I’ve had a bit of trouble with tension in the past for colourwork knitting, but I know the only way to get better is to do it more. I’ve had this pattern in my Ravelry library for a few months now, and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to knock off both a Christmas gift and knitting practice.

• 1/3 skein* of Autumn and Indigo Local Sport – a sport weight (2) yarn (colour A: Umber 2)
• 1/2 skein* of Autumn and Indigo Local Sport – a sport weight (2) yarn (colour B: Light Grey)
• Size 7 (4.50mm) knitting needles (I used Knitter’s Pride 80cm circulars)
  *The skeins of the Light Grey were only available 56g while Umber was available in 100g.

Pattern by Natasha at Northern Knits and Purl

For this project, I made sure to take the time to swatch since I used a sport weight yarn isntead of DK. While I still made gauge, I think there might have been a bit more space between stitches with the lighter weight yarn than the pattern originally intended. This isn’t noticeable when the toque is lying flat, but if the hat is being worn and you squint, you can see some of the carried yarn showing.

Sadly, it turns out that I need to continue working on my tension. While this hat fit me, it didn’t fit the person that I had hoped to give it to. The most likely reason that I can think of is that my gauge swatch was done in one solid colour, rather than the two-tone colours of the hat. I can’t seem to loosen up enough on the floats yet, even when I make a conscious effort. It’s okay though, I will just have to keep practicing!

While I didn’t manage to gift this toque, I did get to use this project to talk to my coworkers about knitting, and that was really engaging! Sometimes I feel like I don’t really know my coworkers very well outside of our work setting, so it’s been fun to gently break that barrier lately.

Until next time, happy crafting!