I started working on this post in collaboration with The Fibre Company towards the end of last year – I told them that I’d tried everything I could think of to learn to knit, and had never got past a basic scarf. So they kindly sent me some yarn and a pattern to make a ribbed bobble hat!
The pattern I was using was the Mistake Stitch Rib Hat (I picked this partly because mistakes are usually pretty much all I make when I’m knitting!), which is made up in Tundra yarn – the softest, squashiest, most gorgeous yarn I’ve ever used. It’s 60% baby alpaca, 30% merino wool and 10% silk, and comes in lots of lovely colours – I went with Silver Wolf and Boreal, because what’s better than a grey and teal bobble hat?
I’ve started and not finished so many knitting projects; hats, scarves and ‘simple’ sweaters all piled up in the corner, sadly neglected and destined to stay there, so I wasn’t exactly optimistic about finishing this one. But then, either because something clicked, or just because I loved the yarn so much that I concentrated extra hard, I found as the rows went on I was knitting more and making mistakes less. And then suddenly, the main body was done, and I was decreasing, casting off, stitching it up and adding a fluffy pompom.
Although I don’t think I’ll be switching from crochet to knitting any time soon, it was such a relief to finally complete a knitted project – without being reduced to a sweary, flustered mess! I’m planning on making another one this year in Snowdrift and Salmon – and hopefully it’ll even be ready to wear this winter!