Two Hats for Toddlers

This year I decided not to knit any Christmas gifts. It was such a relief to remove that pressure from myself. However, just because I wasn't knitting Christmas gifts, did not mean my niece and nephew had to go without a handknit hat for Winter. The hat for my nephew was easy. I have a few skeins of Cascade 220 Superwash in my stash. It's my go to yarn for kid friendly projects as it is both machine washable and can be tumble dried (which, apparently, is VERY important as kids generate an awful lot of washing and having to dry stuff flat in Winter in a smallish house is not fun). I picked out a good colour for my nephew, a strong blue colour, In The Navy (885).

I knew this would be a good colour on him as we have similar colouring. I decided to go for a simple hat pattern that I've heard people rave about since it came out, Barley by Tin Can Knits. This is a free pattern and it is simple, but has enough to keep it interesting. I think it really shows off variegated and handspun yarns brilliantly, even though I didn't use either. It is a very good pattern for a beginner knitter as it is full of clear instructions and links to tutorials for every stage of the pattern.

One thing I did differently, was to use the Alternate Cable Cast On, as I think this method looks great for ribbed cast ons, especially with hats. Other than that change I knit the hat precisely as written and it whizzed off my needles. I blocked the hat on a balloon and I think it really neatened up the stitches and gave it good shape.

I wish I had a photo of him wearing his hat, because it looks adorable on him. It has a loose slouchy fit and he loves the hat. When he put it on for the first time, this little fashionista (he's not yet two) was admiring himself in the mirror, which tickled me no end. As the pattern goes all the way up to men's sizes I think he's going to be getting many more of these hats in the future, and I plan on making myself one too.

For his sister I was informed that pink was pretty much the only colour she was interested in. As some of you might know I'm very anti-pink for small girls as it seems to be the only colour available for them. However, as I love my niece very much and would like my knitwear to be used, I went in hunt of a pink that she would wear and I could tolerate. I found the answer in Petal 122 in MillaMia Naturally Soft Merino. It's a very delicate pink and not too candy floss for my tastes. I also decided to add a contrast to the pretty pink, by adding a hot pink, Fuchsia 143, to the mix. This also served the purpose of bumping up the yarn yardage I had available just in case I needed more than one skein. This yarn is machine washable, though it can't be tumble dried. When the yarn arrived I was pretty happy with my choices, as it often hard to make a colour judgement online.

This is a sport weight yarn, and I luckily I had found a suitable pattern in my library, Alternato by Woolly Wormhead, from the book, Classic Woolly Toppers. This time the Alternate Cable Cast On was written into the pattern and it was Woolly Wormhead's tutorial that introduced me to the technique, some time last year, and since then I've used it in all ribbed cast ons.

The ribbing on this hat is twisted and this really pops in this yarn. After the ribbing I changed colour to the lighter pink, and still on the smaller needles, used for the ribbing, I knit one round. I then did the increases at the end of the ribbing, back in written pattern, and changed to the larger needles. This hid the colour change really well.

I knit the main body of the hat inside out to make the reversed stocking stitch a bit more even, as my knitting is much neater than my purling. I think it worked out well.

Once again, I blocked the hat on a balloon. This hat needed blocking much more than the one for my nephew. The decreases on the crown really needed evening up, as they were performed quite rapidly to make the slouch puff out.

Again, I don't have a picture of this hat being worn, but I can assure you that my niece looks fabulous in it, and, though I hate to admit it, the soft pink colour looks really good on her. As this hat pattern is also written in multiple sizes I may make her this hat again, as it is a fun knit. I may also make one for myself at some point, as I think it would look great in handspun yarn.

As these hats worked out well, I think I can see myself making more for the kids in the future. I really want to encourage their growing love of all things woolly.

Rikke Hat - Take 2

I have loved the Rikke Hat pattern by Sarah Young since I first saw it, probably on The Fat Squirrel Speaks podcast. I even knit it in July 2014, but sadly it wasn't the right yarn match for the project, so I ripped it out and waited for the right yarn to come along.

Then at the end of August I ordered a skein of Semi-Precious in Granite from Babylonglegs, one of my favourite dyers (she's currently on hiatus but will be coming back). Sarah got in touch a day later and said she couldn't find the skein and was it ok if she dyed up a new batch and sent that when it was done. I agreed quite happily, as I had no deadline project in mind for the yarn (in fact, it's still not knit up). Then a few minutes later, I had a brainwave. I thought if Sarah was preparing a grey dye bath this would be a great opportunity to try out her lovely MesMerino base (Superwash Merino DK), which I knew would be perfect for the Rikke pattern. I got back to her and she was more than happy to throw a skein of MesMerino in with the Semi-Precious.

