I loved the two-toned striped 1898 cap I finished earlier so I decided to do another one in two shades of green. No yarn chicken game needed with this cap.
Not sure what happened here but the stitches look a bit wonky.
Add some buttons to hide them…
…or fuggetaboutit? I do have a tendency to over think things.
I’m trying to use up as much of my non-wool stash as possible so, with the coming of colder weather, I’ve pulled out the pattern for the 1898 hat by Kristine Byrnes. Wools or wool-blends would be ideal for use out on the high seas, however, these will be given to teenagers and with the high percentage of it being misplaced or “borrowed”, I will be using acrylic yarn. Acrylic yarn that made its way into my stash either through friends or relatives. (Hey, you knit, right? Here’s some yarn I don’t want anymore. I’m sure you can use it for something.)
Anyway, I’m playing yarn chicken with this dark teal and black. I don’t have a scale to figure out how much yarn I actually have so this will be a challenge for sure!
Knowing that there is more black than teal, I decided to divide the headband part into two colors. 
The black will be the inside and outer edge that frames the face and the teal will be the outside.
The headband part gets folded in half along a slipped stitch line. Those two edges are secured by picking up stitches from both edges for the crown thus doubling the knitting over the ears to add more warmth.
With the headband finished I have 30 yards of teal and a lot more black to work with on the crown to make some type of striping pattern. Will I have enough teal to complete it?
You remember the 1898 knitted cap I made for Mr. Aitch with overdyed yarn? Well, it needed some fingerless gloves for company.
I didn’t have enough yarn leftover and I knew I’d never get the same color to match. That’s why it’s important to get enough of the same dye lot when knitting (or crocheting) any yarny project. So I overdyed another skein of yarn but starting out with a totally different color.
Using the same brand of yarn and the same food dye colors, I wanted to get something that would coordinate with the original overdye.
I added some leftover Rit dye, a mixture of blue and black, from another project. The blue and green food coloring just wasn’t covering that bright coral color.
Close enough for a contrast but still in the same family.
Original overdye
The new overdye
The fingerless glove pattern is the Don’t skid, honey! by Justyna Lorkowska. The zigzags reminded me of smoke and Mr. Aitch needed a new pair to keep his hands warm when he smokes a cigar (in the garage in the winter). 
You can see the two colors on the palm.
Both together.
We’ve had some bitter cold temperature here lately and Mr. Aitch has worn the gloves inside to keep his hands warm while at the computer.
I started with this yarn: Cleckheaton Country 8-ply 100% washable wool in a very beautiful purple color. But not for a man or at least not the men I know and would knit for.
Enter food coloring, vinegar, squirt bottles and a microwave.
I decided to dye all three of the full skeins that I had because I didn’t think I would use the yarn as it was. And because I wanted to.
I used basically the same process as I did here. You can do an internet search for other methods. After soaking the yarn in a vinegar bath for about 30 minutes, I alternated squirting the dye between shades of blue, shades of green, and a mixture of both. (Sorry no pictures of the process.) I didn’t want a solid color so I squirted some parts with just the green, some with the blue, and some with a combo of both.
Once completely saturated the yarn was wrapped in plastic, placed in a glass casserole dish and nuked for two minutes, rested for two minutes and so on for about four sessions total.
The yarn was rinsed after it cooled until the water ran clear and colorless.
Here it is after it dried. This reminds me of the ocean…blues, greens and a bit of the purple shows through.
I couldn’t wait to begin another project. This time it’s the 1898 hat by Kristin Byrnes as posted on the Christmas at Sea|The Seamen’s Church Institute website. Scroll down on the linked page for many free patterns. I should be able to knit two hats with the amount of yarn that I overdyed.
Most of my wool yarn is not machine washable but I might need to change that…
Knitting In Flashes 