Hats off to February - Knitting With The Wool Mill

I was hungry for inspiration on cold winter day. I knew I needed some sort of small project, and I wanted it to involve knitting. The holidays were winding down so it wasn't obvious what to work on next. I had also recently moved, and more than 80% of my belongings were still in storage. The itch to knit was both inconvenient and sensible. I was craving something to soothe the stress of relocation and felt disconnected from my stash.

An ad in my social media feed caught my attention. It was a short description of a contest of sorts being hosted by The Wool Mill.

Only one skein of yarn per person.

Yarn must be made into a hat and returned [...]

All hats become property of The Wool Mill to be sold as a fundraiser for The Warming Center in Bozeman, MT.

Design, color, creation are all up to you. Let your imagination go!

This sounded perfect. The wool would be sent and I simply had to follow where my inspiration took me. Then I could send it away to be of use to somebody else as I tackled the massive undertaking unpacking myself was going to be.

I had already made up my mind to participate, but I decided to dig around a bit more to learn about where this yarn was coming from and the organization it was fundraising for.

The Wool Mill is located in Montana on Serenity Sheep Farm Stay.

We raise Shetland/Romney cross sheep, chickens, pigs, a few calves and goats. Throw in a llama, miniature mule and some turkeys and we are just about complete.

The farm and mill a destination spots in itself, but there are some fun perks for the remote customer as well. For instance, you can be assured that you are supporting green energy by purchasing your yarn from this place.

All of the mill power comes from the sun!

When I got the wool, I was informed by my mother that she wasn't aware I knew about the contest. She showed me her existing stash of other yarns offered by The Wool Mill.

Our conversation changed topics a few times, as conversations do, but eventually the topic of "color knitting" specifically was raised. I mentioned to my mother that I had never done it before despite the interest. I complained I never seemed to be focused enough to invest in enough colors to master the technique. She gestured over the stash of natural colored wool.

"Well treat all this wool like it's colors. They're all natural but you'll learn the technique and how to get the right tension."

That suggestion was the starting point for the hats I made over the next several days. I started off with a swatch to get my fingers in the correct "mindset." I made the beanie as a first attempt to meet the challenge requirements.

I wasn't following a particular pattern. It was some pattern that I had memorized as a "rule of thumb" pattern. You sort out the gauge of the yarn on the needles you wish to use. You calculate how many stitches you need to cast on in order to get to about 25". You knit until it looks "right." Then you decrease until it's finished. Yeah, I am *that* kind of knitter sometimes.

It ended up cute; I was quite pleased with it.

But I have a designer's heart. Usually after I make one thing, I immediately want to duplicate it, but with a couple of revisions. There were a few things with The Beanie's construction that I would have liked to done differently, so I cast on again immediately. I wanted to work out how exactly I wanted to do it again.

So then came the bucket hat. I was very pleased with this one despite its design being entirely driven by what was happening with the yarn and the needles in the exact moment I wanted to advance the project.

Did the yarn ball abruptly end because I wasn't paying attention? Well I guess that was a color change. Did I get a bit carried away making the body of the hat? Well, then this particular hat wasn't a soft curved beanie and more of a bucket shape. The "mistakes" seemed more like choices once executed. When I got a bit over enthusiastic about making a shrug style hat, I was reminded of some modern crochet pieces I had seen online and decided to add a brim on the fly. A mistake had turned into a design feature with minimal fuss.

I am quite pleased with the outcome of this project. I was able to teach myself basic colorwork in a muted pallet. The results are a trio of warm hats using yarn from a small American owned business.

If you are interested in creating your own pieces using this wool, be sure to check out their store. What caught my eye in particular is the 2020 CSA that they will be hosting this year. It looks lovely.

You can also check out the album that the Wool Mill put together on facebook to showcase all the donated hats.