Softie Hat -- A FREE Pattern

It's exciting to introduce a new knitting pattern to the Graywood Designs knitting line. And, for the first time, one of our patterns is being offered as a FREE download on Ravelry.

Softie Hat is a a lightweight, fine gauge hat for women in one size. It is knit out of sock weight yarn, also called fingering yarn and uses almost all of a 100 gram skein of yarn.

The fit is snug around the ears, but loose in the body of the hat, so this is a design that won't destroy a hairstyle or flatten your bangs.

Softie Hat pulls down over the forehead for those really windy cold times. Or wear it casually tucked back for a stylish look.

The yarn that you choose will dictate whether the hat is sort of tight or a snug fit around the ears.

The Softie Hat design uses a small needle gauge for the ribbing. For the body of the hat, there are increases and a change to a larger needle to get the looser, softer fit.

Multicolored sock yarns (there are scads of these lovely yarns on the market now) knit up beautifully in this design and, for once, the yarn shows, for, instead of knitting two socks for your feet, you'll be knitting a special hat for your head!

Here's the LINK to the free Softie Hat download.

And here is a LINK to all of the sock yarns on our website, any of which will make a lovely Softie Hat for you.

Happy knitting,

Wanda

Luscious Colors in Lanaloft Handpaints

There are some luscious colors in Brown Sheep's Lanaloft yarns. Made in both worsted and sport weights, this yarn is available in selected colors on our website.

Lanaloft is 100% wool and is single ply. It handles a lot like Lamb's Pride worsted which is also single ply, but Lanaloft does not have mohair so it has far less of the soft haze of Lamb's Pride.

Choose Lanaloft for your holiday knitting gifts. Lanaloft makes lovely hats, scarves, and mittens. Many of the colors coordinate well with the colors of outerwear that are worn in the winter. The yarn has a subtle striping effect, a lot like the sock yarns that knitters have come to love.

With the artful handpaint colors, you will have created a very special gift indeed.

Lanaloft worsted weight: 4.5 stitches per inch, US #8 needle; 100 gram,160 yard pull skein

Lanaloft sport weight: 6 stitches per inch. US #5 needle; 50 gram, 145 yards; pull skein

May we suggest a pattern?

The Zelda Hat, by Graywood Designs, uses one skein of Lanaloft Handpaint worsted.

Turn A Square Number Seven

Riff Blue color should be a tad bit more toward a denim-ish gray

I must be crazy about Jared Flood's hat pattern because I started another one. This Turn A Square is for Bill, my helpful friend who knows enough to repair my email disasters when I start tinkering with my laptop or a Kindle or mobile phone.

The main color yarn is Brown Sheep's Lamb's Pride Superwash worsted in Riff Blue (Color SW45). The accent color is Fortissima Socka Mit Bamboo, Color 103, used double. I like to do these hats on Addi Turbo 16" circular needles. Jared's pattern suggests two sizes, US #5 and US #7, one for the ribbing and one for the body of the hat.

The Riff Blue is available on our website (where I called it "Ruff Blue," by mistake!) Notice that the color is a tough one to photograph. It will not be as blue as shown in the photo. Think more denim. The light gray sock yarn is a leftover yarn. It is 60% superwash wool, 25% bamboo, and 15% nylon. It's in the Discontinued Yarn on the website, but there is only one ball left and it is 50% off the regular price.

Turn A Square Number Four

This hat will be the seventh one that I have knit. Max, Finn, Peter, Clay, and John all have Turn A Squares. The sixth Turn A Square, in pink for a girl, is in the decreasing stage. And this hat, for my friend Bill, is Numero Seven.

Turn A Square Number Five

I use the Lamb's Pride Super Wash because I absolutely love the feel of knitting this yarn and then, after washing the hat, the yarn plumps up and the hat is so soft and warm. The hat rolls up and tucks into a pocket so it is ready for windy or rough weather days. It's a great pattern.

Onward and upward with the Turn A Square hats!

Copyright 2013
Wanda Hayes Eichler

Turn A Square -- a FREE pattern on Ravelry

Another Turn A Square Blog Post

Two Fall Knitting Projects

Dear Knitters,

 

Do you need a few ideas for fall knitting? Here are a two projects that don't take a lot of time but are pleasurable knitting with great results. 

Finny's new hat is the Turn A Square hat by Jared Flood. The pattern is available as a free download on Ravelry.

I used Brown Sheep Lambs Pride Superwash worsted weight in two colors for this hat. The main color is  a bronze and Cactus is the second stripe. This yarn is a 2012 Featured Yarn in our studio. Read more about it on our website where you will find 14 colors and a discount on this yarn.

My Ravelry projects page will tell you more about Turn A Square hats that I have knit. Read about how I have knit this pattern for both guys and boys, just by changing the needle size of the body of the hat. You can purchase this yarn at  the Graywood Designs online site.

This is the Tudora neck warmer, sort of a cowl, sort of a scarf. It uses less than a full skein of worsted yarn and can be knit in one or two sittings.

