April #2 - Misty Taupe Star

This was supposed to be written and posted last weekend, but my kids were home for Easter weekend.  My son was looking to earn some money and for some bizarre reason I had him paint my laundry room/office.  I'm just now getting everything back into place.  I mean, really, what was I thinking?

I found this pattern on Ravelry and really liked the star it made on the top. So even though it had dreaded yarn overs (which it seems a lot of patterns I like do) I thought I'd tackle it anyway. I also thought I'd try the new Caron Spa yarn that had been recommended a good chemo yarn. As we supposedly moving into nicer weather (non-Illinois states that is) I need to move away from my beloved Comfort for a few months. I wasn't totally thrilled with the yarn since it wasn't as twisted as I'd like and, as least for me, kept splitting while I was knitting. It was however uber soft which I absolutely loved. The other issue the softness created for me, cause I'm sure I was doing something weird, is that the pattern calls for an i-cord bind-off. This created a very tight binding and made the hat completely un-wearable. I ripped that out and then tried simply knitting two rows and then purling five rows with a purl bind-off. Again the binding made the hat too tight and unwearable, so.... I ripped that out and tried a knit bind-off. Better, but still too tight. On a friends suggestion I used a sewn bind-off. I not only learned a new bind-off technique I achieved exactly the loose edge I wanted to match the loose fit of the overall hat. Fourth times a charm? I added a simple crocheted flower with a button center for embellishment.

The pattern, Tähdellinen, is available for free as a Ravelry download. I used almost a full skein of Naturally Caron Spa yarn in Misty Taupe with a bit of Naturally for the trim and flower. The hat is knit on a 16" size 6 circular needle and 1 set of size 6 dpn. Stitches used are knit, yo, and K2tog. And yes, I did use stitch markers to keep me focused on those darn yarn overs.

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