All American Thorpe

Ear flap hats seem to be all the rage these days and I was anxious to get on the bandwagon and maybe knit some up for gifts. The "Thorpe" hat is a free pattern listed on ravelry that is very versatile. You can knit it up as shown or add the braids and tassels if you are doing it for a girl. The pattern comes with three sizes.

Unlike any other hats I've made, this was knitted from the top down. This was very helpful in the area of sizing. It was knit with Paton's Shetland Chunky Yarn on size 9 dpns. Once I stopped increasing, I switched to circular. As I went along, I would thread a lifeline though the stitches and check the size to make sure the length was good. 


I was going to do the edging as an applied I cord, but being an impatient person, I did the listed half double crochet the pattern called for.

The recipient of this hat was my 18 year old son, Eric who is also the model. He had been bugging me for a knitted hat for a while. He picked out the exact design and color of the hat and it turned it really well.

It's Hip to Be Square

I'm always looking for interesting scarf patterns and have been intrigued by the mitered square pattern. When I saw this group in Ravelry, I wanted to try this out right away. I purchased the pattern and began. 

I was amazed at how easily it worked up. It only takes 400 yards of sock yarn. The pattern is easy to follow and memorize. The variegated yarn gives the pattern a nice textured look and I have gotten many compliments on these. 

The scarf on the right is a gift for my sister and the left is one for me. I am currently working on a third in a lavender colorway that is for my best friend. I can see using the same pattern in a heaver weight yarn if you want something chunkier.