We had another nice snow yesterday.  Snow in March still surprises me given that I rarely saw it in Oklahoma or Texas, but it’s a fairly common occurrence here.  So when David headed out to the store yesterday, he put on his hat that I’d made him about a year and a half ago.

I had made the hat out of Cascade Duo which is a wool/alpaca blend.  It felt really soft and knitted up so pretty.  The problem is that about a year and a half later, it has stretched out a ton and has become really floppy.  Even the ribbing has lost almost all elasticity.  I’m learning a lot about yarn as I learn more about knitting.  This yarn is not ideal for hats.  Is it because of the alpaca?  I’d guess this was the case, but I am not sure.

Here is the old hat in process back in October 2010.  I loved it because the colors were neutral, but still really pretty (handsome?).

So after realizing, how much the hat had stretched out, David asked me to “whip him up a new hat”.

I checked my yarn stash, and I had some heavy worsted from Knit Picks.  It is called Gloss  and is 70% wool and 30% silk.  I just checked the website, and I can’t find it.  Maybe it’s been discontinued already?  I’m not sure it will hold up for the long term either, but we shall see.  Worst case – I’ll have to knit another hat.  Not so bad!

I’m knitting an easy but fun pattern that I’ve not tried out before.  The ribbing is a 5×5, and then just knitting straight, decreasing and done.

Picture of hat in snow.  Although, it’s pretty much impossible to tell that this is snow in the background (beyond the general whiteness).

Since it is a bulky weight, it’s knitting up really fast.  It’s a nice yarn to work with too.  I have made two Gaptastic Cowls and test knitted a shawl with this yarn, and I loved it every time!  Although, I don’t know why I’m singing its praises, as it looks to be unavailable now.

Time for some knitting.  Happy Sunday!