Hat trick

That's from a sport.  Is it soccer or hockey?  I can't remember, but it's when you do three of something, right?  Three goals?  Ooh, in bowling, three strikes is called a turkey.  But "Hat turkey" is not as appealing a name for a blog post.

So I spent most of August knitting on this ridiculous sweater that I didn't like very much, and didn't think would look good on me.  Oddly enough, this really compelled me to finish it so that I could just move beyond it.  It doesn't look terrible.  I mean, it fits really well.  But the style is only so-so, and I think the color is not that great.  If you really want to see it, here's the Ravelry project page. 

Once I got that out of the way, I needed a bunch of instant gratification projects to get the bad taste of that sweater out of my mouth.  (Eeew, eating a sweater!)  Hats to the rescue! 

Rosebud
Rosebud by Jared Flood in Malabrigo Rios.  This yarn is so ideal for hats.  It's superwash, and I don't have much experience with superwash, but can't it get kind of heavy and saggy in sweaters?  I've only ever used it for hats and baby clothes.  This superwash is incredibly soft and squishy, and the tonal colorway is dreamy. 

I knit this hat exactly per the slouchy pattern, and I love it.  I blocked it very lightly, not stretching it at all really, but just to get the cable to relax and pop.  I'd love to knit this one again.  I think it looks great in this bright tonal colorway, but it would obviously be great in the tweedy Shelter for which it was designed.

Rav page

Pasha
Jane Richmond, this designer, has 501 hat patterns that I'd love to knit.  I'd be happy to knit this one again, too.  This one is a good fall hat, since I don't think it will be quite as warm as the Rosebud in Rios. 

I used Valley Yarn Northfield, a blend of merino, alpaca and silk.  I'd love to use this yarn again, as I think it has excellent stitch definition and is nice and drapey.  It's not as squishy as the Rios, but it works great in this lacy hat.  It would be amazing in a refined, tailored sweater.  That's on my list!

Rav page

Super Cupcake
I am super delighted with this super cupcake.  This has been in my queue for over two years.  I actually started it about two years ago with some Berroco Ultra Alpaca, but it just wasn't the right yarn for the job.  This pattern really needs something squishy that will bloom and fill up all those spaces between the rib stitches.  I lamented that I didn't have any Malabrigo worsted, and although I've been on the look out, I haven't come across any in the right colorway.

I participated in the Yarniacs' Podcast Fall KAL, and discovered that I had an ancient UFO that was in Malabrigo Rios in a colorway that was close to the Acai colorway.  So I frogged it, washed and reskeined the wool, and then cast on for the Super Cupcake.  This yarn is just perfect for this pattern, and the colorway is exactly what I wanted.  And it's been sitting in my house all along!  How amazing is that! 

Rav page  I have two more skeins of this, so I'll have to make the cowl sometime soon. 

So there's my hat trick!  Come on, Fall!