I wanted to do a grey Rikke hat because I have a dark grey, full length woollen Winter coat. I knew the hat would go with any of my scarves/shawls and mittens/gloves, as grey is my favourite neutral. Within a month, I'd cast on the hat.

I struggled to get gauge on the first version of this hat. I decided to push down the needle size for the brim even further and use a 3.25mm needle, but leave the main body of the hat knit on 4mm. The resulting hat is very, very slouchy.

However, because the knit fabric is more robust than the first version, it sits much better.

It hugs the nape of my neck so nicely and it feels soft and squishy around my head.

The back of the hat has very quick decreases and is then pulled tight with yarn threaded through the final stitches. I like the shape it makes at the back of hat.

The yarn really is perfect for this project and I know I want to knit in this lovely yarn again.

It's got great stitch definition and I know it would great used for cables, or just plain stocking stitch or the garter stitch I used in the hat. I really want to knit a garment in this. I also want to knit another Rikke hat, but this time in a variegated yarn. I have seen lots of versions knit in variegated yarn and it looks wonderful. The only skein I have that may work is Unwind Yarn Company Touring DK in Gracie Pearl.

Though this yarn is gorgeous, part of me wants to use some handspun yarn instead, as I think a handspun rikke hat with be wonderful too. Funnily enough, the most suitable handspun is in merino/silk in a one of a kind colourway from Unwind Yarn Company.

I think this may probably be an ideal match, it certainly has enough bounce. What would you use?

A Quick Win - Rikke Hat

I've been spinning like a demon of late, and interspersing that with socks and BIG shawls. It felt like ages since I finished a knit, so I felt like I needed a win. I went to my queue and looked at what was near the top of my queue. I found the perfect project, Rikke Hat by Sarah Young. This is a free pattern and I'd seen quite a few people on podcasts and blogs who had made the pattern and really liked it. It also ticked my current hat requirement boxes; squishy and slouchy. I queued this pattern after buying some lovely yarn that seemed to be suitable for it. That yarn was from Posh Yarn and was Francesca DK, which is a 40% merino/40% alpaca/20% silk singles yarn, and it is as lovely as it sounds. This means I used some more from my older stash, which is always a good thing.

This yarn was so incredibly soft, every stitch of this hat was pure bliss.  The hat is knit in the round and is garter stitch, which actually means knitting one row and then purling the next. Some people haven't enjoyed this so have either knit flat and seamed up or done wrap and turns at the back seam. Personally, purling doesn't bother me at all because of the way purling is done in combined knitting, which is almost as easy as the knit stitch. I just love the way this yarn looks in garter stitch.

I love the way Tony dyes yarn. There is such subtle layering of tones in his semi-solid colours. This hat is unbelievable soft. I just want to wear it and it's WAY to warm for this kind of yarn to be on my head right now.

This pattern was the first time I'd tried a German Twisted Cast On. I really like the way it looks. I must remember it. I used the book Cast On, Bind Off by Leslie Ann Bestor, and the instructions are on page 41, where it is referred to as The Old Norwegian Cast On. I also started with the recommended needle 3.5mm and really liked the fabric, but the gauge was way too loose. I decided to reduce the cast on numbers to 96.

You work the brim and then go up to a larger needle for the body of the hat and then reduce at the top. I do like the way the crown looks too. The reduced number of stitches meant that the crown decrease instructions were a simple adjustment to make, just reducing the number of stitches between decreases by one.

I adore this hat. It is soft and flattering and unbelievably warm and light. It sheds like nobody's business, but I don't think I care!

I don't think I'll ever get tired of how slouchy hats look and feel! They also take no time at all to make. This took all of two days, from start to finish. It really was a quick win, exactly what I needed!

What I'm Working On and a Finished Pair of Socks

I haven't done a WIP post for ages. I've got into a bad habit where the only thing I seem to be posting about are finished objects. This blog was never meant to be a simple catalogue of FOs. I wanted to share my ups and downs and thought processes, but I think I've been sharing most of that on my podcast or posting on Instagram for a quick "here's what I'm working on right now" photo and explanation. I think in order to get round these omissions I might try and set up a way of posting those update photos from Instagram to the blog. I will try it as an experiment for a week or so and then decide if it is working or not. These updates will be titled as Instagram posts, so please let me know if you find the posts helpful, interesting or a pain in the neck.

