Having made a speedy hat, I thought I’d go ahead and try out a pattern I see a lot of other knitters making: Musselburgh (Ravelry link) by Ysolda Teague (designer’s site).
It’s a double-layered hat, knit up as one big sealed tube and then you push one end inside the other to make it hat-shaped. I decided to make it in two colours for a bit of interest, and picked Papatya Love in Grey and Hayfield Bonus DK in Russet. Did I use 4mm or 3.5mm needles? That’s hard to say. It was certainly one of those two. Or wait was it 3mms? Or 3.75s?
I don’t do well with taking notes. I always think I’ll remember…
I did measure my knitting and thought I’d changed colours half way through… but I’ve definitely misjudged it somewhere along the line. The grey side is sightly longer. But you know what? That means there’s a cute couple of grey rows peeping over the fold of the brim! A design feature, my friends.
I learned a new cast on from the pattern – the disappearing loop cast on (tutorial from Ysolda), for when you’re knitting something centre out. A nice addition to my skillset and overall I think the crown increases, shown in this photo, look rather lovely. They’re like a raglan for your head.
The pattern is really clever: it lets you choose your preferred yarn and needles, start knitting, and once you’ve made enough to measure your gauge at where your stitch count is. You then follow the set of instructions that match the gauge you’re getting. It means you’re not having to make swatches – whatever stitch and row count you end up with, whatever yarn and needles give you a fabric that you enjoy, you’re covered.
Now listen… truth be told, I was underwhelmed as I was knitting. Not any fault in the pattern at all, I hasten to add. It’s straightforward and easy to follow and I simply ended up regretting my choice to commit to so much stockinette. But once it was made, the script completely flipped. It’s So Nice (bold, italics and caps all intentional) to wear. Like, crazy soft and warm and somehow comforting? I keep putting it on indoors. It’s a great hat.
I shan’t be adding this to my donation box – I’m keeping it and putting my shop-bought, lives-in-my-handbag hat in the box instead.
The Crafty Yarnster 