FO Monday : Alpine Bloom Red

Hello and I hope your weekend was a good one! Mine was fine - nothing especially good, nothing especially bad. It was pretty rainy and cold, which was nice for staying inside, knitting, reading, and drinking tea. Plus, yesterday was one year since Miss Esme joined the family, so we had a little celebration for her - little, because although she has made huge progress, she's still not sure we're not trying to kill her ... it was also Hamlet's birthday, so we drank a special toast to him last night. We miss our Hammy so much!

Anyway, I'm starting this week with an FO which was a long time in the making. Partly because it was colorwork, which I am not well versed in, and partly because it was charted, which I have not really done too much. But it all worked out in the end.

Project: Alpine Bloom Red

Pattern: Alpine Bloom Hat, by Caitlin Hunter

Needles: US size 3/3.25 mm and US size 5/3.75 mm

Yarn: Barrett Wool Co. Wisconsin Woolen Spun Sport Weight; colorways Chestnut and Apple

Modifications: Are you kidding me?

Notes: This was part of a kit I purchased from Barrett Wool Co. at the beginning of 2024. I had decided that I wanted to give colorwork knitting a try, and thought a hat would be a good start.

I have not really knitted much from a chart, so that was also a challenge to me. Fortunately, the pattern was very well-written and very understandable. Though it required a lot of concentration on my part, and went quite slowly. I had to make sure that I was home by myself with no distractions whenever I worked on it! I started at the beginning of February, and finished around the middle of April, so it was a longer project (though of course it was interspersed with working on other things during the same time.)

This was also the first time I knit a pattern by Caitlin Hunter, and I have to say that it was really enjoyable. I can see why her patterns are so popular, if they are as well done as this one. (Who knows, maybe I'll try another one ...) 

The kit was good for me, because there were limited choices as far as colors go - otherwise I might still be deciding what colors I wanted to use. I like the yarn - it is cozy feeling and soft but still rustic. I think this will be a great hat to wear. The kit included a pompom option, and I like the hat both ways to be honest. Since the pompom is one of the removable kinds, I don't have to make a single decision about it, at least not right now.

Best of all, it fits my big head! I knit the Adult Small/Medium, because I figured that the Adult Large might be really large (which now I know it must be), and figured if it didn't fit me, I could always gift it to someone in my family. But too bad, everyone else, this one I'm keeping for myself! 😊

I only used about half of each of the colors of yarn, so I think this would be an excellent scrappy project. Down the road, I may look through my leftovers and make another, you never know.

*****

I hope your week goes well. I have two Dr appts on different days, but otherwise am hoping to work on some of my personal projects, in and out of the house. And I am one sock toe away from having completely empty needles - time to decide what projects are next!