Exigencies noun urgent needs, things required by the situation

I need a distraction. I need something that is pretty enough to hold my attention (and remind me that there are lovely things in the world), but not so complicated that it’s going to feel hard (because I just don’t think I could handle hard right now).

And this really does fit the bill. It’s mostly stockinette in the round. No seriously, I promise. Most rows you just knit knit knit with no counting and no tricky bits. And the occasional row where you do the magic? Well all I can say is they’re easier than than they look.

The fancy bits are all fake colorwork (the sort where you only ever use one color per row and all the cool stuff happen through clever slipped stitches). The only time you have to do proper colorwork (the sort where you use more than one color on the same row and therefore swear a lot) is if you want that star at the top. And even then, it’s only for four rows…you can manage anything for for measly rows, right? I promise, you’ll be surprised how mellow this is!?

The hardest part will probably be picking colors. I grabbed two bright solids from the scraps bin for my contrast colors, and I absolutely love how it came out, but you’ve got options. You could go a bit more subtle by using only one contrast color. Or try using your absolute loudest variegated yarn for the contrast color (seriously, even the hardest to use yarn can be magic when you use it in smaller quantities like this). Or maybe make every single stripe a different color (which seems like the perfect thing to do with that set of mini skeins you needed but haven’t used).

Go, raid your stash, I bet you have something perfect just waiting to be used!

The pattern includes the directions for both hats. They’re written in six sizes (castons of 72, 80, 88, 96, 104, and 112 stitches), and you should feel free to adjust your gauge a bit to fine tune the fit of the pieces. Just be sure that you’re working at a gauge that gives you a fabric you like with your chosen yarn!

For more from Pantsville Press visit pantsvillepress.com.

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