FO: Sonnet Squared

Pattern: Circle Squared (Rav link)
Yarn: 1 ball of Wisdom Yarns Sonnet in #795
Needles: 4.5 mm and 4 mm DPNs

Stashbuster!

It looks more or less like the original pattern model, but I made a lot of mods. I knit it top-down instead of bottom-up to make the best use of a 93-yard skein. I also tightened gauge from 4 sts/in to 5 sts/in, and adjusted stitch count accordingly. At that gauge, I’d usually increase to 100 sts (giving a 20-inch finished circumference to fit a 22-inch head), but because of Sonnet’s 25% silk content I increased to just 92 to give it a little room to grow without ending up too big. I finished it off with a 1×1 twisted rib, rather than the 2×2 plain rib the pattern specified.

It kinda surprises me that the yarn has that much silk in it. It doesn’t feel like it, and it doesn’t have the sheen I’d expect. It’s nice to work with, though, and despite being a rather loosely-spun single ply didn’t snag or split at all even with my sorta-tight knitting.

I was supposed to work a purl row any time the yarn changed colour, but I only inserted them every couple because the changes were more frequent in my yarn than in the suggested yarn. I wish I’d added one more purl row near the crown, but that’s a relatively minor detail.

99% of the time, the cats leave the yarn alone, but yesterday was a 1% day. I left the hat unattended for 10 minutes while I went upstairs to make tea; while I was gone, Stevie pulled apart the entire ball, spread it out on the bed, then went to sleep with a clump of it clutched between his little paws.

It hadn’t been damaged (he doesn’t ever use his claws) or even tangled up badly, so I just grabbed the free end of the yarn and started winding. He didn’t even notice until I reached the part that was under him. Being his usual placid self, he let me take it without complaint, and contented himself with snuggling up to the half-knit hat.

Twit. I should knit him a blankie. S’pose I should let him choose the yarn?