Noro Hats

When life is busy and my brain needs a break, these hats are just the thing to keep my hands busy while I sit back and relax.  They knit up quickly and its a joy to watch the Noro colors unfold.

I made a few adjustments to Top Down Hat – Archived by Dagny Lilley.  Using Judy’s “Starting a small circle” Magic Cast On and a single skein of Noro Silk Garden or Kureyon, I cast on 8 stitches with size 8 DPN, knitting the first round with both the tail and the working yarn as per Judy’s instructions, knitting the next round plain, and then increasing 8 stitches every other round until there were 80 stitches total.  Transferring the stitches to a circular needle, I continued knitting straight until the hat measured 9 to 9-1/2 inches from top.  I bound off loosely, wove in ends, and in just a few short hours I had a cozy and colorful hat!

I have a few more skeins of both Silk Garden and Kureyon, waiting for those days over the next month or so when I need a quick and easy project!  These hats are all destined for my “2010 Gift Basket”, to be either gifted to friends and family, or donated to a good cause.

MORE SNOW…

I awoke yesterday to several inches of new snow.  The snow may be cold, hard to predict, dangerous to drive in at times and heavy to move, but it is also quite beautiful…