My Pattern Experience - Fishtail Lace Slouchy Hat

My Pattern Experience:  Fishtail Lace Slouchy Hat

This is a knit hat that you will love to work up.  I made it in about an evening and it's so comfy and perfectly slouchy that you'll want to wear it every day.  I made mine in this lovely indie dyed yarn that I obtained at Stitches Midwest.  It was a sport weight yarn and it was perfect for this pattern.  I think if you were to use a worsted weight yarn, it would be too thick to show off the lovely lace pattern.  I would also love to do this in a fuzzy lightweight yarn because I think it would be heavenly!  I highly recommend this pattern to anyone who would like to try their hand at knitting a hat!!!

My Pattern Experience: The Vortex Hat {knit pattern review}

When I do my Christmas crafting, sometimes I know exactly what to make someone and other times it takes a sudden hit of inspiration to get there.  Last summer when I went to Stitches Midwest, I picked up a pattern for The Vortex Hat from the Halos of Hope booth.  You can download the pattern free on Ravelry.  I didn't do anything with it at the time, just added it to my "someday-to-try" pattern pile.  When I needed some inspiration for the holidays, I flipped through it and saw this hat.  Instantly I knew it would be perfect for my brother in law.  I had a great shade of grey, so I went straight to work.

Let me just say, this hat works up super fast!  I've only ever knitted up a handful of hats (I usually crochet them) but this hat was very easy to do and a delight to see the pattern show up before your eyes!  I was able to finish this hat in just a couple short hours of knitting and the results were great!  It's a nice stretchy hat, and fit every head that I put into it.  This will definitely be a hat I do again!

My Pattern Experience: Summer Flies Shawl {knit pattern review}

If you're a regular reader of my blog, you'll remember my trip to Schaumburg, IL for Stitches Midwest this past August.  While there, I snagged some really cool yarns.  I went knowing I only wanted to buy yarn that I couldn't buy near me, and came home with this beautiful light sport weight yarn varying from white to dark blue.  I was very curious to see how it would work up, and started with this shawl pattern: Summer Flies Shawl.
I found it on ravelry one day and liked the way it laid, just as a collar piece, and I love it.  It was really fun to work up, with the varying pattern stripes, and the color just worked up beautifully!  I think the only thing that I would change for myself would be the way the end curls and ruffles.  I almost wish that it laid more flat.  I also probably would have gone up another needle size or two, as I like the looser look a little better and this worked up pretty tightly.  I think mine is actually a little smaller than the original. Overall, this is a great pattern, was fun to do, easy to understand and I love the way it came out!
I went back recently to discover that this pattern was no longer available for free, which is a major bummer!!  It's still a pretty good bargain at only $1.85, but if I had to pay for it when I made it, I probably wouldn't have made it and gone for something else.
I still love the pattern and would love to do it again :)