Just What I Needed

After finishing that shawl, all I wanted to was knit something that I really really really wanted to make, out of yarn that I really really really love, and that would not take really really really long.

So, when I was asked to test knit a hat pattern by westknits using Malabrigo, I jumped on it as fast as I could.  He's been posting versions of this hat on Ravelry for months now, and I have been coveting the pattern ever since I saw his first rendition of the pattern.  In fact, in looking at my "sent" messages over on Ravelry, it looks like I have been bugging him about the pattern since March.  Let that be a lesson that perseverance always pays off.

So let's recap.  (ha, no pun intended):

Pattern: Botanic Hat by Stephen West, soon to be published

Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Tortuga and Bobby Blue (less than half a skein each)

Needles: US 6 and 7

Time taken:  I knit it today

You guys, look, it's reversible!

I love the way the inside of this hat looks.  Or wait, is that the outside?

I'm not sure, but it looks awesome.  Do you guys remember when I went a little crazy with the Kiwi hats back in September?  (there were two others that I never even bothered documenting)  Well, I think there is going to be another surge of hats coming on in the future.  One of these is not enough.  Think of the possibilities for color combinations!  You could even knit two hats using the same two colors, but switching the MC and CC and the results would be totally different.  Plus, it's a great way to use those half skeins of Malabrigo you have sitting around from previous projects.

The Tortuga colorway I have had sitting around for quite a while (but actually not as long as the Bobby Blue) and no one has ever been able to tell me what color it is.  I think it is just different shades of gray, but I have a sister who thinks it looks green, a brother who says it's blue, one who says it's purple and navy, my mother things it's pink and blue, another sister says it's wine colored, and then this morning as I was knitting the hat, yet another sister came up to me and exclaimed, "wow, brown and blue is my favorite color combination!"  So, what you you all think?  Is it blue, brown, pink, green, purple, blue, or black?  Your guess is as good as mine.  (I'm pretty sure the Bobby Blue is blue...)

Oh, and just so you all know, my e-mail is going to be down starting tomorrow and it won't be up again until at least Monday.  You can always get a hold of me over on Ravelry, but I may not reply to your comments here on the blog right away because I won't get them until my e-mail starts up again.  Sorry for any inconvenience.