Afghan Hound & Sea Beanie

I have had Sea Beanie in my queue for as long as I can remember having a queue, and I was pleased to finally create this hat for the Afghan Hound KAL that is going on in Fiber Hound’s Ravelry Group.

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Sea Beanie, by Elena Nodel, is a hat featuring a stunning cable design on the front, with thick ribbing in the back. The pattern is a part of a set of nine garments inspired by the sea and can be made with DK or worsted weight yarns. Adding onto that versatility, the pattern comes in 4 sizes, Toddler, Child, Adult, and Large Adult. I made mine out of Cerberus in the Adult size as I knew that color would show off the cables wonderfully.

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The hat begins working in a 1:1 ribbing, then goes right into the cabled pattern. The pattern has graciously included a charted version and a written version of the pattern and even has a photographic how-to instruction for one of the more complicated increases. After the cable pattern is completed, a standard decrease pattern finishes off the hat.

The versatility and enjoyment I’ve received from this hat encourages me to make many more of these for the future. Plus, out of the Afghan Hound, you can easily make more than one in the smaller sizes, which is a great option for gifts!

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Dachshund & Pretty Chilly Hat

In searching for patterns to make samples out of my yarns, I tend to obsessively look through Ravelry, searching for something perfect.  On one such evening, I was looking for a hat pattern to make out of Dachshund, I came across a lovely hat that had a ribbed lace and cable pattern called  Pretty Chilly Hat and I decided that it would be perfect.  In looking over the free pattern, I realized that the designer, Erynn Ziegler, was the same Erynn Ziegler whom I knew from when I worked at the local yarn store and was Facebook friends with.  I quickly logged on to Facebook to message with her my delightful discovery.  I recall sitting with her as she was initially working on the first version of this hat, which was in sport weight rather than fingering.

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After excitingly dyeing up a skein of Dachshund in the bright Dog Days of Summer, I cast on the hat.  Like many hats, it starts off with ribbing, and this hat has a delicate 1:1 ribbing.  The body of the hat is a basic diagonal lace alternating sections with a four stitch cable.  The 6 row sections are easy to memorize, which made it an easy project to carry with me as I traveled.  She recommends repeating the sections ten times (or as desired), and a for a hat made for myself it would work alright as I have a lot of hair on my head to cover.  For my head model, nine repeats would have been sufficient.  (On a related note, someone who also made this hat wrote in their Pattern Notes on Ravelry that their hat goes to 11.  It's the last place I expected a Spinal Tap reference.)  It finishes with a standard decrease pattern.

This hat was a tremendous amount of fun to make, and it's particularly special because I am friends with the designer.  The hat fits most heads due to the ribbing of the pattern, which makes it very stretchy.   It takes less than 1 skein of Dachshund, so it also makes a great stash-buster project. And, if made in Dog Days of Summer, you will never lose it!