The pattern is available on Knitty, an online knitting magazine, and includes some cabling as well as a clever bind off technique.

I used Brown Sheep Lambs Pride Superwash worsted (again) but would knit this a second time with Brown Sheep Lanaloft Handpaint worsted. Look at the color "Precious Stones" for a luscious blended handpaint look.

Both yarns are available at our online shop, Graywooddesigns.com where I have hand picked a selection of colors from the Brown Sheep charts. The choices run toward rich shades and heathers. Take a look and see if you can find something to knit with at Graywood.

Happy fall knitting!

Wanda

Coming Soon: Topknot Hat Pattern

My Topknot Hat pattern is almost ready for prime time. Several knitting friends (and sisters!) are currently knitting from the written pattern. Their experiences help me know what adjustments can be made to make the pattern easy to use. Two proofreading gurus are also working their wonders, God bless them.

I have knit four of these little gems myself and have two more in progress. I like to knit from the patterns that I write before I release the design. That way, I will know if I can follow my own directions. Believe me, there are times when I write pretty crazy stuff for knitting.

So, stay tuned. Topknot is almost ready. You will find it on my Ravelry pattern site which is right HERE.

This pattern uses either worsted weight or sport weight yarn. The design is knit using a 16 inch circular needle, US#4 or 5 or 6, depending on the weight of yarn. As usual, you can adjust needle size for your own knitting. The body of the hat is textured and the top is finished with a knot that's knit with I-cord. Funky and fun.

 I'm finishing the hat on the upper right in the photo now. That hat uses Brown Sheep Lanaloft Handpaint Sport yarn, a luscious yarn that will appear on our website this fall. The color pictured is Razzamatazz, a purple/gray/burgundy multicolor that will be in the Graywood Designs online store soon.

So, just a peek! Enjoy!

Jared Flood's Turn A Square Hat

Turn A Square Hat by Jared Flood

Here's Jared Flood's design, Turn A Square Hat. The pattern is a free download on Ravelry and is a great design that will teach you how to change colors for stripes without a jog. The garter stitch round that you can see in the photo above is my addition to Jared's design. I always like to add a personal touch to anything that I knit.

I used Lamb's Pride Superwash Worsted for the three hats that I have knit so far. The wool is so warm. On a cool morning or in a nasty wind, the Turn A Square hat covers ears and warms the whole head.

The decreasing at the top of Turn A Square Hat forms a square.

The heathered colors of Superwash Worsted combine well with other yarns. I used dark green sock yarn, doubled, for the second stripe in the hat photographed here. Both Lichen and Gray Heather went well with the dark green. Notice that you will use less of the second color since it is not used for the ribbing and there are two rounds of this color versus three rounds of the main color.

Closeup of stripe design. Notice that the main color is 3 rounds; second color is 2 rounds.

I used US#5 and US#7 needles for the hat. The smaller needles tighten the ribbing so it hugs the head around the ears. When I finished knitting these hats, I tossed them into the washing machine right along with a load of jeans.

The wool comes out soft and smooth. I also put superwash hats into the dryer for a few minutes. Brown Sheep's label says to dry flat, but I like the plumped up stitches and soft feel that machine drying adds to the hat.

Superwash Worsted Wool

I've been knitting with worsted weight wool lately. I've made three Turn A Square hats from Jared Flood's free Ravelry pattern. Brown Sheep's Lamb's Pride Superwash worsted weight wool is wonderful for this hat.

The Superwash Worsted flows through needles with a smoothness that every knitting from novice to experienced will love. The wool is warm. On a cool morning or in a damp wind, a sweater or hat made from Superwash Worsted is like a soothing hug.

Sweaters, vests, hats -- whatever you knit from Superwash Worsted is machine washable. Toss the garment into the washing machine. The wool comes out soft and smooth. The stitches even out and the garment will be just fine.

The label for these yarns says to dry the knitting flat. I have tossed hats knit from this yarn into the dryer and like the fluffiness and resilience that comes from the drying process.

Here are some colors that I have used in worsted projects. All of these colors are considered heathered. Heathering means that more than one color is carded into the yarn. Often gray or black fiber is added to the yarn recipe. Gray and black deepen the colors, making them richer and less flat looking.

Cactus -- dulled grass green, more toward gold.
Lichen -- soft grayed green, kind of teal, kind of gray.

Grey Heather -- medium gray with a touch of blue, toward denim.

Shane's Red -- not tomatoey, not rose, not burgundy, not bright.

My favorite project (so far) made from Superwash Worsted is a vest that I knit for my Dad. I used the color "Shane's Red" and know that he gets lots of compliments on his vest. He is so handsome in his warm red vest and wears it often.

The yardage on this yarn is great -- 200 yards per 100 gram (3.5 oz) pull skein. Lamb's Pride Superwash worsted is a 2012 Featured Yarn on the Graywood Designs website.