Hats are my absolute favorite holiday gift to knit. They are practical, easy to size, and knit in thick yarn they are quick and perfectly warm. They are also a fun place to try out new stitches, as long as you keep an eye on how the decreases in the crown will look (messy crown decreases are a pet peeve of mine).
Those are all the skeins I (hand!) wound for Malabrigo October Stockpile. I have 2 more skeins of Rios and 1 more of Rasta that need winding, but essentially every one of those skeins except the big purple Rasta is destined to be a hat. So this week, I’ve got a bunch of hats on the needles.
Mecha Waffles:
This one’s actually an FO! It was on and off the needles before I even had a chance to show you the WIP. This is my standard waffle-knit hat made with Malabrigo’s new bulky weight superwash singles yarn, Mecha. Guys– this stuff is delightful. Springy and soft, it knit up into a substantial fabric without feeling bulletproof thick. It’s perfect for textured stitches. Even though this is such a basic hat, I’m planning to write up the pattern for it because none of the other waffle hats out there do it exactly like I do and I’ve knit so many of these over the years, there might as well be a pattern out there!
Double Swag:
This one looks like an FO, but alas, it is not. It’s too short so I will be ripping back (again!) and adding more length. This gives me the chance to ask for opinions: do you like it the way it is now, with green being the last slipped stitch section and the top of the hat being black? I keep wondering if I’d like it better with black as the last slipped stitch section and green for the top. Thoughts?
Purple Ruffian:
Here’s a new WIP! This is the brand new Ruffian pattern by Hunter Hammersen, knit in Malabrigo Twist (colorways Grape and Zinc). It’s pretty fun so far, I’m loving the color combo and Twist is my favorite Mal base. I inadvertently modified the pattern by adding a section of purple after the brim before starting the little grey ‘poofs’, but I think it’ll still look good.
Chunky Cables:
This hat is currently just a swatch, using Malabrigo Chunky in Pearl. I’m not loving it right now, what worked well in my head isn’t translating the same way in this thick yarn, but my experiments were ruthlessly cut short when a certain kitty-who-shall-remain-nameless chewed through my yarn. Oh, kitty.
And just to keep you on your toes, here’s a cowl! This is the lovely Ingot cowl designed by Lisa Mutch in The Verdant Gryphon Codex (a.k.a. my ultimate weakness). I’m completely in love with the blues in this cowl. Love.
Woolen Diversions 
I know the feeling with hats, the last 2 years I’ve almost doubled my hat stock during the winter haha I guess I should give a few of them away. I like all the hats you have going right now, and I’m very interested to see the pink and purple Ruffian when it’s done.
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I love giving hats as gifts! Especially if I’m not suuuuure if I want one for myself, I give it a try anyway and then if I don’t like it, I’ll find someone who will!
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Oh wow that cowl! Those blues are fantastic. I can totally understand both your weakness and love for that yarn, it’s so pretty!
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And it’s such a tease because the yarn is only available sometimes and in limited quantities. I could knit with it ALL THE TIME.
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It’s so beautiful, and by the looks of it it would work as many things. I could see it working fantastically as a sweater.
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There are some pretty great Codex sweaters on Ravelry. The silk gives it good drape and makes it REALLY warm.
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Wow fab hats!
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Thank you! 🙂
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Very nice hats. I feel the same way. A cabled hat might be my favorite project or it might be my go-to project. Hats are quick and satisfying. Very nice. The cowl is pretty also.
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I agree, cabled hats are great!
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The black for the crown of the “Double Swag”, definitely.
That purple and gray together in the “Purple Ruffian” look fab!
I think you and I have similar color tastes: I also knit with lots of blues and grays and purples and greens.
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Thanks, I think I’ll stick with the black! I agree, those are pretty much all of my favorite colors. 🙂
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Oh, I hope that you write up the pattern for both the waffle hat and the double swag. I would love to knit both. I prefer the black on top for the crown of the double swag hat. The cowl is beautiful in Codex. Lucky me, I work in the same town as the Verdant Gryphon and they have an open house coming up in November.
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Oooooh you are so lucky! I almost went to one they were having when they were still Sanguine Gryphon but it happened to be the same weekend as my master’s defense… so that didn’t work. And now I’m just too broke for a trip but ONE DAY I WILL GO. 🙂
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The instant gratification of a hat is awesome! Are you knitting the hats for particular people, or are you just stocking up for last minute gifts?
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They’re all for particular people, I like matching up patterns/colors with personalities. Although sometimes things change as I see how much I actually finished. 🙂
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That all looks great! love your Hunter hat…yummy purple! but man, that cowl is fall down and drag me out the door gorgeous! no wonder it’s your weakness.
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