Oslo Hat

Take a look at Amanda's luxurious Oslo Hat (Mohair Edition)! She used Farmer's Daughter Mighty Mo and Soka'pii in these gorgeous coordinating colors. Wowza. I am amazed at how rich the colors become when knitted together.

Sally also mentioned that a customer used some sweet pinks together to make her version, and now I can't stop thinking about this combo of Navia and Lang Lace.

If you need a cozy and super cool hat, this one might just be your thing!

P.S. It comes in a non-mohair edition as well! You'll just need to double up a sock yarn and skip the mohair.

Arranmore Hats

We have a few wonderful hat samples of the Arranmore and Arranmore Light from The Fiber Co.

This Chunky Ribby Hat in Arranmore is so so soft. It has a nice thick brim, and it reminds me of a hat my mom wore my whole childhood. Except this one is so much softer. We have definitely run through some of this yarn since I took this pic, but we still have a nice supply, and I'm sure we will get more.

This adorable Andi Hat is so cute in Arranmore Light. I love how it shows off the marled colorway. The knitted fabric has such a nice drape and thickness. Oh man, this is such a nice yarn.

So nice to have these beautiful yarns in the shop and to have these great samples to show them off!

Closed Thursday

Fiber Friends! We will be closing up at 6PM on Wednesday (no Open Knit Night) and closed Thursday this week, so come in and get all of your knitting supplies on Wednesday if you can. Back to our regular hours on Friday, opening at 10AM for all of the yarn shopping. We hope you are all enjoying these windy days!

Pic borrowed from Rav pattern page.

If you are looking for a cool project, maybe this Flaked Hat from Amy Miller in Blue Sky Fibers Eco Cashmere. Who could possibly refuse?

Rafa's Hat and Targhee Worsted

Sometimes a pattern and a yarn are just meant to be together, and this combination seems to be one of those times. The free Rafa's Hat pattern (thank you, Joji) and the soft and supple Targhee Worsted from Knitted Wit are a match made in knitting heaven.

The design is all about ribbing, but with a little interest so you don't get bored. The all-over rib also means that it will fit a range of head sizes, so it's great for gifts if that's a thing you do.

This yarn is truly soft and bouncy, but it's also hefty enough that it will stand up to some long-term use. We have a range of beautiful semi-solids, as well as some lovely variegated shades. It's definitely hat season for me, and it might even be gift knitting season. I hope this prefect combination inspires you to cast on!

Concept Cotton Merino

We restocked the Concept Cotton Merino, and it's so cool. The yarn knits up into an unusual fabric with a painterly variegated sort of look. The silvery black was my favorite, but hello lemony chartreuse! And also denim blue. And creamy camel.

I ran across this cute Lighthouse Hat that uses Concept Cotton Merino and a silk mohair together to make a light and fluffy cap. 

Pic borrowed from Rav pattern page.

We have a batch of Lang Lace in some beautiful solids that would play nicely with these shades. It's time for hats! It's chilly out!

June Hat!

While the colors for the June hat are not necessarily unusual, the hat itself is pretty great! These cuties are part of Kelbourne Woolens Year of Hats, and I think this is my favorite month yet.

Pic borrowed from Kelbourne Woolens site.

When you buy two skeins, you'll have enough for two hats in opposite colors. Plus, if you've been saving scraps, you can make some cute and colorful pom poms for your graphic new hat.

I think this neon tag kit would be perfect, too. I wonder if that's against the rules...

Go Sports!

Some of us are sports people, and some of us are not. But if you have sports people with cold heads in your life, we have these cute kits for you!

We've packaged them up in a variety of color combinations of Cascade 220 Superwash, so they will be just the thing for pretty much anyone who might like a cozy hat. The design is fun and not-too-flashy for folks who might want a good basic, but still interesting to knit with the textured stitches and stripes. Stop in and see if we have your team kit ready to go!

Eye Candy

Cute hat alert! Brooklime from Rachel Coopey knit up in the new Pip from baa ram ewe.

Eden

There's nothing quite like a little cashmere, and Eden is a lovely choice. It's 77 yards of 30% cashmere and 70% merino for only $11.25 a ball. It is soft and lightweight and really just the perfect thing for a hat or scarf. 

