Skipp Hat

Pattern/Technique: Skipp Hat by Brooklyn Tweed (8 inch / shortest length)

Materials: Brooklyn Tweed Loft in Old World and Amaranth. Knit on US4 needles.

New skills: n/a

Lessons: I cast this on shortly after I finished my Skipp watchcap (documented here too) so there wasn't much in the way of new learning. I suppose a happy lesson is that you can get a watchcap and a regular non-brimmed toque out of 1 skein of each color, so I now have a hat for myself (my partner commented on how much he liked the first one I made, so I gifted it).

I also switched to two 16" circular needles while shaping the crown, which put less stress on the tips of my single 16" circular (I've noticed they get worn down when I knit a loop that's too small for the cable). Two needles worked well, particularly during the transition from one needle to another.

What I'd do differently: Nothing - this is a happy hat!

Care: Hand wash, lay flat to dry.

Skipp Watchcap

I've been knitting for 8 years but I've never tried brioche and after being blown away by my friend Danielle's beautiful hats, I decided to take the plunge. I gave myself a little challenge where I relied only on written directions to learn the brioche stitch and after a couple rounds those iconic herringbone ribs appeared, a testament to a very clearly written pattern.

Pattern: Skipp watchcap variant by Brooklyn Tweed. Knit in BT Loft in Old World and Amaranth

New skills: Brioche knit, purl, decrease

Lessons: Don't break the wrong/working strand of yarn after your cast on and foundation rows, otherwise you'll end up with a lot of ends to weave in.

Learning brioche is much easier using two different colors.

Loft is a woolen spun yarn which mean it can be prone to splitting when weaving in ends, so proceed with caution.

What I'd do differently: When casting on, I'd place a stitch marker every 10 stitches so that I can keep track of whether I'm casting on a knit or purl. I ended up with a mistake somewhere in my ribbed cast on that I didn't notice until too late.