In the meantime here are some updates on what I'm currently working on.

These vanilla socks are being knit out of some of my favourite sock yarn, which is from Knitters Nightmare. Sadie's Boogieman Sock is a wonderfully smooth and soft sock yarn that is strong as well. The yarn is 75% merino and 25% nylon and the colourway is Seashore, and yes the colours really are that vibrant! I love knitting these socks and I can't wait to get them on my feet.

I just realised that I haven't shared with you a pair of socks that I finished a couple of weeks ago. I do tend to knit them quite quickly these days and they get lost in the rush. These socks are rather splendid though so I want to share them with you.

I decided after working on only stocking stitch socks, I wanted to make texture a part of these socks and chose a pattern from The Knit Stitch Pattern Handbook, by Melissa Leapman, called Little Boxes on Pg 25. It's a simple and easy pattern and it worked brilliantly with these socks. I adore these socks and I think they will really last because they are a high twist yarn made from Blue Faced Leicester and Nylon, which is sturdy stuff! The yarn is Hedgehog Fibres Twist Sock from The Golden Skein's club inspired by the photo Tornado Over London, which I got as a left over single skein. I love the idea of this club and in fact have entered a photograph into their recent competition to be used as inspiration for the first quarter of 2015. If you are interested you can go and vote over on their Ravelry group. (Mine is Butterfly and I would receive the club shipment, inspired by my photo, if I won. Entries close on Friday 16th May 2014)

I know I have a bit of a tendency towards to knitting rather bright socks but after the success of these more neutral socks, I decided I wanted to try some more muted yarns. I picked up some ordinary Regia yarn so I can throw the socks in the washing machine. I don't have many pairs of machine washable socks using my new personalised vanilla sock pattern so it seemed sensible to knock up a couple of pairs. Regia is such a great workhorse yarn. These socks will be worn for years.

The yarn is Regia Design Line Ombre Stripe in colourway 04480. I really like how this muted stripe looks and it's a nice contrast to the Knitters Nightmare socks that are so vibrant. Sometimes it's nice to knit soothing stocking stitch in a nice soft colour. It's calming!

In contrast to all the soothing stocking stitch I have a couple of interesting projects that I need to concentrate a bit for. The first is the Simene Stole, by Melanie Edgar, from The Scrumptious Collection Volume 3 that I reviewed in January. I'm using Fyberspates Scrumptious Lace in the Teal colourway. It's gorgeous stuff and the pattern is pretty straight forward, for a lace pattern.

I've got as far as midway through the 7th chart repeat, in the first half of the stole. There are only meant to be 6 repeats but I wanted to use up as much of the yarn as possible, and also ensure that the stole could be properly wrapped around my ample frame! When I've finished the 7th repeat I'll weigh the skein and measure the worked part and see if I think I can squeeze in another repeat without running out of yarn or making it into a Doctor Who scarf rather than a stole!

The other "thinking" project is knit using cables. The pattern is from Coopknits Toasty Vol 1 by Rachel Coopey. I really enjoyed her work in the Fyberspates Scrumptious Collection Volume 3 book and decided that as I enjoyed her writing style and her design aesthetic I would buy this book, and it's worth every penny of it's £12.00 price tag, especially as you get a digital download code for the patterns on Ravelry included in the price of the hard copy. The pattern I decided to start with, from this book, is Ripon. It's a lovely slouchy hat knit in 4 ply and covered with cables. What more could a girl, who loves hats, want?

The pattern is written to use Titus 4 Ply but I wanted a hat to match the new stole I am making, plus my new turquoise handbag. I decided to use Jamieson & Smith 2 Ply Jumper Weight Yarn in the Very Bright Turquoise (132) colourway.

I haven't got very far, but I am enjoying it immensely. I hope to get this hat finished by the end of June 2014 as that is the deadline for entry into the Island KAL being run by Sarah of the Fiber Trek podcast. The project uses Shetland wool, which means it is eligible for the KAL, as it is an island produced yarn. It's a fun idea for a KAL and it's nice to do some cabling work again.

