For the love of purple...

I can't say how much I love purple. Any shade is gorgeous to me. Blue and pink aren't far behind, which is funny, because they make purple! My wedding colors were purple as well. My stash of purple yarn is enormous, and it keeps growing. I even have thought about creating a blanket with my left over purple yarns.

Purple has been a desired color for hundreds of years.  It is known as the color of royalty, wealth, and Christ which is displayed during the Advent season.  In Japan purple is known as the color of death.

My most recent finished project is the Norie hat by Gudrun Johnston of The Shetland Trader.   The pattern is modeled by the lovely Ysolda Teague with photography done by Jared Flood.  What an awesome creative trio!  It is a simple slouchy style hat with sections of stockinette stitch and Cat's paws lace.  Many people who have knit this, have only done three pattern repeats for a less slouchy look, but I chose to go with the full four, and modify the decrease section.  I was a little worried when I blocked it, but a quick stint in the dryer and it is perfect!  To make the modifications in the decrease sections, I purl one row, knit one row, and decrease the specified number of stitches, then repeat until I could tie off.  I did this because it was getting a little long for my taste, but I still wanted four repeats of the pattern.

I have been wanting this hat for so long. It is what inspired me to buy her book. (BTW everything in there is beautiful!) The hunt for the perfect yarn commenced as soon as the book arrived several months ago. I finally found the perfect yarn at the Estes Park Wool Market in June. It is by Creatively Dyed Yarn, Voodoo 2 in the colorway Aim. The yardage is amazing at 350 yards. I have enough left over to do Alana Dakos' Oak Grove mitts. The fiber combination is quite unusual. It is 80% wool, 10% bamboo, and 10% Seacell which makes for a springy and dense yarn with a luminescent quality. The color gradations are perfect for this hat, and showcase the stitch definition and lace panels nicely.  You could even make some thick socks or a small shawl with one hank.  Now that it is cold outside, I thought it was high time to finish this.  (It is really a quick knit once I actually dedicated a little time to it.)  Enjoy the pictures!