Antlers on

The Antler toque is a wonderful, and free, pattern by the talented Tin Can Knits team. I used "Imperial Yarn Columbia" in the Teal Heather color way. This is an Aran weight yarn. The recommended yarn for this pattern is worsted weight. 

I should have used different size needles as it turned out a bit tight for my big "brain". You live, you learn. It is still getting a lot of use. Baby, it is cold outside!

She should not know...

This hat is perfect for my five year old daughter. Please don't tell her that was totally unintentional and that she is really getting it because is too small for me.

Dreiecke was designed by Shannon Cook of Very Shannon. I have been following Shannon's blog for a long time. Her transformation from blogger to knitting and sewing designer, author and entrepreneur is admirable.

My modifications:

Read carefully if you want to knit a kids hat. Ignore in any other circumstance. 

• I did not check my gauge 
• I casted on ten more stitches than recommended to compensate knitting with DK instead of worsted weight yarn. The arbitrary number of stitches just seemed right. 

I would love to knit this pattern again. Next time, hopefully, for me.

Back home with two FOs

My husband and I are back home after spending some nice days in South Carolina.

Highlights of the trip:

Touring the only BMW manufacturing plant in North America
Strolling around downtown Greenville
Discovering a well stocked Spartanburg's farmers market
Visiting an alpaca farm--this one deserves an entire post (later!)

Since my last post, I finished two hats for the Charity Hat-Along.  I used a 54% wool / 46% polyester yarn blend from a big box craft store. I am pleased with how the yarn worked for the hats. Both hats, Barley and Cottage Cap were easy and enjoyable. Barley went faster as it involved less purling. I would knit the entire Tin Can Knits Simple collection without hesitation!

That is my weekly report. Hope you are having a blast with whatever is on your needles, hook, wheel, spindle, loom, yarn bowl, etc.

FO: Belugah hat and cupcake dreams

Friends, things are getting off the needles.

I enjoyed the rhythm of this project. The free pattern has instructions for beanie and slouchy hats. I went for slouchy without pom-pom. I hope the hat does not stretch much after being washed. The secret is out;  I haven't blocked this yet. Procrastination is one of my virtues. Don't judge.

Just as simple as the knitting is the yarn I used. The pattern calls for one skein of Manos del Uruguay Maxima but I substituted for Patons Classic Wool from my stash. I had used this yarn before for small projects and it never disappoints. Project details: here.

Looks like Spring finally arrived to the South. We spent most our weekend out of the house. The weather was beautiful. Plans are being finalized for our daughter's birthday the second week of May. We are looking forward to sunny days, cupcakes, balloons, knitting, more cupcakes, spinning, leftover cupcakes and most important: family gatherings!

What are your plans for this week?