Sometimes yarn and a pattern is a marriage made....in hell....

 Sometimes.....yarn and pattern combinations that, in theory, should work, don't.   One can try...but the combination just is not a happy one.

I was given a skein of Barnyard Knits DK in a subtly beautiful color called Summer Skies.   The soft blue had tiny accents of a greeny brown and reminded me of a delicate illustration of a bird's egg.  I did a swatch...and I washed the swatch as superwash wool needs that.

What pattern?   I looked at many and thought about it.    Jenn Loves Yarn talked about a new design from Brienne Moody - the Ash and Timber Hat.  The hat looked interesting so I bought the pattern.   I swatched again.    I adjusted my needle size so that I would have the right gauge when the hat was washed.  I started.

The brim of this hat is not folded up here....so the rib pattern does not show here.  It does look great folded up.

The body of the hat is a simple repeat that works up quickly.

The crown shaping of the hat is interesting and required attention to make it work correctly.   While I did have multiple moments (okay, WTF moments) while knitting the crown, it did work....until it was obvious I would not have enough yarn....though I should have (knitter problem not pattern problem.)

I gleefully ripped the the hat out and rewound the ball.   

Is this a failure?  Not really as I learned from it. 

I did order some of the Purls and Pines DK the hat was designed for to compare it to the Barnyard Knits.   I want to have a better idea of why the combination did not work.   

I will try the pattern again with different yarn....eventually.

Adventures in Hat Knitting.....

 Temu is Amazon with better prices.   The dicey part with Temu these days is actually getting the goods ordered delivered.   Yarn on Temu is....interesting.   A few skeins got dropped in a donation bag immediately as I knew the yarn was not something I would knit with.  Ever.    Every once in awhile something great comes along.

Die Sinne Verstricken from Opal is one of those fabulous finds.    What a great gamble!   My option was a bag of six balls with a small range of color choice.   My choice was the navy blue with gold...

This yarn has a nice hand.   I think it is a blown yarn.  It is light..and airy....and requires caution when knitting.

The yarn has a tendency to split.  I don't know if that would change if I switched the needles I was using and did not want to be bothered -- lazy but valid -- to find out.

My gauge on US 5 needles was 7 rows to the inch and 7 stitches to the inch measured over 2 x 2 inch ribbing.

After casting on 120 stitches, I worked 2 x 2 ribbing for 6 1/4 inches.  On the last row, I placed markers every 20 stitches to make the crown decreasing as mindless as possible.

To decrease for the crown, I worked to two stitches before each marker.   I had originally planned to just do a K2tog decrease, but switched to doing the K2tog through the back loop.  While this worked....I am not as pleased as I could be.    

As I have more yarn, I want to do this hat again.   What will I change?

1. I am going to do the first couple inches on a smaller needle to cinch in that ribbing a bit.   Have not yet decided whether to go down one size or two sizes.
2. Different decrease.   I do not like the way that K2tog TBL looks.    Not sure if I will do an SSK or a plan K2tog......

This hat does look good...and I will give it way.

We will finish no project before its time.....

 

These socks....I finished them last night.   Started them?   I do not remember but suspect it is at least four years ago.   

My apartment is infested with unfinished pairs of socks.   One of my promises to myself is that I will slowly work on them...finish them...and wear them or give them away.   

How do these projects achieve "I will finish it.....someday" status?   Various reasons.....something became annoying about the project, some new and shinier project appeared, a gift project popped up...none are good.  It is easy to push something into the stash and walk away.  Eventually the unfinished projects become a stash in and of themselves.

This is really okay.  If a project that is not on a gift or other deadline becomes a chore, it is best to put it aside instead of knitting resentment into the stitches.   The project will be finished in its time.