Zig-Zag Hat

I made this hat out of Kathmandu Aran. It's very soft and seems to be a great yarn for a quick-knit hat, and it comes in very pretty colors. The hat was knit on size 7 needles.

The hat was inspired by Kate Gilbert's Victor hat. I originally made the hat shorter, but on the first day I wore it I realized it was too short. I took out the top and re-knit it, and now it's a little too long, so I've been folding up the ribbing.

Wavy bag

I made this bag using two balls of Filatura Di Crosa Print 127. I started out making a scarf in the yarn with the feather and fan stitch. I loved the look, but it seemed too scratchy for a scarf. So I knit it in the same stitch but made the piece wider. I used one ball for each half and seamed the two together.

I bought some wooden handles and chose a purple cotton print to line the bag. I didn't have any good plans for attaching the handles with yarn, so I made tabs with the fabric to loop through the holes on the handles -- that's my favorite part of the bag.

I like the bag, but it's not terribly practical. It's a true "hand bag," so there's no getting it onto my shoulder and out of the way. It's fine for small outings, but it wouldn't serve for any serious errand-running.

Cozy

I made this bobble-less version of the Forbes Forest scarf from Scarf Style. I wanted a super-soft yarn so I settled on Andean Silk. Knitpicks suggests needle size 6 to 9 for that yarn, but in order to make a solid fabric that would show the cables well, I had to go down to a size 4. With the small needles and all the cables, the scarf took me over two months to make.

I initially tried to steam block the scarf, but that didn't adequately combat its curling tendency. I then did a wet-block, which worked much better. It was flat when I gave the scarf, but with wear it started to curl a little, but not too badly.

At the last minute, I realized the recipient really needed a hat. I wanted to make a hat that would knit up quickly, wouldn't take too much yarn, and would go (well enough) with the scarf. I ended up using this simple ribbed hat pattern from Fig and Plum (which was brought to my attention recently when Schrodinger also made it). Due to lack of time/yarn/patience, I made it shorter so it doesn't fold up. I also adjusted it for sizing and for yarn gauge, making 8 sections instead of 5 or 6. It ended up being a cute and comfy hat, and I love the star effect on the top!

The scarf contains about 7 balls of the Andean Silk, and the hat used about 1.5 balls. As desired, the Andean Silk made it very soft and cozy.