Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Sugarbunny Hat


The concept of Special Reserve yarn is so enticing... I couldn't resist adding some Sugarbunny yarn to my stash. I have never knit with angora before, and I wanted to see what it was like.


I selected the Amanda Hat for this yarn. I wanted to make a textured hat that would be warm, but wouldn't be as heavy duty as my other hats.

I tested size 8 needles (my first trial of the clear zepher needles) but the gauge was too loose for my liking. I decided to knit the hat on size 7 needles.


The first round of "lace" I was slipping stitches with yarn in front, and this looked really loose. I checked from slipping p wise with yarn in back - to see if it looked better or not. It looked better when I started doing it correctly... but the gaps were so big that I knew the hat wouldn't be as warm as I wanted. I therefore frogged it and started over.


Sugarbunny yarn is so soft that it is amazing to knit with. The fabric has such a nice drape, I would love to use this yarn to make a sweater.

The decreases begin in 7 stitch repeats. Since I cast on 93 stitches, there is a remainder of two stitches. To make things simpler, I decreased two stitches in the first K round of the last garter stitch section (approximately on either side of the hat.) This way, I could start with K5, K2tog across without dealing with remaining stitches.

There were still 26 stitches where the pattern would have me break the yarn and pull through stitches. Instead I:
  • K 1 round
  • K2tog across (13 sts)
  • K 1 round
  • K2tog across until last stitch, K1 (7 sts)

This is a really nice hat. It is a little shorter than I usually like my hats, but it makes it more of a fashion hat than a keep warm hat. The yarn bled onto my figure while I was knitting, so this isn't a hat I would want to wear in the snow anyway!


This hat only too 1 ball (40 g) of sugarbunny). I still have a ball left... I see mittens in my future!