Emily used it to design her Wintery Mix Hat. The stitch pattern is fun, and the two-color pom pom tops it off nicely! Which color combo catches your eye? Blue and grey? White and yellow? Black and white? So many choices!

Bough

How about another hat?

The gorgeous Bough uses just one skein of Cumbria from The Fibre Co. We have a nice batch of pretty colors, but the grellow is certainly a shop favorite. The pattern is available on Ravelry, but we are happy to help you buy it in the shop. A little cabling, a nice pom pom,a gorgeous yarn...can't go wrong!

Travel Projects

Right before I departed for the Memorial Day weekend, I was scrambling about in a mad rush trying to find a good travel project... something small and packable involving minimal equipment, easy-to-memorize instructions, no swatching, and very little planning. This time, I ended up with a hat. But I know this won't be the last mad scramble for a suitable project. So, I want to arm you all (and myself) with some ideas. Since it was a hat that saved my day, let's start with a good hat project.

Did you all know that we have started listing some of our best-loved patterns for sale on Ravelry? Most of them are small, one-or-two-skein projects that will totally fit the bill for a travel project. Melissa's Snowed In Slouch Hat is a great place to start. It's knit with Berroco North Star, a bulky chained alpaca yarn that is as soft as fluffy clouds.

You'll need a few circular needles, US7 and US11, and some double-points for the top. (I do not consider DPNs good travel companions, so I would probably save that part until I returned home. But that's just me. Same goes for the pom pom.) For me, this sweet slouchy hat fits the bill for a perfect travel project: small, two balls of yarn, only two circular needles, and easily-memorized instructions. Perfect.

We even have a lovely supply of little project bags in the shop for you to keep it all safe and contained in your bag.

Whether you are traveling far and wide this summer, or just need a nice easy project for a trip to the park or a sit-down in the garden, the Snowed In Slouch might be just the thing!

Stay tuned for more ideas...

Eye Candy

This hat is made from Unicorn Farts. Knitted Wit Victory Sock Unicorn Farts, to be exact. I'm using a cool pattern from a past issue of Knitting Traditions. The hat is basically a tube with closed up ends. I'll fold the hat in on itself to create a cozy double-layered cap. Pretty cool. And it's a nice way to use up a whole skein of cool sock yarn without knitting actual socks.

Beer on the Dock

I'm loving this cute hat sample in the shop.

This is Beer on the Dock by Thea Colman. Our sample is worked up in Berroco Maya, a buttery-soft baby alpaca and Pima cotton yarn. So cute, and perfect for chilly mornings. Fall is right around the corner. Get knitting!

Blue Sky Fibers Bulky

I am loving these new labels for the Blue Sky Fibers (formerly Alpacas) Bulky. The yarn is the same lovely stuff we have come to know, and we have a little stash of our favorite shades in the drawers.

I was poking around the new Blue Sky Fibers website a bit, and I found this awesome free hat pattern using two skeins of Bulky. If you love the three-color pom, you can find a great little tutorial on their blog as well. You'll just need a little bit of the contrasting colors for the pom. Find a friend and trade scraps, perhaps?

Photo borrowed from BSF site.

The new blog is really lovely and well worth a look. The Strand represents the joining of the forces behind Blue Sky and Spud & Chloe. They include tutorials, free patterns, and knit-a-longs, as well as interesting articles on organic fibers, sheepy travels, and design inspiration. If you love fiber and yarn, I highly recommend taking a look!

Brioche Eye Candy

I know a few of you have been taken in by the lovely Knospee hat in the shop. Worked up with two colors of the AMAZING Lakes Yarn & Fiber Lochsa DK, this one is a winner. If you have never tried the delicious brioche stitch, this sweet hat might be a good place to begin!

Heathcliff Hat

We have a fresh free pattern for you! Sally used the Soft Donegal that we have at the shop. I was impressed at the feel of this yarn in the skein, and I am even more impressed at the knitted fabric.

The Heathcliff Hat is nice and slouchy, with a deep rib to keep it snug, and just a little texture to show off the tweed. One skein of this lovely stuff will make your new favorite hat! Come on in and see it in the shop and choose a color.

