My End Of The Bargain.

I can hardly believe it, but I've managed to post each weekday this week. Not too shabby. I'm not sure it's a pace I can maintain, but it's a refreshing change from my previous periods of prolonged absence and/or lack of blog-worthy content. What's best, is that today I have a finished project to share! (It seems like ages since I've had one of those!)

A few weeks back, Faye at Buttons and Beeswax offered a free knitting pattern from her store to anyone willing to knit the pattern and post a projects page on Ravelry, complete with photographs and an unbiased account of ther experience using the pattern.

I jumped at the opportunity. Faye's designs all look so beautiful and I was eager to try one for myself. I chose the Autumn Gold Lace Beanie and started to work. The pattern itself is very nicely written and beautifully laid out. It's very user friendly and complete.

My only gripe, if you can even call it that, is how labor intensive/time consuming this hat is. I should have anticipated it; the hat is knit with sock yarn on size 3 needles. This isn't a quick- worsted weight- can have it done tonight sort of accessory.

But, as with most things that require extra time and work, it turned out beautifully. The fabric is incredibly light-weight, and the hat is roomy, making this a fantastic curl capper. I'll have to report more indepthly about the condition of my hat-head after a few morning commutes; so far, I feel like I can wear this hat with minimal curl-quash; always a plus in my book.

Initially, I knit all 27 repeats as directed in the pattern. When I tried it on and looked in the mirror, l knew I was not 'hip' enough to pull-off the amount of slouch I ended up with. So, I ripped back to Faye's reccomended repeat length for a less slouchy hat (19). And, I think it's just right. It should be noted, I have a huge head. If you have an average sized head, you might want to factor that into your plan while knitting and make appropriate adjustment to the length.

The yarn is a skein of Neighborhood Fiber Company sock yarn in the RockCreekPark color. It's INCREDIBLE. Last night while I was finishing at knit night someone pointed out how radiant the color of the strand is and said it seemed to almost glow. I completely agree. In fact, when I walked by Karida's booth at Vogue Knitting Live I felt like a moth drawn to a flame. The colors are intensely super saturated. The photos do no justice to the beauty of this dye.  While I'm sure the yarn would make lovely socks, I'm totally glad to have used it on a more visible project. 

As a continued reminder (I promise, I'll stop noting this after we ring in the New Year) the URL to this blog has changed. I would love for you to follow along with me. If you're interested in adding me to your blog roll, Reader, or other RSS platform the new domain is: www.tresbienensemble.com 

Alright. I think that's it for me friends. I hope you all have a lovely weekend filled with fun, fabric, fiber, fantastic food, friends and family! 

Thank you, and good night.