Woodland hat

by gannet

updated 9 November 2024

The top of the hat in smooth knitting, with a kind of textured spiral. The hat is mottled green, grey, and brown. The sides are knit in ridges. The hat is clearly not finished and there are still knitting needles in stitches at the bottom edge.

(most recent photo)

A local mutual aid group asked for winter hats for children, so I'm knitting my feelings and using up yarn stash for good measure. The hats need to be machine washable, so I'm using superwash yarn. This means using up sock yarn, which means knitting it up double. This one is going to be a top down hat so I can adjust the size according to the amount of yarn I've got.

The color in the first two photos is most accurate.

basic information

measurements

not yet known

yarn & needles

two mystery light fingering weight yarns, slightly different weights
merino/nylon
unknown length because I don't know how many yards per gram for this yarn.
US size 6 (4.25mm) needles for stockinette
US size 4 (3.5mm) needles for ribbing

techniques

disappearing loop cast on
stockinette in the round.
k2, p2 ribbing
Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off (in k2, p2 pattern)

project notes

9 Nov 2024

Okay, it's looking less like camo than I'd feared. I've also realized that in some ways this is kind of what I've always wanted from variegated yarn: random speckly patterns without pooling. (I like pooling in some circumstances, but.)

8 Nov 2024

The center of the top of a hat on four bamboo knitting needles, being held up by a white person’s hand. Holding the two yarns together has jumbled the browns, grey, and greens together so that it looks a little like camouflage fabric.

I've made a good beginning. I'm a little concerned that this might look more like camo fabric than I'd like. I've been reminded that I should wait until I've knit more to judge. In any case, it'll keep a kid's head warm, and some people like camo pattern.

7 Nov 2024

Two small balls of thin yarn in a box. One is mottled with two shades of green; the other is mottled brown and grey.

I'm using up remnants of sock yarn I got from someone else. I'm doubling up since this makes the yarn thicker, which both makes the hat warmer and it takes less time to knit. I think this pair is a good combination of colors.