Relax, Man!

My husband doesn't really ask me to knit him anything.  Every so often, he tells me he wouldn't mind a running hat in a dark and neutral color.  So boring.  In his mind, only dark brown, dark blue, dark gray, or black are the possible choices.  I bought some yarn during a Cyber Monday sale last year that I decided would be marked for his hat and it wasn't at all boring.

The yarn is Hawthorne by Knitpicks in the St. Johns colorway.  The yarn felt a little dry while I was knitting, but it softened after a soak.  Maybe some of the dryness I felt was just the tight twist.  I wanted to knit a masculine hat that wasn't straight stockinette or ribbing.  I stumbled across the Relax, Man pattern and it was perfect - it calls for sport weight yarn, but the fingering yarn worked fine.

I did use smaller needles than called for and did not make the hat as slouchy.  It looks quite slouchy on my son in the photos, but it fits my husband just slightly looser than a beanie style hat.

As for yarn buying, I have stuck to my goal of knitting more yards than what I buy.  I bought my first skein of yarn this year when I was at a knitting retreat last week.  What yarn grabbed my attention enough for me to add it to the slowly dwindling stash?  

This is Trekking XXL in the Kunterbunt colorway.  I also came home with some beautiful Quince and Co. Finch in Belize that was a gift in the goody bag from the retreat.