Our First Knit-A-Long

The West Hollywood Stitch 'n Bitch (WeHo SnB) is holding its first Knit-A-Long! We've been in existence for over 11 years and we've never held an actual knit-a-long where we all start a particular project at the same time and watch each other's progression. We do have a talented pattern designer in our group, Brenda Castiel. Brenda offered us a discount on a few of her hat patterns. We voted on the pattern that we all liked the best and Brenda's Leighton Hat won!

Here is the description from Brenda's pattern:  Oversized and slouchy, but with an interesting twist of braids and optional beads, this hat is fun to work up as well as wear. The Art-Deco style of the trim on this slouchy hat was inspired by a visit to Leighton House in London. The main color uses about 2/3 of a a skein of Malabrigo, while the trim uses just small amounts of contrasting colors. This hat is worked in moss stitch (seed stitch) and features a delicate trim with garter stitch stripes, a braid stitch, lace and optional beading for a pretty, feminine look. The brim is ribbed for stability. It can be made in a close-fitting or slouchy style (shown). This lovely hat is certainly achievable for a confident beginner.

That's me, a "confident beginner" as far as knitting is concerned.  No matter that I've been knitting for over 50 years, I usually don't tackle difficult or challenging knit projects. This one sounds perfect. Plus, it's a hat! How long should it take to knit a hat?

I recently organized my yarn stash and separated it all by weight. So glad that I found the perfect combination of colors for my Leighton Hat! My main color is the rusty color. The olive green and gray-beige will be the contrast colors. I might add in a dark brown for the braided twist portion.  Here's a diagram of what I might do:

Looking forward to meeting up with my WeHo SnB Yarnies tonight to see the yarns they've chosen. Ready, Set, KNIT!