Skip to main content

Bousta Beanie - Done

Two years ago I knit a beanie to wear when I'm riding and working out in winter. I loved it and I think it fit me perfectly at the time. But two winters of wearing it under a bike helmet and getting rained on has made this beanie just a smidge two small. When I saw the Bousta Beanie, this year's Shetland Wool week pattern, I knew I had to make it.



 I used stash Jamieson and Smith. One thing I love about  this hat is that is seems to look amazing in pretty much every colour combination.  I shortened it by one repeat - partly because i can't have it too long under a helmet, mainly because I almost ran out of the light grey background yarn - only 5 grams left.

This may be partly attributed to my discovery, when i went to change to DPNs to knit the last of the crown decreases, that I'd knit the body of the hat on 3.75mm needles, not the 3.5mm needles specified in the pattern. And many people actually go down a needle size to knit this hat.

Still it fits quite well, and will probably become smaller after a couple of years. Meanwhile, I'm considering knitting another with  the left overs of my Millers Daughter shawl - although it would probably help to knit the shawl before deciding what to do with the left over yarn from it.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Geogradiant MKAL Part 1 - that was unexpected (spoilers)

Stephen West released the first MKAL clue on Thursday night. I started knitting it without looking at spoilers. When I got up on Friday he had sent through an "alternative" clue one. I then went and had a look at the spoiler thread to try to work out what was going on. Which was that some people thought the pattern looked like a "German hate symbol". I knit on anyway, since I was half-way through. Then he took down the original clue, replacing it with a mitred square in garter stitch. The Ravelry forums and Instagram are a complete shit-show, even though Rav is being moderated. It's been a bit disheartening, having something that is usually quite light and fun weighed down with all this. I admire Stephen's quick and sensitive response to this drama. I also feel that anything can look like anything if you squint. To me this looks like a Celtic knot. I think mine is pretty, and I'll knit on through all crises. 

Linky Wednesday - the one with the drama

The drama about the Stephen West MKAL  continues, and I can't be bothered with it. It's meant to be a fun, interesting, communal knit and and that's not what this year has turned in to. Stephen has done his best in a difficult situation, but I'm just not feeling it. Meanwhile, Israel is at war, and we (as a country) are going to vote "no" on a referendum that asks for basic consideration for Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islanders.  So yeah, lots of turmoil here. It's very tiring. I'm knitting a sock and considering what happens next.  Luckily the reading was dramatic in a good way. I'm reading a NetGalley review copy of Last Summer at the Lake House and it's great.  Super dramatic family drama about three sisters who loose their father unexpectedly and then find out that the family has secrets. I 've nearly finished it and I don't know what I'm going  to read next. I've got a bit of a break between review books, so maybe Sta

Mussleburgh musings

I made a Mussleburgh hat earlier in the year, and even though I thought I was following the directions exactly it did not come out quite right.  It was a little bit loose. My head is 51 cm, my gauge was 7 stitches, so according to the pattern I knit the right size. It's also a little bit shorter than I would like it. Too long for a beanie, too short for a good turn-up. I couldn't work out why. I still wore it, but it was not quite right. When I decided to knit one for Elise I knew I wanted to make it longer, and tighter. After I finished Elise's (with 24 fewer stitches) I realised something about mine: Now, this is a knit tube. I know how to knit tubes. When I make sleeves or socks, they don't balloon out in the middle. So I decided to reblock it. The instructions actually specifically say to fold it inside each other after blocking, but I probably folded it and dried it on my head, because that's how I block my hats. Not this time: Now it's longer and thinner