All in a Row

What better way to put pretty leftovers to use than a Fair Isle hat?  This one is All in a Row by Laura Reinbach.  You may recognize the main color from my Quadri.  It’s Voolenvine’s Toasty base in Gashlycrumb, combined with leftovers of her Nevermore colorway and Swish Tonal in Thunderhead.  I didn’t plan to knit this right now, but when I saw the amount of leftovers I had, I couldn’t resist.

When you envision wearing this hat, try not to think of all the mismatched purple and burgundy I’m wearing.  Geez, I was totally not paying attention when I through on a sweater and hat for these photos.  Also, keep in mind that I should press this fair isle for the smoothest finish.  Every time I do that, my fair isle comes out so beautifully.  I just get impatient to wear things and am slow to completely block, press, weave in, etc.

Details:  I used size US1 needles for the ribbing and 4s for the rest of the hat.  The pompom is the aubergine version I mentioned here. Who’d have thought I’d wear a furry, aubergine pompom?

I did use traditional two-handed Fair Isle knitting to make this.  It’s nice to refresh that motor skill once in a while.   Typically, Fair Isle ends up tighter than you intended.  I always remind myself to “knit sloppy” so that I actually have a fabric that’s even and expands over my body.  I’m relieved this turned out the perfect fit for my head.

This pattern is my first to knit from Holla Knits 2015 Accessories magazine.  I want to knit several things from that collection.  At the moment I’m thinking both pair of mittens.  One in plaid and one in woodgrain.

(more on ravelry, kollabora, instagram, and flickr)

Have you seen Laura’s Le Chapeau hat?  I think I need this one too.  She also designed the Mykonos Wrap, which would be one of the most sensible knitted accessories for a knitter living in Texas.  So, I really need to knit this one, too.  It calls for lace weight in the pattern, but since I don’t have any lace, I’m thinking I could modify it for some of the stray skeins of fingering or light fingering I have around my house.  I think it would still look appropriately airy.

Other post mentioning this knit is here.