Pottering Around hat

Black Trillium Fibres came out with a Harry Potter-inspired set of colors in a Merino and Mulberry silk blend that I so enjoyed working with. There is the slightest hint of sheen and it is super soft. It just felt good having it run through your fingers. So, I made my own little ribbed striped hat for Monsieur Henry, going heavy on the Gryffindor and using the tiniest amount of Slytherin. Two things I learned since I looked before starting on ways to effectively change colors without that noticeable jog and to keep the purl stitches from having that tiny bit of new color showing through. For the former, take the right-most ladder and move it on the left needle to knit it together with the first stitch. For the latter, knit the entire first round. It surprisingly does not show at all. All this to say that I am quite happy with the end result and will now commence lots of striped and ribbed projects to utilize these tips. The most challenging aspect was figuring out how to decrease, not only because I couldn't find a good pattern for the 1x1 rib I was using to illustrate how to do it and I was running out of the color I wanted to finish it with. That self-imposed constraint meant I had to find a way that would work quickly and not destroy the pattern. Luckily, I finally stumbled upon a pattern with a stitch count that was close enough to mine that I could do one round and reduce the number of stitches and then follow those instructions. I tied it off early because I really was down to the last little bit of yarn.