Orchids and Bunnies and Fairy Lights

This hat.  Oh, this hat.  I've been wanting to make this hat for more than a year now. Sometimes I worry things to death while other times I make super snap decisions.  One would think that picking up a pair of needles and starting on something as low commitment as a hat would be no big deal, but for some reason, I was hesitant to knit this one, even though I really, really wanted it.

A couple of weeks ago when I was at Rhinebeck, I saw a skein of yarn at a booth that I really, really wanted, kind of how I really, really wanted to make this hat, and it just kind of came to me that they might be a perfect match.  So I bought the yarn and now I have the hat.

Details:

Pattern: Orchids and Fairy Lights, by Tiny Owl Knits

Yarn: Jamie Harmon Merino/Angora 2-ply

Needles: 4.0mm & 5.0mm

Started: November 10

Finished: November 13

Tiny Owl Knits is the same person who deigned the Some Cloudy Day legwarmers that I made earlier this fall.  She's got a whole foresty, magical fairy vibe going on, and while I'm not really able to pull that off myself, I find myself drawn to many of her designs nonetheless.  For example, one of the things I love about this hat is it's softness, like the way the bobbles are set at the tips of the cables like buds at the tips of branches, and even how the cables aren't typical cables in that they never cross, so they're never cut off.  They just look to be stretching and growing like saplings.  So cute!  But not twee.  At least I don't think so.



Photos courtesy of Oiyi and Penny.


I'm not exactly sure how much of this yarn I had because it wasn't labeled, but as I worked, I realized I wouldn't have enough yarn to complete the hat as written, so I eliminated one pattern repeat from the length.  Still, it fits, so that's good.  For such a soft yarn, the Jamie Harmon produced great stitch definition; I'm quite pleased with how the bobbles pop.  It's super annoying to go through the work of making bobbles only to have then turn out flaccid receding.  Blech.

So, I am happy with my little luxury purchase and with the pattern it paired with.  This cozy little thing fills a "neutral headwear" void in my wardrobe.  Now, if the weather would cooperate and stay below 6o, I could bust her out.