FO Friday – January 27, 2023

I’m currently on a hat-knitting kick and that equates to a couple of quick finished projects to share this week, as well as a finished pair of socks!

First up, I finished a modified version of the Pussy Willow Cap. I’ve knit several of these and they are a great way to use up a half-skein of sock yarn, held with a strand of mohair laceweight, I had to shorten this one to a smaller fitted beanie style since I was short on yardage but I really wanted to finish up this skein of yarn and not put a halfsie back into stash again. (I had 3 skeins of both the sock weight and laceweight from McMullin Fiber Company in this pretty Desert Rose colorway. I used 2 skeins to knit a Love Note sweater this time last year, and I used just over half the remaining skein to knit an Evening Dew Hat earlier this month.) I did fewer rounds of crown decreases, which are written with a decrease round and then 3 “knit as established” round in between, but I just did 1 round in between the decreases. This still fits me just fine (and I like the fit) but isn’t as slouchy as the pattern is written for. I’m delighted to say I used up every inch of the sock yarn and have just a tiny bit of the mohair laceweight left over.

Next up, a quick cast on/bind off for the Flicker and Flame hat. You’ve probably seen this popular one on social media, designed by Andrea Mowry. I used a leftover of an unknown navy blue merino (?) wool along with a half skein of Spincycle Yarn’s Dream State (which is their worsted weight) in the color Castaway. I’m not sure where the blue wool came from as I didn’t have it listed in Ravelry but I must have used it for something…. at some point….. A quick and satisfying knit. I finished this up in less than 24 hours. (And had half of the skein of Dream State left over, so I found another oddment of DK yarn and have cast on a second one – more on that to come.) I hadn’t worked with Dream State before but like Spincycle’s other yarns, it is a bit denser/more tightly spun that I might like. The colors are entertaining to watch unfold tho, which probably accounts for some of the speed with which I knit this one. I knew my row gauge was a bit off, so I opted to add the 2-row dots just above the ribbing, which are included in the sportweight version of the pattern, but which worked fine with the worsted weight pattern repeat/numbers for the adult large size I made.

Last, but not least, I finished up the Cliff Walk socks I’ve been working on. This is another fun pattern from Helen Stewart which looks more complicated than it actually is. I used a skein of The Woolen Rabbit Sock yarn in the Pussywillow color, a lovely subtle blend of gray-blue-greens. I knit the middle size (there are 3 in the pattern) and the only modification I made was to work 10 lace pattern repeats for the leg, rather than 9 as called for in the pattern. As usual, these fit beautifully and I love how they turned out.

I’m hoping to get a few mmore things finished up this weekend before month’s end!