FO: Small Stack of Happiness

My January has continued to be a month of knitting for others, spreading a little yarn goodness around the country. My girlfriend Leah and her family had to move in the middle of a pandemic. I knew it was coming, we talked about it, knew they were looking out of state but when it all happens so fast and you can’t really say goodbye because of the pandemic, it kind of sucks. She is also a friend who loves anything I make. When her son was born I knit him a baby blanket and a little green whale that was bigger than he was when he was born. Randomly in November I saw Lucky Dog Yarn posted a Mickey Mouse inspired yarn.

Leah’s husband Jordan is a huge Mickey Mouse fan and the color also reminded me of the Maryland flag, so I scooped up two skeins of worsted, thinking I would make the family matching hats. I even told her as much and then she said, if I really wanted to make Eli a hat, could I make it a rainbow to match his super fun rainbow coat? A rainbow? Say less.

So I pulled out a bunch of my scrap yarn and pulled together a rainbow that would match this coat and decided to knit the Prism hat by TinCan Knits. I’ve knit prism before for a friend’s toddler when I was learning stranded knitting and wanted to practice. It is a quick and easy knit and a great way to practice stranded colorwork.

I’m pretty pleased with the outcome. I knit the child size since Eli is 3 1/2 and she sent me pictures and it was a perfect fit (I don’t like to share pictures of my friend’s children on my blog, so you won’t see the kids wearing their FO’s here!). Then I saw another pattern that I knew would be perfect for Leah, the Pardus Cowl. She’s a Jersey girl and loves leopard and she told me she was obsessed with the yarn from my Garnered cardigan and I had some leftover…it was a no brainer.

So I knit her a Pardus cowl. You knit it in the round to do the stranded colorwork but you keep knitting and then do the kitchener stitch to connect the two ends of the tube. My friend sent me a YouTube video on how to do it when I showed her what pattern I was knitting and it make much more sense seeing someone else do it. So I’ve now knit two items and haven’t used the intended yarn yet….

So I knit Jordan a Tall, Dark and Handsome hat with the yarn, another TinCan Knits pattern. It was quick and has a lot of ribbing so it can be worn slouchy or folded over to wear as a close to the head beanie. I like hats that are versatile. Added bonus, it is super soft and I know men love a super soft and warm hat on a bald head in winter. Plus, I know some friends who work for UMD that might also enjoy something knit out of this yarn, it won’t go to waste.

This little stack wasn’t what I planned, wasn’t what I had in mind to make but it was another successful stack of knits that made a family very happy. Now I just need to knit a Pardus cowl for myself!