So those are most of my currently active knitting projects. It's nice to take stock occasionally and share my progress. I will try and do more update posts again, I do miss it. Hopefully the Instagram posts will help fill the gaps that I leave, but please let me know what you think of that idea, both in theory and reality!

Hand Dyed Purple Sockhead Hat

After dyeing my last skein of yarn, the gloriously purple Blue Faced Leicester 4ply yarn, I decided that it would match incredibly well with one of my favourite shawl/scarfs, the Fluvial.  As I had very itchy fingers for this yarn, I didn't even stop to think, and immediately cast on another Sockhead Hat.  I love this pattern, it's simple to knit and the hat suits me really well, and gives me options on how warm I want my ears to be.

One thing I learnt from my last version of this pattern, is that I wanted the body of the hat to be shorter. Instead of knitting the stocking stitch portion of the hat to 9", I knit it to 7" before carrying out the decreases. This means the hat is almost beanie like when the brim is rolled back.  It means the body of the hat isn't pulled tight, so it traps lots of air around the head to help keep me warm.

I adore this hat.  The fabric is even and smooth and I didn't have to block it at all.  I know that in future, if I get a chance to buy BFL yarn to dye again, I grab it with both hands.  It dyes well, without there being too much risk of felting and it is a lovely yarn to knit with.

When I'd finished my hat, I had some of the yarn left over and I didn't want to waste any of it so I decided to add it to my "leftover sock yarn, which will be used one day, somehow" bag. This bag was initially intended to be used to make a Bee Keeper's Quilt, but after a few hexipuffs, I found it just didn't appeal to me as a long term project.  The pile has threatened to topple over a few times, and when I added the scraps from this project to the pile, the bag tipped over.  I decided it was a sign, and found a new project to use it.  I'm doing the Sock Yarn Square by Shannon Geddes pattern, but instead of knitting into the back loop of the yarn over increases, I'm just leaving them open.  I'm knitting 15 increase rounds to get a nice sized square and I'm using 2.75mm needles, and knitting with 2 circular needles.

I think this project will work better, for me, than the Bee Keeper's Quilt.  I don't need another heavy blanket, I've already got a couple.  What would be nice, is something lighter weight and these squares would form a light and pretty blanket.  The pattern is straight forward and can be easily done while socialising. I think you will be seeing more of these squares than you did of the hexipuffs.  In the meantime, I shall continue to enjoy my new hand-dyed hat!

Another Sockhead Hat

You know how much I adore Countess Ablaze yarns, so when this gem of a skein arrived, I itched to knit something with it.  Isn't it pretty?

This is my favourite base of yarn, Countcashmerino High Twist, which is a Fingering/4 ply weight yarn and made up of 80% Merino, 10% Nylon, 10% Cashmere and is 400 yds/365m, weighing 100g.  It is soft and bouncy and feels tremendously decadent when I knit with it, and when I wear it.  I wanted to knit something that would show off this gorgeous yarn and not hide it.  I wanted this yarn front and centre when I wore it because I couldn't countenance the glorious colours being muted by a contrasting yarn.  I have rather a lot of shawls (as you might have guessed if you have read this blog before) and I knew it shouldn't be put on my feet, so that only left a small selection of accessories.  I knew putting it on my hands would be wonderful, but it might cause the yarn to pill before it's time if it was put on my hands.  I seem to be on a bit of a hat kick at the moment, so I decided what I needed, was of course, another hat!  I even had the pattern in mind, the Sockhead Hat, which I have knit recently and wear all the time.

I knit this hat in 24 hours.  I couldn't stop myself, because the little pops of colour drew me on as I knit it. This hat grew quite a bit in the blocking.  This is the fabric before soaking.

You can see how defined the stitches are in the above photo.  It actually made the fabric quite bumpy.  I soaked the hat and left it to lay flat, without pinning, as it dried, until it was just slightly damp.  At this point I stretched the crown over my polystyrene head to dry completely to get a nice rounded top.  The rest of the hat was not stretched at all at this stage.

This is the fabric after blocking:

You can see how much smoother the stitches are.  It made the fabric supple and soft.  It was quite a transformation.  Because the hat grew in blocking, this hat is much slouchier than the last one I knit, so I usually wear it with the brim folded back.

