Last year Sunshine at My Mama Knits created a brand new colour in her Choufunga 4ply range - Pom Pom - inspired by our shop Pom Pom tree.
Not content with a speckly 100g skein she also designed a mini skein pack of semi solid shades called Pom Pom Party - such a great name.😊
We've got lots of shop samples showcasing these colours (and the gorgeous merino/nylon yarn base).
The Asymmetrical Scarf and Tube Cowl are both free shop patterns. You can download them from the website or pick up a paper copy in the shop.
As you may have noticed when we fall in love with yarn we tend to use it in more and more shop samples so it's no surprise that we have another shop sample in Pom Pom Tree using our new free knitting pattern - Simple DK Hat.
Designed by Sue (aka Woollen Wave) it combines Pom Pom Tree with an undyed Alpaca Silk laceweight called Cloud 800.
Holding two strands of yarn together - a 4ply and a laceweight - can give you a standard DK gauge.
It can also emphasise or diffuse colours. In this case the undyed cream of the alpaca silk subdues the much brighter Pom Pom Tree 4ply.
If you're feeling romantic, imagine fairy lights in a snow storm. 😆
And by using a fluffy alpaca silk you're not only adding a halo to the smooth merino/nylon but lots of buttery soft drape.
But obviously as a new free shop pattern why knit one version when the pattern is so versatile you can knit many.
Using the same pattern and needles, and following the instructions for a close fit hat, I made one using one strand of WYS Bluefaced Leicester DK to give an entirely different look and feel.
By using one strand of DK wool the hat feels much more firm and robust. It has a less slouchy fit and hugs the head. It's more of a no-nonsense utilitarian hat compared to the luxurious floof of the Pom Pom one.
As with all our free patterns the Simple DK Hat is suitable for new knitters (perhaps introducing a new skill). It includes ideas for you to make your own modifications.
The hat is knitted in the round on one size of needle.
It's a perfect pattern to learn how to knit in the round.
You can practice your Magic Loop Technique (knitting a small circumference on a long circular needle) or you can start with a 40cm circular needle and switch to Double Pointed Needles (DPN) when you reach the decreasing OR you can knit the whole hat on DPNs. Or however you like to knit in the round.
There tutorials can help get you started:
An easy and neat way to join in round
Knitting this hat in the round means you don't need to sew it up at the end. You can just fasten off and weave in your ends and wear it straight away. But it would benefit from being gently hand washed and laid flat to dry.
You can easily adapt the size or change the look of the hat:
You can knit it longer for more slouch, short for less. Keep the double brim rib or half the length for a single brim. Change the rib pattern or omit entirely.
Knit for smaller heads or larger ones. The pattern suggests subtracting or adding 12 stitches to your cast on.
If you're looking for a wee challenge, get all fancy with your cast on and try an alternating cable cast on or a tubular cast on.
Stripe, fade or colour block it. This pattern is great for stash busting and using up small amounts of yarn. You don't need much yarn to knit a hat. Raid your stash for some 4ply and a laceweight, hold the two strands together and knit them to get a DK tension.
Or find some DK weight yarn and knit with one strand of that.
You'll need approx. 165m of DK or 165m EACH of a 4ply and laceweight.
Because our Pom Pom Tree yarn comes in 100g skeins with 425m. And the Cloud 800 is a 50g skein with 400m we were left with a lot of yarn... which Sue turned into a pair of matching fingerless mitts (using our free Simple DK Mitts knitting pattern ).
What a gorgeous set. All from 2 skeins of yarn!
To celebrate the release of our newest free pattern we've put together a Floofy Pom Pom kit which contains:
1 skein of My Mama Knits Choufunga 4ply Pom Pom Tree.
1 skein of Chester Wool Cloud 800 Laceweight.
2 shop printed patterns - Simple DK Hat and Simple DK Mitts.
All you need to add are needles.
For the hat you'll need either 4mm x 40cm long plus 4mm DPN or 4mm x 100cm for Magic Loop or do the whole hat on the 4mm DPN.
For the fingerless mitts you'll need 3.25mm DPN or 3.25mm x 80 or 100cm for Magic Loop.
You can buy the kit here (we've added a cheeky wee 10% kit discount).👇
