A Half-Finished Hat

I’ve been planning and working on other projects this past week, but the Owl In The Thicket hat has been my go-to knitting. The complicated chart means it’s not great for travel knitting so I’ve been using it as reward knitting instead. Got 5 minutes before the next pomodoro timer starts? Put a round on the hat. Crashing on the couch at the end of the day with some tv? This WIP is going to be in my hands. At first glance the chart and instructions look really complicated, and they do require attention. The secret is that the hat is worked in bite-sized repeats which makes even complex rounds doable. So all those random chunks of time have added up rather quickly. Knitting to see the owls and leaves appear in the stitches might have had something to do with it too. I’m not far from the crown decreases when I was sure that I’d be working on this hat for at least a month instead of a few weeks.

While I love the complexity of this pattern, the yarn is another big reason that I’m enjoying this knit. For once I’m actually using the recommended yarn, Anzula Cricket. It’s a DK weight yarn and a blend of merino, nylon, and cashmere. It is wonderfully soft and feels great moving through my fingers. Plus it was a lovely luster and a semi-solid dye job that I really love. The yarn adds interest to the pattern without detracting from it.

Working on this hat has also come with one unexpected benefit. It’s given me a perfect opportunity to practice cabling without a cable needle. There are lots of different cable twists, even on the same rounds, but they’re all easy to do. The hardest part was just getting all the symbols straight in my head. After a few dozen rounds, I have twisting cables without a cable needle down pat. Those complicated sections are definitely going a lot faster without that extra needle in the mix.

I missed my chance to wear this hat during the most recent snow fall, but it was also nice to work on this project and watch the snow coming down. Pretty sure the hat will be ready for the next storm though at the speed I'm going .