Come Fly With Me

Butterfly Hat by Sofiya Cremin
knitted in Malabrigo Merino Worsted, Vetiver
knitted on US size 5 & 6 Addi Turbos
Ravelers find it here.

I really wanted to get one more thing in under the wire for Malabrigo March, and when I saw this pattern yesterday on Ravelry I knew I had my knit.  Since I saw my friend Shelly's latest knit with floats I have been looking for a pattern to test them out on. 

This was a simple pattern to knit.  And once I figured out the basic idea of a float it was gang-busters from there on in.  I was even able to sit back and watch a little TV while working on it.  Usually, on a hat, I have to stick pretty close to the pattern, but this design was really easy to memorize.  I wanted to make a child's version of this hat, so I shortened the butterfly repeat from four to three.  And because of it, I had to reverse all my decreases, but that was a simple adjustment.  So for Round 4 of the decrease, instead of k5, k2tog, k3 to the end, I did k3, k2tog, k5 to the end of the round.  And then you just continue to reverse every round until finished. 

If you've never knitted floats before here's the only advice I can give, when you knit the floats together with the next stitch on the left needle, use your right thumb to lift the floats up and over the needle as you finish the stitch.  In doing this, you can actually see your work and don't have to worry about dropping the stitch you are trying to knit (which can be difficult to see when you are knitting five strands of yarn together with one stitch).  But other than that, it's really an easy technique to pick up on.  And I think the end result looks really unique.

It's starting to warm up here in Kansas, but I think Annabelle can still get some wear out of her Butterfly hat  on chilly mornings this Spring.  Plus it's knitted in Malabrigo, which is so light and fluffy it's really hard to believe it's wool at all!


----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Denise DATE: 03/25/2008 09:44:24 PM Oooh I love that hat, but I've never heard of floats? Might have to check in to that. And I was eyeing some Malabrigo (how do you even say that?) in my LYS the other day, I've never knit with it, but think I should! Bacon and gruyere scones sound delish. I would love to see some of your recipes. Have a nice night, I'm off to bed :) ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Leslie  DATE: 03/26/2008 07:27:25 AM The hat is awesome! I think you must have some magic needles or something, as fast as you knit. And I loved the "seven things" list. Yes, please post recipes!
----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Jennifer  DATE: 03/26/2008 08:01:39 AM Hey! You're home! I can't wait to read about your vacation... I'm glad you like the 7 things because I am tagging Whimsy and Denise. Y'all gas on it!
----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Myriam  DATE: 03/26/2008 04:13:37 PM Wow-I'm impressed i wish i had been as great a knitter after almost a year. I love that you can burp the alphabet-that is talent :) Your hat looks wonderful!
----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Alice DATE: 03/26/2008 09:08:34 PM Gorgeous! I have never done floats before but that hat is just so pretty. I seriously can't believe you've only been knitting for a year. You're amazing! I agree with everyone, please share those recipes ;)
----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Jennifer  DATE: 03/27/2008 08:45:57 AM Floats are great. I really enjoyed knitting them... Alice could knock this hat out in 20 minutes. ;-) And thanks for the all the support for recipes... I'll gas on that.
----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Shannon DATE: 03/31/2008 12:43:25 PM I am adding this hat to my queue. It is so lovely.
----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: taj  DATE: 11/06/2008 05:51:43 AM hi,very very beautiful hat,never seen such a cap before.i have seen plenty of hats/caps in rib,cable,braids.BUT this looks like a blossoming flower.layer over layered 3 dimensional effect.even the choice of yarn(butter soft malabrigo) n color too are perfect.this kind of knitting inspires me.bye , taj