UPDATE 11/23/15: Congratulations to Debbie who won a free copy of the Diode Hat with the correct answer of "Indian Ocean." Debbie, please check your email! :) -----------------
I was honored to be asked to design for Shalimar Yarns' Indulge Me Club! I enjoy knitting with local fibers and always drop in and say hello to Kristi when we find ourselves at the same fiber festival. They have marvelous colors, fibers and many of my favorite personal hand knits are knit up in their yarns.
A week from now the hubbub of American Thanksgiving will be past, our tummies will be stretched to their breaking point and the real panic of "OMG Christmas/Chanukah/Kwanza is almost here" begins. Crafters have it tougher than most - we MAKE our gifts. Not that buying people something they asked for or need is any less special, we just require more planning and more time. We visit our LYS, have the hank we chose that will be perfect for whomever we're knitting for wound up, find our needles, grab our pattern and get to work. I'm always impressed by people who make something for everyone on their list. I have a student who knits 15 pairs of socks each Christmas for her family, imagine!
I have a handful of small projects to introduce over the next few weeks (most ideal for last-minute gift knitting) and today I'd like to introduce the Diode Slouchy Hat.
Originally designed for the Shalimar Yarns Indulge Me Club, this hat is available to all, is unisex and uses just 1 hank of yarn. There's something really cool about slip stitch patterns - they provide another layer of dimension to our knitting, are easy to execute and this particular pattern is just a 4 round repeat using only knits and purls, making it easy to knit along to your favorite show or whatever you're binge-watching these days. Knit on US 5 and 7s with 200 yards of the amazing Paulie Worsted, a merino, camel, silk and cashmere blend, I know I'll be knitting a few of these for last-minute gifts.
Let's give a copy of the pattern away, shall we? Answer the below trivia question in the comments section (open to readers worldwide) correctly and be automatically entered for a chance to win a free copy of the pattern.
Which ocean is Christmas Island in?
A winner will be chosen at random on Monday, November 23.
Download the Diode Slouchy Hat pattern here.