two toques for you...

there has been a plethora of gift-knitting going on of late - and i'm sure while many are starting on their christmas gift-knitting, i am one who first has to tackle the many birthdays that fall in these fall months. the benefit of course of fall birthdays is that it is the perfect time to get a cozy hat to protect you from the too soon cold weather, and keep you stylish while you do. here then are two completely different toques for two completely different recipients - my 40-year-old brother-in-law and my soon to be 4-year-old niece.

i wanted to make some creative but still manly for the BIL, and actually picked the yarn before the pattern. this soft jo sharp silkroad dk tweed was a perfect beige (shade: cocoa), and the cashmere and silk added to the wool made is yummy to touch. i stumbled on the beaufort hat pattern while browsing ravelry, and thought it has some interesting lace knitting without being too lacey. i think it was well-received, and i enjoyed the knitting - fast but enough going on to keep me interested.






branching out a little more, i was looking for another lace pattern to use with this purple drops alpaca. i initially started on the scroll lace socks pattern from bowerbird knits, but after a few repeats decided the whole created in the middle of the chart were just too big so i frogged it. on a second attempt, i again perused trusty ravelry and decided to try and adapt woolandwood's yukon leaves sock pattern. i think the result has come out well, with a bit of improvising and fudging to create the decreases at the top. the hat is of course a little too small for me but my niece can't model it yet until her birthday. i tried to use the acorn squash i had, but he is a little too small (although i like how the un-stretched lace looks like interlaced hearts. so i relented and stretched it onto my head so you could see the lace. i would like to try this pattern again with a less fluffy yarn so that the stitches could really shine through - perhaps actually making socks with a sock pattern? what a crazy idea.

there are more hats on the horizon, plus more gift knitting, and perhaps a shawl pour moi.