FMM - Hats!

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As a rule, I don't knit to sell items - it takes too long, the yarn I use is nicer and also much more expensive than what you can buy at a big box craft store, and most people aren't willing to pay what materials and labor would be - and that's fine.  I knit because I love yarn and I love knitting (except for when I don't, but luckily that's rare).  I'm either knitting for myself, or I'm making a gift for someone.  But once in a great while I'll knit a hat on commission, and that's what I'm going to show you today.

Backstory is my first USAFit running coach, Erica, moved to San Francisco several years ago and if you've ever been there you know how chilly it can be, year-round.  She asked me to knit her some hats shortly after she moved, and we worked out the yarn cost and payment; I had fun making something that I knew was wanted, and she got some hats to survive chilly, foggy San Francisco.  A while later, I saw a cute hat pattern that I wanted to make, so I did - and I sent it to Erica as a little gift.  Well, it turns out that she loves that hat and wears it a lot, so she asked me to make a couple more.

She chose the colors and while they both look similar, one is actually charcoal gray while the other is a blueish black.  She let me have free reign with the pom poms, and I love how the hats came together!

 I present to you Kendall - The Sequel:

Pattern is The Kendall Slouchy Pom Hat; yarn is Malabrigo Chunky in Cypress colorway; pom pom was made from some leftover bulky yarn in my stash.

 It looks more blue than black in this picture, but it's actually more black with hints of blue.

 And here's Kendall - The Threequel:

Yarn is Malabrigo Chunky in Tortuga colorway; pom pom was made from leftover Malabrigo Rasta in Arco Iris colorway.

 

I couldn't decide how big to make the pom pom so I made two - this is the smaller one, if you can believe it.  One of these days I'm going to knit a hat with a huge pom pom on it....why yes, of course I saved that huge pom pom!

Here's how I make my pom poms:

Wrap the yarn around both sides of the pom pom maker - this is a size large, from Clover.

Using sharp scissors, cut around both sides.

Admire.

Wrap embroidery thread around the edges several times and then triple knot, pulling tightly.  This is where using embroidery thread works nicely - it won't break when it's pulled so much.

Using scissors, trim the random long pieces to make it as round as you can.  Then attach to the hat - I used a large button on the underside of the hat to pull the thread through, tightening it with several knots and then tying a bow.  When you have such a large pom pom, using the button helps to make it more stable on the hat.  Plus you can remove the pom pom if you ever needed to wash the hat.

I love it when people wear my knitted items, so doing this was a no-brainer for me.  And while I had to order the yarn for the hat, I got to look in my yarn stash to make the pom poms, which reinforced to me that I really do need to save every scrap of yarn.  Hey, you never know when you might need it - and I did!

Have a great weekend!

from My Journey to Fit https://ift.tt/2JAL0oK

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