This pattern is available for purchase through Ravelry.

Stumptown Slouch

We received this gorgeous Best of Nature Worsted from Misti Alpaca right before the yarn crawl, so it went slightly unnoticed for some time. Luckily, Sally was motivated to knit up a lovely little garter stitch slouchy hat using just one skein.

This beautiful yarn is dyed using natural vegetable and mineral dyes, and the yarn itself is produced organically. The colors are rich and subtley tonal. Misti warns that the dyes will likely vary significantly from year to year, as some of the colors are based on the crops. I am not often lured in by pure alpaca, but this yarn is sure something. There's not a lot of that fuzzy halo that you often see with pure baby alpaca, and this yarn is cashmere-soft.

Sally used the lovely Rockies colorway, a lovely grey...no surprise. This yarn is beautiful, the hat is cute, and the pattern is free! What's not to love?

Stumptown Slouch

by Sally Palin

Yarn: 1 skein Misti Alpaca Best of Nature Worsted
Needles: US6 and US7 16" circular, US7 double-pointed needles
Instructions:

Cast on 88 stitches using smaller needle, join in the round (don't twist), and place marker.
Work 2.75" of K3, P1 ribbing.

Switch to larger needle and work 5 rounds of garter stitch in the round: purl one round, knit one round, purl one round, knit one round, purl one round.

Work increase round: *Knit 11, m1* around (96 stitches).
Purl one round.
Work increase round again: *Knit 12, m1* around (104 stitches).

Continue with garter stitch in the round until hat measures approximately 9" from the cast on edge.

Work decrease round: *Knit 7, k2tog* around.
Purl one round.
*Knit 6, k2tog* around.
Purl one round.
*Knit 5, k2tog* around.
Purl one round.

Continue decreasing in this way until the last round, which will be K2tog around. Do not purl a round after this. Cut your yarn and pull in through the remaining stitches, pulling the opening closed. Weave in your ends and enjoy!

Nancy Hat

I recently tested out Nancy's newest pattern, the Nancy Hat. So simple, so slouchy, so perfect.

I used one skein of the really lovely Berroco Ultra Alpaca Chunky for my hat. This yarn is kinda perfect. It has the softness of alpaca and the structure of wool. I expected my hat to come out a little bit more drapey, but I am actually really pleased with the shape. My tied-up hair fits perfectly in the hat! The natural color that I used actually feels like it still has some lanolin in the fiber, and my hands were so smooth after knitting with it.

I used a US8 for the ribbing, and a US10 for the body of the hat. Nancy's patterns are always well-written, and I appreciate her simple impactful stitch patterns. 

The design is available as a Ravelry download for just $6, and it's totally worth every penny. You will make this hat many times for many people in lots of colors. It's a good one!

Extra Slouch

I told you about Sally's blue hat back in December. Well the Extra Slouch is all done and in the shop! And they aren't kidding about the slouch. Or the extra. This is a loosey goosey cozy hat, my friends. Perfect for hiding in, if that's your sort of thing. 

It's my kind of thing, so now I want to make one. And the Blue Sky Alpacas Extra is soft and squishy like none other. I love this Atlantic Blue, but all of the colors are really quite lovely.

We also have a few Lilly Brushes left. This was our stock on Monday, but they have been selling like hotcakes!

Speckled

Lisa knit a speckled pom pom creation with some of the most unusual and intriguing yarn I've seen in a long time. She used just one skein of the Plymouth Baby Alpaca Grande Hand Dye to make her cute hat.

These new colorways from Plymouth look so unusual in the skein, but they knit up so nicely! The colors look almost splotchy against the neutral background, but they look so cool when the yarn is worked up. They have stockinette swatches available to view on the Plymouth website if you want to see for yourself.

Lisa has made the hat available as a shop freebie with the purchase of the yarn, so please ask us when you come in for your yarn. This is the chunkiest weight that Plymouth is offering in these colorways, and we are stocking the worsted and sock as well. I'll show you photos of those as soon as I have safely procured my skeins. I am slightly obsessed with them.