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Yeay for FO Friday! The Basket Weave Hat is done! And just in time, too, weather forecast says it's supposed to go down to 5 C tonight, so, while I don't need a wool hat during the day quite yet, I might start needing one for the evenings soon!
Yarn is a (now discontinued) yarn from Cascade Yarns, at 55% Merino, 33% Synthetic Microfiber, and 12% cashmere; it's a very interesting yarn to work with. It feels close-but-not-quite like Merino; and it's worked up really well in the hat! It wasn't something I would have necessarily bought for myself, but a kind knitter relative was destashing; and gave me an entire bag of this (10 skeins!), which is more then enough for a hat, mittens and scarf set! (Plus, since the stitch pattern is reversible, it will work really well in a scarf!)
I used my *Laurel Hill 4mm (US G) hook for this, but since the stitch pattern is so stretchy, I suspect this hat would be a bit forgiving of gauge wonkyness on the small side. What do I mean? Well, the hat worked out to 17.5 inches unstretched; but fits my 22 inch head circumference no problem, because it's so stretchy.
The only thing I'm not sure of on that front is how well it washes. Official instructions are hand wash and dry flat, but, my ADHD brain does not like handwashing everything, and usually throws all the knits into a gentle cycle in the washing machine and uses a clothes rack (which can dry flat, so there's that at least!)
And yes, it's a good idea to wash your swatches first to try and answer that question, but in this case, that wasn't really necessary. If the hat really, really, alters in the wash, I can undo it (or give it to someone with a bigger/smaller head!), and I'll still have the data I need about how this yarn behaves when washed. Also, I live in an apartment building with a paid laundromat, so I really don't like washing my swatches, because laundry is annoyingly expensive to do. So, I tend to not wash my swatches unless I really think I need to. (and yes, this does, rarely, bite me in the behind, but 99% of the time, it works out ok!)
Do you wash your swatches? Comment below, or join the conversation in the Discord!
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