FO: Flore and Bounce

With the cooler temps settling in and my due date quickly approaching, my knitting pace has picked up. Amongst my recent pile of FOs, I finished a few hats in that past couple weeks.

First, Flore...



The details:

[Ravelry Link]
Pattern: Flore by Tina Whitmore
Yarn: Takhi Cotton Classic in deep pink, grass, pink, olive, and blue-greyNeedles: Size 5 Addi Circs. I only have one set, so I had rotate needles a bit.
Size: Infant, although I think it looks a bit big. We'll see when my baby gets here. I'd rather it be too big than too small.
Time to Knit: One week

I think it turned out super cute, but I don't know if I could knit another one. The construction of the hat itself is facscinating: you alternate between two sets of needles as you knit each color, then bind the two pieces together with a modified 3-needle bind off. It's the finishing that killed me. You have to tack down each petal and wind in a bazillion ends. I just veged out and watched some TV, so it went by relatively quickly. Still, it will be awhile before I cast on for a second one. It's too bad because a bunch of my friends have hinted around about getting similar hats for their daughters. Maybe if I were a nicer person, I would suck it up and knit a few more, but I just can't make myself. Not for a few more months at least:)



Oops, now I'm worried I'm talking you all out of knitting this hat, which is opposite my intent! The hat is adorable and well worth the time and effort - I just think one hat is enough! I can't wait for my little one to arrive so she can wear it!

Because I can't let the baby be the only one with a stylish hat, I cast on for Bounce...



From the moment I saw this pattern, I knew I needed to make it. It was just pure luck that I had a perfect skein of yarn languishing in my stash, just waiting to be knit into something fantastic.



The details: [ravelry link]
Pattern: Bounce by John Brinegar
Yarn: Sheep Shop Yarn Company, Sheep 1, 1 skein
Needles: Size 10.5 Bamboo Circs, Size 10 Addi Circs
Time to Knit: October 1 - October 4

I absolutely adore this hat, but I'm not sure how well I can pull it off. I don't know why I'm having such a complex about it when usually I'll wear whatever and not think twice. We'll see if I can boost my confidence with it over the fall. It's super cozy and warm, though, so I have a hunch it will eventually become a favorite.

Knitting this hat was not only humbling for me, but a true test of perseverance. It's been awhile since a knitting pattern really stumped me, but I was at a complete loss with the brioche stitch. I literally frogged this hat FOUR times. It was only self-preservation that got me through. I had to prove to myself that I could do it. Turns out, I never did master brioche rib as written in the pattern, but was able to grasp the stitch after flipping through my stitch dictionary. Hey, whatever got me there, right

I have a couple other FOs to blog, but those will wait for another time.

I have a WIP that can't wait, however. After scouring both my LYSs and the internet for a perfect yarn and then hemming and hawing about ordering, I finally received the yarn and cast on for my dad's birthday/Christmas sweater!



I'm knitting Joseph from Rowan's A Yorkshire Fable, which calls for Rowan Yorkshire Tweed Chunky. I would have loved to find some, but alas it's gone extinct, like so many of my Rowan favorites. I waffled between the replacement Scottish Tweed, Beaverslide McTaggart Tweed, and Cascade 128 and 109 before eventually settling on the Debbie Bliss Donegal Tweed Chunky. So far, so good, although I have a sneaky suspicion I'm going to run out of yarn. I'm already halfway through my second ball (I bought nine) and about 1/3 finished with the back (I've progressed significantly farther than shown in the progress shot). I'm going to knit the back, then one sleeve and make a judgment call on whether or not I need to start panicking.