Have you seen or knit this adorable Baa-ble Hat yet? It came out a few years ago for Shetland Wool Week in 2015. Many people knit it. People all over the world in fact.
If you haven’t knit this hat yet definitely add it to your must-knit list. You will be in good company. As of this writing, there are 9072 projects listed on Ravelry for this adorable Baa-ble hat. However, they aren’t all hats. The chart from this has been worked into so many other items. Obviously, there are lots of hats, but there are also socks, cowls, and sweaters to give you an idea. The chart itself as exploded into its own identity. There’s white, black, brown, and even rainbow sheep. People have added a Llama in place of one sheep and I’ve even seen a sheep-dog join the sheep.
Knit this adorable Baa- Hat
I’m not totally late to the game on this hat. I Knit this hat when the pattern first came out as a sample for the yarn store in New Mexico. The store has since closed to a great loss for the community. But none the less, it was a fun pattern and quite a few people knit it after seeing mine at the shop.
Let me tell you a, not so secret, secret. I consider myself an advanced knitter in all areas except fair-isle knitting! I always psych myself out. It’s all in my head. Because I do know how to do this, and I have knit fair isle many times.
It’s all about the Floats
Here’s the thing. I get all caught up in the floats. Are they too tight? Are they too Loose? Did I catch the yarn enough? Did I catch the yarn too much? DId I catch the floats in the best spot? I think about them too much, clearly.
So. What is a float? A float is a common term used for the strand of yarn that runs across the back of colorwork fabric. When alternating which color you create the knit stitch with you will you carry the other yarn behind the stitches you work. This carried yarn is what creates the lines you see on the wrong side, or the back side, of the knit fabric.
To really appreciate fair isle it’s best to do so from the wrong side.
Let’s look at the Floats
The second hat definitely had more consistency and overall looks nicer. As a bonus looking back at the old hat has shown me that my photo skills have also improved.
Not just the photo skill improvement is noticeable with this re-visit. The knitting is better, too. As you can see by the pictures, there’s in my fair-isle knitting is really significant when comparing the insides!
Wow! I’m so surprised by the difference. When I decided to re-knit this adorable Baa-ble hat it was for practice, but now that I’m reviewing my work I realize I’m better than I thought and I need to give myself more credit! As a result I think this has really boosted my confidence.
I now know I have significantly improved my fair-isle knitting skills in 2018. I decided to knit this Baa- hat again to get practice with fair-isle knitting. I’m really glad I did. You can see another fair isle project I did in 2018, the Flat Cat, here.
In Conclusion
This Baa-able hat is a good beginner fair isle knit. I recommend you knit this as a first time fair isle or if you are an advanced fair isle knitter. It’s just so cute!
Personally, this blog post has shown me that I don’t really have any trouble with fair isle. I have to say I may even be ready for something more advanced. Like getting back to my Mitten Advent Garland! Who knows. Perhaps a fair isle sweater is in my future!
Thank you for coming along and allowing me to talk through this project.I’m so glad you’re here. Truly.
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Have you knit this hat? Perhaps you would love to wear this hat? How do you feel about fair isle knitting?
Happy fair isle Knitting.