Fast, warm, and {amazing} hats!

Just when my Christmas elving was hitting high gear, Calder made a request for a new winter hat. A request for anything knit can never be denied, especially when it's something as fast as a hat, and especially when he's still wearing a hat that I knit for him seven years ago (7 years without misplacing it, wow!).

The hard part about knitting for Calder is that he's slightly very picky when it comes to color, fit, level of "itchiness" etc. So really, it's amazing that I was able to knit him a hat that met all of his requirements for seven years. Can I do it again?

When it came to color, he asked for something that was "mostly grey with pops of pink and green", but then he also mentioned that there could be other colors too. He has also complimented the colors in Alex's circle blanket numerous times.

So the yarn choice was obvious, I went directly to Lion Brand's Amazing yarn. Usually I don't love yarns with an acrylic base, but I love this yarn. The color combinations and variations from one ball to the next make it a lot of fun. It's a frustrating love, because I only use the yarn once in a while, and when I'm not using it, my fingers are crossed that they don't discontinue it!

The one problem I had when thinking about this hat was that I wanted there to be some consistency throughout the hat, and the balls that change color really jump around {which I also wanted to give me the "pops" of color for pops}. Sooooo my bright idea was to pick out two skeins : one that was "mostly grey" and then pair that with one of skeins with brighter colors. Long story long, I went with Olympia for the greys and Arcadia for the colors. Knitting the hat with both yarns held together produces the hat you see in the first picture.

Here's the basic pattern on size US10 needles with the amazing yarn held double:
~ cast on 72 stitches using either the magic loop or double pointed needles
~ knit 2 purl 2 for seven rounds
~ knit straight for 36 rounds
~ decrease round : knit 1 knit 2 together all the way around (48 stitches remain)
~ knit 2 rounds
~ decrease round : knit 1 knit 2 together all the way around (32 stitches remain)
~ knit 2 rounds
~ decrease round : knit 2 together all the way around (16 stitches remain)
~ decrease round : knit 2 together all the way around (8 stitches remain)

~ cut your yarn, thread it through the remaining stitches, pull it tight and close up your hat!

I was surprised at how much the Olympia skein toned down the colors in Arcadia. Honestly, I think C would have liked it a little brighter, but I like the muted look.

Since that first hat was so easy and the results such a fun surprise, I picked up two more skeins another  Arcadia and a Rainforest. Notice how different this Arcadia {on the left} is from the one above.

I think there's time for one more hat, but then it's back to the elving… I'll just stock up on amazing combinations in case we need a last minute gift :-).