Maheno Beanie

Whenever I make something knitted for my husband, who is suitably grateful for handknits, and so, deserves them, I am reminded of how wonderful my daughters are at modelling.



This very plain, but rather useful beanie was made in response to a washing accident, when the previous use of this same pattern, in Jo Sharp Silkroad Ultra  (unblogged due to model reluctance) went through a hot cycle after a camping trip and turned into a much smaller, felted beanie, and is now worn only under a hood.

 This new version was knitted in Aslan Trends Guanaco (alpaca and merino), which would probably cope no better with washing accidents, but has a lower cost/yardage ratio, is beautifully soft and warm, and available in plain navy blue. Plain navy blue beanies could be boring, but are completely inoffensive to the conservative Australian male, so are worn frequently.

Modelling is apparently a high price to pay for a beanie, and one beanie gets approximately 30 seconds of modelling according to the recipient's modelling tolerance meter.

Fortunately, the beanie is knit in a nice plain single rib, and I don't need any detail shots, although I have lightened photos slightly so that the beanie is visible.



These photographs were taken on a sunset walk to the Maheno shipwreck on Fraser Island.The sunset was better before I lightened the photos, but I am pretty sure only knitters read this blog, so I knew where to leave the focus ;)
Before I read the National Park information sign here, I had a romantic idea that seamen on the Maheno might have worn classic navy blue beanies, but the Maheno was a scrap ship, being towed, when it came loose in a storm and beached here, so probably there were no seamen on it at all.

If there were, though, a beanie like this one would have kept them nicely warm.
 I am making one more test beanie from  this pattern - in Crofter Chunky, then I will add it to the free pattens on the website.

Winkie hat

Hats may just be as addictive to knit as socks. Here is my next new hat pattern, a ribbed, striped number using 2 balls of 8ply/category3/light worsted.
The yarns I have used are Jo Sharp Classic DK wool, 507 Miro, and Heirloom Celtic, 927, an Alpaca and Merino blend. The tail is an extended i-cord, with 2 additional i-cords grafted near the end. The tassel finish is rounded out with short strands of wool knotted through individual stitches along the i cord.

The stretchy rib makes the hat fit nicely on a range of head sizes, but also allows the hat to be worn with the brim turned up or down as desired.

Striped Invernal hat, Beanie the third

In honour of our mention in The Sunday Times, I have written a new beanie pattern. Here is the prototype.

I have used the luxurious Invernal angora/merino yarn, as the Rathcooney beanie was so comfortable and soft to knit and wear.

This pattern is simple to knit, with the stripes adding some interest to the body of the beanie, and a double decrease giving a geometric neatness to the crown.
I will be adding this hat to the kits available in the shop.

Beanie and Beret Kit Discount, and the Sunday Mail

I am feeling just a little flattered, our shop is in the Sunday Mail!



I was telephoned the other day, out of the blue, by the journalist who puts together general interest stories for the Brisbane Sunday paper, and despite being slightly misquoted, I think it is terrific that there is an article about knitting in the paper.



A beanie is a terrific project for a relatively new knitter, someone who can cast on, and is confident with knit and purl stitches.
A simple beanie can be knit in a weekend.



A 12 ply beanie pattern from Brisbane shop Tangled Yarn is included in the article. It would work well with Guanaco or Jo Sharp Silkroad Ultra.

As there was not room for another free pattern in the article, I am offerring a 20% Discount on our hat kits using 12 ply yarn, , for this week only, ending on Saturday 21st April. Use code SUNMAIL in the checkout. Alternatively, with the purchase of any 12 ply yarn, I will include the Big Beanie pattern for free - leave a comment asking for the pattern at checkout.


Happy Knitting.

Beanies take over, Basic Cable from Stitch'nBitch Nation

Having knit a beanie for one of my offspring, there was an urgent need for a beanie for a sibling. Fortunately, one never needs to be bored when knitting a beanie as there are so many terrific patterns around, and a beanie is so quick to knit that there is not time to get tired of the pattern before the garment is finished.

Having said this, it is possibly a little dull of me to admit that this beanie is a pattern I have knit several times previously.


