Acorn Beanie Hat | A finish {Knitting}

Happy New Year everyone!

My first post is not about new year resolutions - I have many and some specific to this blog... but that will come later. Instead I will show you the only handmade item I made for Christmas. In fact I finished it after Christmas. It was not a successful handmade Christmas at the MiH household...But it is an opportunity to show off Baby MiH! 

Pattern: Brownie hat by Woolly Wormhead (available here)

Yarn: Spud & Chloe Sweater, in Chipmunk (less than a skein) - 
the same yarn as used for my Pull Isa

Needles: 5 mm circular, and 5 mm DPNs 
Size: The toddler size

Modifications: I did not knit the ear flaps.

Result: It is a great hat, very different from the ones you can buy on the high street. 

It is a very interesting construction. You knit the brim first, and stitched both sides together thanks to the Kitchener Stitch, and then pick up the stitches of the body of the hat. Look at the shape of it!

I love the texture of the hat as well and so does Baby MiH! 

And there we are, one happy little boy - and I am still amazed I managed to take so many pictures of him. He was having none of it until we went outside!

Pull Isa {Knitting}

If you follow me on facebook, you know that Pull Isa has been finished but that I had not had a chance to take pictures of it yet. It is too hot to wear at the moment, despite the mesh knitted fabric, but I will definitely wear it when it gets cooler. Which means ... drum roll please ... my first knitted top that is actually wearable. My first jumper (you can see it here on Ravelry) was definitely not wearable (I could pull my whole body through the neckline and that is not a good look). 

Pattern: Pull Isabel (French pattern here; my English translation  here, here and here)

Yarn: Spud & Chloe Sweater, in Chipmunk (4 skeins in the end)

Needles: 5 mm circular, and 5 mm DPNs for the sleeves. 

Modifications: it was a loose fitted jumper, and I made it into a tight fitted one. 

I kept the construction (more on modifications below)

Result: I cannot believe how good it looks, and how well it fits. The mesh knitted fabric is very forgiving of course, but my maths has actually paid off. I will follow that construction again for other summer knitted Tshirt/jumper. And I adore the neckline! 

Modifications:

I should mention that I spent time to knit a gauge for the required fit. And it is definitely worth doing it.

- CO 136 stitches
- the stockinette band on the side are 4 stitches wide. 
- the cable is 6 stitches wide.
So you get: at the front 7 repeats of the confetti stitch on each side of cable band, and at the back 15 repeats of the confetti stitch. You have to add the bands on the sides. 

The ribbing (all ribbing) is a repeat of *knit through the back loop, purl*

Body of the knit

- Ribbing for 15 rows
- set up row: start of row marker; k2; place marker (pm); k30; pm; k6; pm; k30; pm; k4; pm; k62; pm; k2
- You then start with the confetti stitch pattern
- the cable is knitted on 7 rows (knit on 6 rows, and twist on 7th row) 
- I knitted 87 rows before starting the sleeves increased as the pattern intended

For the rest of the knit I adapted the pattern to my number of stitches, whilst keeping the number of stitches to bind off for the neckline the same. 

I made the neckline side knitted parts longer (so it is 20 cm in total from the sleeves to the shoulders)

I added some side bands on the sleeves, and made the sleeves longer. 

Here are very boring pictures of Pull Isa. It will be styled one of this Saturdays, but I wanted to show you how it fits in this post. 

I would recommend using that yarn, it does not stretch as much as I thought it would in the end - which is why having the right number of stitches from the start and spending time on the maths is important - especially if you are going for a tighter version of the jumper. It is not a fitted knit, but it does follow your curves... 

You can find the pattern for the shorts on this post.

Linking up to Tami's today!