Ardenwald

I was getting ready for another road trip back to Toronto when I received an invitation from Brooklyn Tweed to preview knit once again. This time, for their Holiday’19 collection.

The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. I needed a project to keep me company for the 5+ hours of travel. I got to choose from 4 different accessories and surprise, surprise, I ended up picking the one described as “cabled beenie” 🙂

To me, cables in hats are so satisfying. It’s just enough to keep me engaged without dragging on forever. I really enjoy knitting it!

Ardenwald is nothing like I’ve knit or seen before in a cabled hat. I got a modern Celtic vibe to the design and together with the name, made me think of Arwen from LOTR…

(Google Arwen, or her chambers in Rivendell and you’ll see what I mean!)

The pattern came with instructions for both DK and Worsted weight yarn which I appreciated. I like having options! I’m the kind of girl who will buy the same shirt in 3 colors if I really liked it. I’ve made the Blueberry Waffle Socks at least 3 times now because it’s easy to memorize and fits well. I definitely see myself making more Ardendwald hats in the future.

I had some leftover Brooklyn Tweed Arbor yarn in my stash in the colorway Sashiko which is what I hoped to use for my hat. Since the pattern calls for 2 skeins, I knew I was taking a risk in purchasing just one. I didn’t know if the dye lots were a thing to think about with BT so I wasn’t sure what to expect.

I checked my LYS, Wabi-Sabi but they didn’t have the color in stock so I checked Rosehaven Yarn Shop in Picton, ON.

Turns out they had it so I just went for it! I pre-paid for the yarn over the phone and asked them to cake it up so it’s ready to knit. I was leaving for Toronto the following day and Picton was on the way!

My plan was to cast on and knit the ribbing as soon as we hit the road and hope that I had enough yarn to last me the time to travel from Ottawa to Picton which was about 2 hours. If the dye lots weren’t an issue, I would have the ribbing done at least and my next ball was ready to go. If there was a variance in the color, I decided I’ll just pick up 2 skeins of another color. I didn’t mind having Sashiko back in my stash since it’s one of my favorites!

This was the best photo I could take on the road. As you can see, it’s a perfect match! The smaller cake to the left was purchased 2 years ago from The Knit Cafe and the one to the right was the new one.

While we were in Toronto, I stopped by my old LYS, The Knitting Loft to pick up a Lovafur Pom Pom. I didn’t see any on their website but I knew they carried this brand so I called to see if they still had some. Turns out they just received a new shipment in! It was my lucky day 🙂

I had navy in mind but I fell in love with this dark bluish grey!

No mods except for going up a needle size. I’ve noticed making this adjustment to most patterns lately so I went ahead and cast on with a size larger than what was called for on the pattern for DK. I finished the hat in 3 days and I am so happy with how it turned out! I didn’t bother with alternating skeins and I also skipped the soak bath. I just sprayed it with a few bursts of steam to smooth it out.