Friday, January 27, 2012

Hot Stuff - a hat pattern for sale

PLEASE NOTE:  this pattern is now free :^)

For the last year or so, Helena at Midnight Sheep and I have been cooking up what has become my go-to hat for cold days:


Yes, alongside the cute slipped-stitch stripes that hide each round's colour changes and give you a little lift over one eyebrow, those are mugs.  With text.  Three of the mugs are steaming, and the steam separates three magical cold-weather words:

Hot Chocolate


Coffee


Tea


(I usually wear mine with the word 'tea' out front, though I do love a good cup of hot chocolate as well.)

On top?  A warm, radiating sun.  Or melting marshmallow, or gooey dollop of whipped cream, depending on your perspective.


Whichever you like, this hat is all about the warm, and I can tell you it really is.  Stranded DK weight Bluefaced Leicester?  So warm.


And so fast to knit.  I lost count of how many I made while I tested, but here's a clue: I stopped needing the charts.  Never got bored of them, either.  That's the thing about stranded knitting - it's so exciting to watch the next layer build up the image.


Obviously, this is a stranded hat and stranded knits are perfect for using up the remains of other projects you already have around the house.

But think about treating yourself to a kit in Huggable DK, the yarn Helena gave me to use.  The Bluefaced Leicester is a dream to work with - so springy and cuddly and soft - and the colour combinations Helena came up are so cheery.  While I worked out the pattern I knit it up in other yarns and the results were cute, but there is just no comparison to the way the Huggable DK ones feel either in progress or when wearing them later.  (Yeah... that's plural.  I kept two for personal use, I love this hat so much.)


In fact I am so convinced that you need to have this hat in Huggable form, I've asked Helena to include the pattern for free with her kits.  You can buy just the pattern from me and use up stuff you already have if you prefer, but - Huggable, people.  How do you resist that?  (said the woman with three more kits waiting to be knit up.)


Hot Stuff
A charted pattern in three sizes, with some instruction for stranded knitting.

Difficulty Level:
Intermediate

Materials:
Midnight Sheep 'Huggable DK', (100% Bluefaced Leicester, 245 yards/100g): A - 44 (51, 58) yds, B - 75 (87, 99) yds, C - 15 (15, 17) yds
3.5mm (US 4) - 1 set of 5 double pointed needles, or size to obtain gauge
Stitch marker
Darning needle

Gauge:
23 sts, 28 rows = 4” in stocking st 
(Please check gauge! If you do not knit with loose tension, you'll need to go up a needle size or two.)

Sizing:
Instructions are given for sizes Small, Medium, and Large.  All are designed to be long enough to cover your ears; in the very elastic 'Huggable DK', Medium stretches to fit a 22” head, with a little room to spare. 
S: 16.75" around, 7.5" long
M: 18" around, 7.5" long
L: 19.25" around. 7.75" long


Download the .pdf of Hot Stuff