Folding back the brim, not only shortens the slouch, but also makes your ears much warmer.  I wear this hat such a lot at the moment.  It is getting a bit chillier in the UK, and this hat is the perfect way of keeping my ears and the back of my neck warm.  One thing about shorter hair is you get a colder neck in Winter!

As you can see in the above photo, this hat does hug the nape of the neck nicely, so there is no gap between the hat and scarf.

I love wearing this hat.  It is soft and decadent but it is also fun and cheerful.  It goes with a surprising amount of neck accessories, because there are so many flashes of colour in the finished hat.  I thought it would be hard to match it up with anything, whereas it actually seems to go with everything.  I really don't think this will be the last time I knit this hat or buy this yarn, but if I were to pair the two together again, I would knit the stocking stitch portion a little shorter to take into account the growth in blocking.

So, in conclusion, I love this hat and I love this yarn.  Try them both!

Test Knitting Determination

Over the last month I did a bit of test knitting for my friend Elly of Elly's Knit Insanity.  Elly has a video podcast in the UK and she also has health issues, so we are able to understand each other a little better than most.  Elly asked me to test knit one of the series of patterns she has been working on and I was delighted to be able to help.

The pattern is a cabled hat and it is called Determination.  I started out doing the pattern in Rowan DK and was only able to get a couple of rubbish snaps on my camera phone before passing it on to my Dad who does like the hats I make him.  I liked the pattern so much I decided to make another one and keep it for myself this time.  I was able to use some of my handspun yarn, which was a treat, as I've not used much of it, so far.

The yarn I used, was spun from a Hilltop Cloud blend called Mallard.  I spun the fibre in the Tour de Fleece this Summer and I really like how bouncy and soft it is.  It is a DK weight and I had more than enough yardage  for the project, as I had a total of 184m. The fibre is 62% merino/25% BFL/13% baby alpaca which makes for an interesting texture and the bounce seemed perfect for cables.

I used the alternating cast on, described by Liz Corke, which gives a nice elastic edge and is simple to do and has become my preferred method of performing a ribbed cast on.

The cable chart is nice and straight forward without being boring and I whizzed through the hat in no time flat. It was lovely knitting with this handspun yarn and I love how the blended fibres transform the resulting knitted fabric into something multidimensional, rather than a flat solid colour produced by block dyed fibre or yarn.

I used 3.75mm needles to get a fabric I liked, as I have a loose gauge, and did three repeats of the chart. The resulting hat is quite a nice fit on my 21.5" head, as it is not tight, but will not fly off either.  I decided that as I had lots of yarn left over from the knitting of my hat, I would use the remainder to make a pom pom.

I used a Clover Pom-Pom Maker and it took less than 10 minutes to make this very plump and beautiful pom pom.  I love this clever little gadget and have several sizes.  As soon as I had sewn on the trimmed pom pom, I knew it had been the right thing to do.  This lovely fat pom pom sets off the rest of the hat beautifully.

The pattern is available for immediate purchase and download, on Ravelry for £2.50.  It's a lovely hat, which I enjoyed knitting, and love wearing.  I may well knit up another one is a bolder colour next time, but I still love how the handspun yarn looks and think that the pattern shows it off excellently.  I really must find some more patterns to show off my growing pile of handspun yarn! Does anyone have any suggestions?

Howlcat

As the weather has got cooler I have been on a hat knitting kick.  It's not surprising really, hats are essential when you are on a mobility scooter in cooler weather.  Your ears get severely chilled when you are whipping by at the rapid speed of 4mph.  They also keep your hair in check, which is more important than you would think.  It's hard to steer with your eyes and mouth full of hair!

This project is one that I have had in my queue for a while.  I was waiting for the right yarn and then I got a discount voucher for Tangled Yarn and they stock Malabrigo!  I splurged!

I bought a skein of Malabrigo Rios in Niebla.  This is a worsted weight yarn in superwash merino.

I love this yarn, I used it before in a Woolly Wormhead hat that I wear a lot, Camden Cap.  This stone colour is the perfect neutral that goes with everything.  The hat pattern I chose to knit is actually made up of two different weights of yarn, so to go with this lovely worsted weight yarn, I got a contrasting sock weight yarn, Malabrigo Sock in Impressionist Sky.

I imagine you are not surprised that when given a discount voucher I splurged on Malabrigo Sock, are you? It is my favourite yarn, after all.

