Something New

A friend of mine wanted a hat, so she was over looking at patterns and yarn yesterday. I'm very happy with the fact that the pattern that caught her eye was the Something beanie by atelier alfa, because I had been eyeing it previously. It looked like a neat construction, I just had no excuse to make it - until now.

And it is just as neat as I thought it would be. I'm not normally a magic loop person, but I'm wrestling a slightly stiff circular (it's an old Aero, but the only one I had of the right size and length) into service, and the hat is coming along nicely.

See that? The hat's kind of like a shaped ribbon, attached to itself as you go. You're working in basic back-and-forth garter stitch, but coming out with a round hat. Reminds me a little of the Baby Surprise Jacket, but with no seams involved. And like the BSJ, stripes are good. Which is perfect for me, since the yarn going into it is some handspun I had natural-dyed last summer - 4 colours but only about 60-70 yards of each.

I really like the construction. The designer has a matching cowl, but I'm wondering now...can I use it to make mittens? Socks? Suddenly, I see more magic loop in my future. Definitely Something fun.