Finished: Turn A Square For Brett

There hasn't been too much on the crafting front lately. I did do some weaving (the blogiversary scarf), I did do a few rows on the Leaf Yoke Top here and there and at knit night last Friday, and I did manage to knit a few rows on other projects, but other than that I've been feeling way too burnt out and lethargic to do much else. I'm really hoping that I can snap out of this funk real soon and have my energy levels back up to where they used to be. I'm getting really sick and tired of this lifeless rut that I seem to be stuck in.

Anyways, I did manage to start and finish a hat for Brett in a weekend a few weeks ago, only because the pattern was so simple, easy, and quick. This is my first attempt at knitting Brett a hat, since all previous attempts were crochet...and all those attempts had gone horribly wrong! One attempt ended with the hat looking like a tea pot cozy, and another ended up fitting my then 6 month old son instead of a 30 year old man! It amazes how, after so many fail attempts, I just didn't give up trying to make Brett a hat. Yet the stubborn part of me was overly determined and I've been on a lookout for a suitable pattern since.

A few weeks ago I felt this sudden and utter urge to knit up Brooklyn Tweed's Turn A Square Hat pattern. Since I'm on a yarn diet and am determined to start using up as much of my stash as possible, I rooted around and managed to procure the materials needed for this project. I didn't have any Noro Silk Garden but after perusing the projects on Ravelry I decided that the random skein of Kureyon that I had would suffice, which was perfect cause it was in the colors that I was hoping to be able to use. I have a bunch of Kureyon in my stash but don't know why this single skein in this colorway was in there. This leads me to believe that I am destined to make this hat.

Even though my gauge swatch was spot on, for some reason a quarter of the way into knitting up this project I decided to start knitting loosely. I guess I was a little nervous that this wasn't going to fit Brett abnormally large and odd shaped head. Not only is this hat a super easy and quick knit, but it implores you to carry the unused yarn up every second row, which means no constant cutting and weaving in a million ends. I love Jared Flood. He also encourages you to try out and practice the art of jogless stripes, which is so simple and easy that I'm not sure why I had avoided stripes all this time. Jared Flood definitely knows what a lady knitter wants - no excess ends and encouraging of new techniques.

I had knitted this up over a span of a weekend, but if I had dedicated time to do nothing but work on this project, I'm sure it would have taken less than 2 hours. Instead I was working a little bit on it here and there while Brett was putting the Munchkin down for bed, while we were running around town doing errands, and whenever the Munchkin wanted alone time (which wasn't very often, if at all). The hat fits Brett, and truthfully is a tad too big. If I had kept my original tension I'm sure it would have fit him perfectly! I'm thinking of throwing this in the dryer for a few minutes after a soak (the Kureyon is a little scratchy) and hope that it'll shrink it a little. I'll definitely be using this pattern again (and I'm sure again and again and again) and will definitely be making Brett a ton more of them (he lives in hats 75% of the time). I highly recommend this pattern and think it will be my fall back for when I need a quick gift. Hmm...I guess this means I should start stocking up on Cascade 220 and some Noro....

Project details:
Pattern: Turn A Square by Jared Flood (Brooklyn Tweed)
Yarns: Cascade 220 and Noro Kureyon
Colors: 1/2 skein of Cascade 220 in Charcoal Grey, 1/2 skein of Kureyon in colorway #183
Needles: Knit Picks 16" circular needles in US 6 (4.0mm) and US 7 (4.5mm)

And I couldn't help but to throw in this photo of my kidlet in this post:

While I was trying to get photos of Brett in the hat the Munchkin was jumping around on the bed (we were all in the master bedroom, where the best light was at the time) and being an overall goofball. Brett had put the hat on the little dude and in turn he thought it was crazy time! I, on the other hand, thought it was too cute for words time!