The pattern, Howlcat by Alexandra Tinsley, is very clever and basically is a "buff", which is an essential piece of most hikers' and climbers' kit.  I thought it would be invaluable when the colder weather started.  You can wear it as a hat.

But it is open ended, so you can also wear it as a cowl.  It is also reversible because of the ribbing in the worsted weight part of the garment.

As you can see, this Howlcat is fairly snug on me.  I think for a hiker, that would be a good thing, as merino wicks away moisture and doesn't smell of sweat as it does so.  Most polar buffs are made from merino and that is why I chose to use these yarns.  Well, that and I love knitting in Malabrigo!

After trying on this item I decided that I would probably wear it for about 4 days in the year as it was so warm and snug.  I decided to offer it to my friend who hikes, and is going to Nepal in a month or so to hike up mountains.  She nearly bit my hand off when I offered it to her.  She loves it and it going with her on her grand adventure.  I love it when my hand knits accompany friends and family to places I can't go, it's like they have a tangible reminder of me with them.

I was sad that this pattern was too snug on me, but I am really happy that I was able to give it to someone who would use it regularly on her long walks in cold weather.  I'm also really happy that I have over half of the Malabrigo Sock left!  I wonder if it's enough for another Sockhead Hat?

Trying to Catch Up

I thought I would write a blog post today.  I need something to distract me from worrying about things that I have no control over.  Let's put it this way, I now know what my family feel like when I am in surgery.  It's strange being on the conscious side of the anaesthetic!

Looking back at my "recent" blog posts I can't believe how little I have talked about recently.  The good thing about it is, though my desire to talk to the outside world may have diminished of late, my crafting output hasn't!  If I play this right, I will have dozens of blog posts that I can write and have waiting to be posted for when I'm feeling less communicative, which may be often over the coming few months.

Today's post will cover the Sockhead Hat by Kelly McClure.  This is a free pattern that has been doing the rounds in podcast land.  It's strange to think that there are trends on blogs and there are trends on podcasts and sometimes the two meet, but not always.  This hat uses a single skein of sock yarn.  It is the perfect use for a single "special skein" of yarn that we often pick up as a souvenir or just because it is beautiful and we can just about afford it.  It uses the skein that is too precious to go on your feet and might be too busy for a shawl.

I have to say that this pattern is brilliant.  It's name really explains it well.  It essentially is a big sock for your head.  It starts with ribbing, moves into stocking stitch and ends with decreases to close up the top.  I used a lovely skein of Posh Yarn that I bought recently.  It is Posh Yarn Esme Sock in the "For You I Sigh" colourway.

Esme Sock is 100% merino which is made up of lots tightly twisted plies.  It has a very similar cottony feel to Wollmeise.  I really enjoyed knitting with it.  It has great stitch definition and I would happily knit with it again.  I think it would be lovely for knitting cables.

The hat itself knit up really quickly.  I think it helped that I had a circular needle that was exactly the right length to avoid having to magic loop, I simply had to knit in circles for a few days!

I was surprised at how flattering this hat is.  I've never been one for slouchy hats until I knitted Drizzle and discovered how well they suit me.  More so than the beanie shape I've usually favoured before now.  The slouch shape is softer on the face and frames it better than a beanie.

I steam blocked this hat because I didn't want to stretch it too far out of shape.  I pulled the ribbing taut lengthwise before pinning and steaming, to keep it from stretching.  Once it was dry I pulled the hat onto my polystyrene head and pinned the crown tightly where the decreases were, before steaming.  I then left it to dry again.  I am so glad I did the blocking this way, as the hat still retains elasticity but the the decreases are nice and crisp.

I love the way this hat covers the nape of the neck so well.  Now I have short hair, this part of me gets cold much faster.  You can pull the long ribbing further down to cover the gap between hat and scarf.

I love how this pattern shows off the yarn so well.  The simple ribbing and stocking stitch combination lets the yarn shine, which is what I want from a pattern for a single skein of sock yarn!

I don't have many sock weight hats but the more I have, the more I like them.  They are perfect for this temperate country.  My head doesn't overheat in a sock weight hat, which was often a risk in my big cozy aran weight ones.  However, when it gets a bit cooler, you can fold over the ribbing and pull the hat down and it becomes a beanie shape with a nice deep brim to double up over your ears, to keep them warm.

I highly recommend this pattern.  I know this won't be the last time I knit this pattern, it's so wearable and uses a lovely skein so beautifully, it would be a crime not to!