Tag / knit hat

by TechnicolorMom

Time to Pause for a New Hat Design!

See what I did there?

I am so excited to share my newest design, the Pause Time Hat. This hat pattern is so special to me for several reasons. As I was designing this hat last year, the temperatures had just dropped where we live in Georgia. I can’t be a proper knitter if my family doesn’t even have hats, so I needed to get this one knit up as soon as possible. After the prototype was all blocked and dried, I tried it on my then three-year-old son to snap a few pictures and make sure I liked the crown, and he immediately walked over to my husband to show off his new hat. “Hey, Dad! Look at my new hat,” he said. “Mom made it for me!” This interaction just about melted my heart, and I wished I could pause time and hold onto that moment forever.

I made few adjustments to the hat as I wrote up the pattern, including an adjustment to needle size and the crown decreases, and I am so happy with how it turned out. The Pause Time Hat is the hat version of my sock pattern, Pause Time Socks. Earlier this year, I shared the socks and how I had just finished knitting a pair of these for my MawMaw. My MawMaw was so excited for the socks, and I shared daily updates with her as I was knitting them. I am sad to report that the socks that I knit for her have yet to be worn, as she passed away unexpectedly a couple of days after I finished knitting them.

I wasn’t ready to lose her, and I wish time had paused for just a moment longer so that we could have kept her here with us. I still miss her every day, and there are so many moments throughout the day where I see her impact on me and my family. When I read books to my son at night, I see her inscriptions in the front of the books saying how much she loves us and is proud of us, and I hope that I leave these kind of reminders for my own children as they are growing up.

The Pause Time Hat is a capsule for those special moments, and the break in the large cable is there to remind us to take that moment to breathe and remember. There were a few iterations of the hat before I got it just how I wanted it, and I know my MawMaw would be proud of the perseverance and problem solving that went into getting it right.

The Pause Time Hat is knit from the bottom to the top, beginning with a German Twisted Cast-On and 2×2 rib. Carefully placed increases transition the ribbing to tightly twisted cables without bunching, and the cables are continued into the crown decreases. This pattern will play nicely with any DK weight merino/merino nylon blend yarn in solid, tonal, or lightly speckled colorways. The hat is sized for the whole family and ranges from Baby to Adult Large. Photos show the Adult L on a 23″ head circumference. The pattern has been professionally tech-edited and test knit.

I have knit this hat up in several colorways by this point, including the lovely Neon Melon colorway from Teal Torch Knits that matches the original sock pattern. The Neon Melon was intended for me, but alas, it ended up being just a bit tighter than I like for my hats to fit, so into the gift pile it goes!

The pattern can be found over on Ravelry, and it’s 20% off from now until Wednesday, December 11, 2024 with the code PAUSETIME20.

by TechnicolorMom

Hello, 2021!

Hello, fiber friends and readers! It’s been a bit, hasn’t it?

A lot of things have changed in the past two years, but not much has changed at all. We have a new baby boy! He is four and a half months old now, and he is just precious! He is starting to grab at things and hold toys now, and he loves rolling over onto his tummy, but he isn’t quite able to roll back to his back yet. He loves sitting in his Baby Bjorn Bouncer (totally unsolicited and unpaid: this is my favorite baby gear that I didn’t have with my daughter).

Me and my baby boy. He is wearing a Beloved bonnet. Pattern by TinCanKnits, Yarn by LolaBean Yarn Co.

My sister and my BFF also had new babies this year. My niece was born in April, and my “nephew” was born just two days before my son (how cool is that??) in August. I knitted a Beloved bonnet for each of them (and one for my daughter). I can confidently say that this is my favorite hat pattern ever, and it’s only a matter of time before I knit one for myself. The pattern is Beloved by TinCanKnits. For all of the ones I knit this year, I used LolaBean Yarn Co. Soy Bean (shown in ESK exclusive colorway “The Magic Yarnstalk.”) He is wearing the “baby” size, but this hat pattern ranges from newborn to adult.

My daughter is four years old, and she is growing and showing us how clever she is day by day. She knows all of her letters, lots of shapes, and quite a few numbers. She’s been following instructions to build Lego sets and showing us her creativity in building with her Lego bricks, artwork, dramatic play, and making up songs, stories, and characters. She will be starting Pre-K in the Fall, and I am sure she is looking forward to going back to school and being around other children.

I’ve gotten to spend a lot of time with TechnicoolDad and our children over the last year, and we have been very privileged and able to work from home and keep the little ones at home with us. The last year certainly had trying moments for us, but nothing on the scale of what I know so many others are experiencing. Like so many others, we’ve avoided social gatherings, missed out on family weddings, and had birthday, Thanksgiving, and Christmas celebrations with just the four of us. We are eagerly awaiting the COVID-19 vaccine trial results for children, and we are waiting for when the vaccine will be rolled out to us. We are ok with it being a little while since there are so many other people who need to be a higher priority than us right now.

You can expect more frequent posts from me for the foreseeable future. I know you’ve heard that before, so I’ll have to prove it to you this time. I won’t keep you for long today, but I did want to share a couple of my favorite finished objects from 2020.

These are a Boxy sweater for me and a Little Boxy for my daughter. This is her second Little Boxy and my first Boxy, and I definitely plan on making more for both of us! Both patterns are by the super talented Joji Locatelli. I used Hedgehog Fibres Sock Yarn in the bright red “Sin” colorway. I love how these turned out. I wear mine all the time, and my daughter pulls hers out of her drawer whenever it is clean. Yes, we have run hers through the washing machine and dryer, though I know we shouldn’t. I knit the size 36/38″ for myself and the 4 yo size for her. The adult pattern goes from 28″ bust to 54″, and the child version goes from 6 months to 12 years.

Me and my daughter wearing our matching Boxy/Little Boxy sweaters. Patterns by Joji Locatelli, yarn by Hedgehog Fibres.

I started these in September 2020 as part of the Joji Fall KAL 2020 and for the Harry Potter Knit & Crochet House Cup group on Ravelry, where I play as a Ravenclaw. My yarn was purchased from Eat.Sleep.Knit, which is local to me but has the best online presence of any LYS that I’ve experienced. I finished both of these in November 2020 in time for the KALs after staying up until 3:00 in the morning on each of them…I tell myself I’m not doing that again!

Note: Links are provided in case you want to see more about any of them. They are all unaffiliated, and I don’t currently make any monies off of you reading or clicking. It’s just for funsies, but I love that you’re here with me!