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!"