Spring Colour!

The other day while I waited for Bill to be finished with the GP I stood in the little square knitting a hat to pass the time. It was a very convenient carry-along project since it was just two small scrap balls of yarn and the hat in progress on a pair of circular needles--very portable. Last night while I sat in bed and listened to an In Our Time podcast about photons, a Thinking Allowed podcast about sociological research on relationships and HIV in sub-Saharan Africa, and a Guardian books podcast, I finished the hat and wove in the ends.

It's made with cotton and acrylic sock yarn that was given to me by a friend when I still lived in Maine. I'd used some of the purple, so had a bit more of the cream. I used size 5 (3.75 mm) needles instead of the 1-3 suggested on the ball band, because I wanted a loose fabric. I'd been thinking about making a hat with the yarn, but was undecided on how I wanted to do it until the other night, when the idea popped into my head. It's a very simple pattern and I am quite pleased with how it turned out. I'll post the pattern below.

There are more flowers every day it seems. I am particularly partial to purple!

I always think of colourful foliage as a fall thing, but here it is in spring, too:

Spring colour is busting out all over :-)

Bill seems to be doing a little better. He has been sleeping a lot since Monday, which is good. He really needed that, since it had been weeks since he got a decent night of sleep. He has some periods of time when he feels OK, but the itching and burning soon return in spite of the medication. I am not sure the pain killers help much, but he feels the Lyrica is helping a bit. It seems clear that the antihistamine is quite effective.

Today we took a short walk to the library. I knew I had one book in because we got the message yesterday evening, so I grabbed some change from our container before we left. Then I decided to grab some more in case any of the other 3 books that were listed as in transit had come in--and 2 of them had! Yay!

Bill says he feels better after the walk and I am always happy when I come home with books, so it has been a pretty good day so far. Hope it's the same in your neck of the woods!

Easy Two Colour Roll Brim Hat
sock yarn--I used less than 200 yds--this is a cotton/acrylic blend, but you could use any fibres
size 5 (3.75 mm) circular and double pointed needles

I carried the unused colour up the back so I would not have as many ends to weave in. You could cut the yarn at each colour change if you'd rather. You could also carry the main colour and make every ridge a different colour.

Cast on 110 stitches and join, being careful not to twist stitches
With colour A, knit a round and place stitch marker, if you want. Knit 6 more rounds with A. Do not cut yarn.

With colour B, purl for two rounds. Drop B, but do not cut.

With A, knit 3 rounds.

With B, purl 2 rounds

Repeat until hat is as tall as you want it from brim to crown, ending with 2 purl rounds.

For crown decreases (switch to dpns when necessary to work comfortably around):
Rnd 1: (k9, k2tog) around
Rnd 2: (k8, k2tog) around
Rnd 3: (k7, k2tog) around

Rnds 7 and 8 and all purl rounds: work even in purl

Rnd 9: (k6, k2tog) around
Rnd 10: (k5, k2tog) around
Rnd 11: (k4, k2tog) around

Purl 2 rnds

Rnd 14: (k3, k2tog) around
Rnd 15: (k2, k2tog) around
Rnd 16: (k1, k2tog) around

Purl 2 rnds.

Last two rnds: k2tog around then knit around.

Cut yarn, leaving long tail. Using a tapestry needle, weave tail through remaining stitches and pull closed. Weave in end. Cut B and weave in end. Weave in beginning tails. Enjoy your hat :-)

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