Snap Hat No. 6

Snap Hat 

Number 6

Snap Hat is a pattern I bought about a year ago.  I paid a few bucks for the pattern but have definitely gotten my money’s worth out of the pattern. I’ve made six Snap Hat’s so far.  This is a great pattern for using up leftover bits of socks yarn. The pattern gives great information about how you can hold multiple strands of yarn together to create a bulkier yarn and quickly knit up a hat on larger needles.  Many of my Snap Hats were knit using four strands of sock weight yarn. For the hat above, I used one strand of worsted weight yarn in gray and two strands of sock weight yarn in navy blue.  My husband has been wearing the hat on our daily morning walks and he really likes it. That makes me happy.  I don’t usually bring my camera on our walks so I took this photo from across the living room when he tried it on for the first time.  

At the very top of this post you’ll see a photo of my IPad.  I have been participating in some ZOOM conferences while we are staying at home during the pandemic.  I had never heard of ZOOM before.  If you are not familiar with it, it’s like a teleconference over an electronic device and you can see the participants and you can all talk together.  ZOOM is the name of the app that you download on your electronic device to participate in the ZOOM conference calls.  On Saturdays, I’ve been chatting with knitters I met at a retreat in the San Juan Islands about six months ago.  On Sundays, I’ve been attending some on line Vegan Cooking Classes. Fun!

Here is my husband wearing his hat.

The gray yarn is Abundant Earth Fibers “Aviary” in worsted weight that I purchased at my knitting retreat in the San Juan Islands.  Here is a link to the Abundant Earth Fibers website.  I’d love to visit their shop in person; it looks like an amazing place:

https://abundantearthfiber.com/

The blue yarn is Knit Picks “Stroll” sock weight yarn from my mom’s stash of yarn. Thanks, Mom!

Tweed Socks

Lots of knitting going on at my house.  I bought this Regia Tweed 6-ply Sock Yarn awhile back. I contemplated making this into lots of different things but more socks for my husband seemed like a good idea.  I was watching a sock knitting class on “Bluprint” with instructor Lucy Neatby and I thought the pattern called “Smocked Guernsey Socks” might be nice in this yarn. I also considered a pattern called “Simple Skyp Socks”.  Both patterns are FREE; I’ll link to these patterns below.  

I cast on my husband’s socks with 72 stitches with 2.75 mm needles.  I did some ribbing and then I did a purl round.  I decided to try out out the special stitch in the Skyp socks and I found that way to slow and tedious.  I decided to make my socks ribbed socks with knit 6, purl 2 ribbing.  Just for kicks, I decided to purl a round after 10 rounds of the ribbing.  I think this resulted in a fun knit with a nice look. I will do this again.  For this heel, I used the Fish Lips Kiss Heel with is my current favorite heel (I have it memorized so that’s always nice).  

Smocked Guernsey Socks pattern here:

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/smocked-guernsey-socks

Simple Skyp Socks pattern here:

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/simple-skyp-socks

Also, here is the Fish Lips Kiss Heel pattern; there is a small fee for this pattern but it’s well worth it (like I said... it’s my favorite sock heel to knit):

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/fish-lips-kiss-heel

Here are some photos of the socks in various stages of completion.  As you can see, there is ALWAYS a dog or two in close proximity when I snap a photo of my knitting.  Our Labradoodles think the current Covid-19 Pandemic and Colorado Stay-at-Home Order are just fantastic!

Socks and one dog (Brutus) above).

Socks and two dogs below (Brutus next to me and Sandy balanced on top of my legs). 

Below... all done!

I love the colorful flecks in this Regia Tweed yarn.

Ta-dah!  All done. Warm and cozy feet.  We are expecting a few inches of snow later today.  Husband is enjoying the hand knit socks.

In The Pink

My friend, Harriet, game me some yarn recently.  Thank you, Harriet!  She did not have a specific use for the yarn and she asked if I’d like to knit it up.  My pleasure!  This is Berroco Comfort DK yarn in the “Kitten” color way.  I made up a bunny using a pattern called “Bonbon”.  This is Bonbon Bunny #5 for me. I love this pattern.

Here is the pattern link:

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/bonbon-13

I decided this yarn would also look great in a cap.  In the past, I have made lots of chemo caps using Berroco Comfort DK yarn.  It’s an easy care yarn and it’s nice and soft.  Here is the hat knit up in a pattern called “Alternating Cables Cap”.  This is my own design.  

You can find the pattern link here:

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/alternating-cables-cap

I am really enjoying my knitting over the past few weeks while we have been spending so much time at home due to the pandemic. I am finding that I am doing a better job of casting on and sticking with a project until completion.  I still have MANY unfinished objects/works in progress.  

More Socks Using Scraps

Socks Using Scraps

Not too long ago, I made a pair of socks for myself called “Instant Gratification”.  The pattern calls for holding two strands of sock weight yarn together while knitting. I decided to try to make a larger version of the pattern for socks for my husband.  I have my sock yarn scraps fairly organized.  I had a gallon-sized Ziploc bag filled with leftover quantities of Patons Kroy Sock yarn and I used much of this yarn in these socks.  I have detailed pattern notes on my Ravelry project page if you want more details.  You can find that here:

https://www.ravelry.com/projects/kimfluck/instant-gratification-socks-2

I love the photo below.  Sandy is snoozing...snuggled up with the socks!

Below:  Within a few days I found Brutus also showing his appreciation for homemade socks.  I made these socks a few weeks back.

Up next... more socks for my husband.