This hat is an adaptation of Christine Quirion's Basic Cable Beanie from Stitch'n Bitch Nation. I find this pattern rather small for an adult beanie, but a very pleasant pattern to knit for a child's beanie.
This one is knit in DK/8ply/light worsted/category 3 weight yarn(Jo Sharp Classic DK Wool) instead of the 10ply/worsted yarn called for in the pattern. For a soft beanie, I have stayed with the size 5mm needles used in the pattern, but increased the cable repeat (additional 24 stitches) to ensure that the beanie stretches sufficiently to fit. I have also increased the height of the rib section, as the pattern as written turns out rather short for the heads in my family.

I particularly like the way the cable decrease tapers towards the crown of the beanie.

Beanies take over, Rathcooney in Invernal

Sometimes a particular type of knitting seems to jump the queue. With cooler weather starting, and a trip south, beanies are proliferating.

This particular beanie is from Carol Feller's Contemporary Irish Knits.

It is the pattern Rathcooney, knit in the medium size.

I've used the deliciously soft yarn Aslan Trends Invernal in Rouge, and used less than half of a 100g skein. This yarn is an angora (rabbit) and wool mix, so was very topical for Easter knitting;).

I enjoyed the details of this pattern. The cobblestone pattern is easily remembered, and shifts beautifully into a wide rib, and the added i-cord bind off is a very clean finish.
The only change I would make, should I knit it again, would be to start with a provisional cast-on, as picking up the entire edge was a little tedious.
As beanies are so quick and satisfying to knit, I have several more to show you - they are nearly as addictive as socks.

Hat for camp that rocks

My daughter suffered a hat crisis on Monday night. No warm hat for school camp, except a “boring” beanie. She begged, she pleaded, and I gave in. Free pattern Snowboarder hat that rocks (blog link)to the rescue. Very, very cool pattern according to my daughter. Very, very fun and quick pattern according to me.






I used Sirdar Crofter Chunky yarn (#59, Rambler Rose), which is probably less bulky than the yarn called for in the pattern, but the hat looks fine anyway. Using this yarn, it might not fit a large man, which is the size given in the pattern , but it fits my daughter nicely. I love stretchy, forgiving cables.

I used DP needles, as I prefer them to circular needles, and used more strands of yarn for the plaits, but otherwise knitted this up exactly as written.
I got lots of Mum points for this one.

Felting experiment

First,it was lovely to meet so many readers at the Gympie Quilt and Craft Spectacular. I was pleased to find that there was plenty of yarn, and plenty of not-just-quilting fibre crafters in attendance. We had a busy but fun time.

Today I will write about a project I finished a little while ago, after my fun with the French Press Slippers.
I fancied a felted hat. Patterns for these are few and far between, but the Cleckheaton Accessories book put out this year has a pattern I thought might do.

Here is the unfelted hat in Jo Sharp DK wool, aubergine.



Looking at the Cleckheaton book, I was not terribly impressed with the felting intstructions. The pictured hat is only lightly felted, with the stitches clearly visible in the photograph of the finished item. I was concerned that the hat would easily overfelt, and be too small. Fortunately for me, I do not have a top-loading washing machine, and my front loader is not terribly vigorous in its action. If I want to fully felt an item, I need to run through 3 or more cycles. I put the finished hat in my zippered felting bag, and ran it though one cycle.
Here is the finished hat - a perfect fit, and only lightly felted.





I fancy a more stiff brim, and a more fully felted hat, so am thinking of writing my own pattern. The aubergine wool is such a gorgeous colour.

Jo Sharp Ultra Beret

My daughter needed a black beret for a recent dance performance, so I went looking for a pattern, but did not find one I liked, so I made up my own pattern for a simply cabled beret, using my favourite black yarn from the shop.

I am really pleased with how this turned out. I used Jo Sharp Ultra in 721 Nero. This is about a 12-14 ply, or category 5 yarn, so it knit really, really quickly - in one afternoon whilst also intermittently serving customers.

My daughter wore this with a black trench coat, for about 5 seconds at the start of a scene, so I don't have a photograph of it in action. Her favourite bit is the i-cord stalk at the top.