Made | Knit Vogue Trapper Hat

Well I did it. Every year when the weather starts to cool, I break out my crochet hooks and piles of yarn and make scarves and hats for friends. Every year I get a little bored with crochet and envious of the tight, neat rows of the knitted variety. And every year I try to learn how to knit, end up with a strangely tensioned square, and quit before I can ever get the hang of it. 

Not this year, y'all. This year I went to the library and checked out an unassuming book called Learn to Knit, got some bamboo needles (instead of the slippery metal ones I've tried to learn on before), and signed up for Ravelry. I started on some simple socks, then switched to this Vogue trapper hat pattern from Craftsy. It knit up fairly quickly and without any unraveling (well, save a few stitches here and there when I got carried away and passed the stitch marker...). 

I love this pattern, though I regret not checking my gauge first (I know, I know!) because it came out a little big. The hat is for Mike in his favorite colors, but it fits pretty well despite being larger than intended. And it's warm! 

Here's the back of the hat. There are simple cables along the body of the hat! I watched a few YouTube videos and realized that cable needles/knitting isn't so scary after all! Exclamation points!

Here's the front! I love the ties on the sides and the front flap. 

I was worried I would run out of yarn and then Wednesday night I decreased to 50 stitches, then to 30, then to dons, then to 20, then I was done! With some yarn left over! I then proceeded to take a bunch of pictures and post them on Instagram. Mike was half-asleep, but I made him try the hat on anyway.

Here I am, beaming with pride at my first finished knitted project. I'm officially addicted!

Some more angles of the hat, courtesy of my mini tripod and camera remote. I have a newfound respect for people who take product photos for a living.

I think this will be my go-to pattern for Christmas this year. At $6 for the pattern download, it's definitely worth it if you need a cute warm hat for winter and you want to expand your knitting skills.

The things I learned:

• How to knit in the round using a stitch marker (yes, I'm a real newb)
• How to increase and decrease
• How to use a stitch holder (and what it is!)
• What a cable needle is and how to use it (and that you can use a crochet hook—very carefully—as a cable needle if you realize you need one at 10 at night)
• That I should test my gauge before jumping into a project
• What 2st RC and 2st LC means 
• That YouTube and the library are amazing resources for learning how to knit on the fly 
• I am the kind of person who says things like, "OK, let me just knit one more row!"

When in...West Roxbury

This past weekend Mike and I dogsat for some friends who live all the way out in the middle of nowhere that is known as West Roxbury. It always surprises me how far what people consider "Boston" sprawls; how the GPS tells you you're only nine miles away, but it will take 45 minutes to drive there. But there's a Joann's down the street, so I was satiated. We ordered Chinese food and watched The Village while I made up my very first crochet pattern and Mike napped on the couch from a food coma. Oh, and we got to hang out with the most mild-mannered dog you ever did see. It was a great mini-staycation.

On Sunday we made a big breakfast and headed out to explore the little downtown area near their house. It's basically a main drag of Centre street with a grocery store and random other little stores. We bypassed Starbucks in search of something local, and boy were we glad we did. Sugar Bakery is amazing. First of all, they have a wide spread of goodies to choose from, including whole cakes. We chose a red velvet whoopie pie, M&M cookie, and a coffee to start. And we paid under $5 for it! So we went back for more. Mike's family was coming into town for lunch, so we got them some cookies and a whoopie pie as well and a couple cookies for us to take home. The oatmeal raisin cookie that I had two days after the fact was one of the best I've had. A two day old cookie! Blew my mind! Which blows my mind! So if you ever find yourself visiting/driving through/living/stranded in West Roxbury, check out Sugar Bakery, attached to the Real Deal on Centre Street. And bring me a cookie, will you?