Warm ears

I finished a hat! And not only that, I finished knitting a hat. From real wool yarn... that I dyed myself, too!

The wool for the hat came in a kit meant for dyeing and then knitting into a small pouch. But I figured that I would have more use for a hat.

This was the start, the wool has just been dyed:

Which looked so much better once dried and wound into a skein. I was so proud of this! You can read a bit more about this dyeing journey in a post from last year...

Aren't those colours  scrumptious?!

Then I found a hat pattern. It is called the Antler Toque by Tin Can Knits and is available for (free!) as a download from their blog or on Ravelry (search for Antler Toque or Tincanknits).

I knitted the larger size, apparently I have a large head. I am not at all an experienced knitter, but with a bit of care I managed fine. It just took quite some time, but being a (very) slow knitter I kind of expected that. The pattern is clearly written, and once I "got" the cables I could do the repeats without checking the pattern all the time. Slowly, mind you.

I used a circular needle, and switched to double pointed ones for the last bit. I found out later that I could have continued with the circular needle and use the magic loop method. That will be for next time then...

I have a little yarn left, and I keep changing my mind whether I should use it to make a pompom. What do you think?

Anyway, when I have to go out in this cold weather (do you see the snow behind me?), I will have warm ears. And in the mean time I have started another knitting project!

Sandra