which makes it hard for the cold air to penetrate.

These are two of my favorite things (to knit)….

Knitting cowls, are my second favorite small project to knit; hats are my first.   Unlike the knitted ribbed hat, this cowl is also made with superwash wool aka treated wool. So yes… this wool can be put into the washer/dryer.

Feeling Accomplished

It feels great to finish knitting WIP’s, I’d started the knitted hat at the beginning of October 2013, and I’d started knitting the cowl in August 2013. Embarrassing, yes I know…  since I could have easily knitted these projects within a few days! Sighs  The past few months, I’ve been extremely busy so these knitting projects languished while I went on with my busy life.

A little something for me…

Today, I rewarded myself, by purchasing the revised hardcover edition copy of The Principles of Knitting: Methods and Techniques of Hand Knitting by June Hemmons Hiatt. It’s huge, it’s 736 pages!  I already know it’s a great book since I’ve borrowed it from the library several times before. I view it as the most comprehensive guide for knitters. It reads like a textbook. I like it’s no frills approach, and my goodness is it thorough! It’s a wealth of information for knitters, regardless of their level. I find it interesting, how my “rewards for myself” usually have me doing something creative.

What will I knit next? I’m not sure, but I would love to knit something with cables or lace… perhaps I’ll start on something this evening!