The East Bay Beanie | A Knitting Pattern

The East Bay Beanie | A Knitting Pattern

Welcome to my first blog post of 2024!

I am so excited to be talking to you today about my newest pattern design - the East Bay Beanie. This beanie design started very different than how the finalized version came out, as in, I did not intend to use two colors. However the end result makes me very happy, and I am not mad about the slight nod to buffalo plaid.

The process

Originally, I was going for a quick and easy make that would add nice texture to a table display at a market. Pictured below, the brown beanie was the first attempt.

It just wasn't giving...enough? I honestly cannot tell you what happened from the brown to the two toned one but I am happy it did! Before trying to finesse the pattern, I thought I would go try to source some yarn locally that was a bit more affordable to work out the knots.
One day I was at Michaels and good old Lion Brand was on sale. Something made me pick up Hometown Bundles and Houston Cream, Dallas Grey & San Diego Navy all called out to me. In the store I thought it would be fun to challenge myself to see how many hats I could get out of just 3 bundles. Which I guess was the beginning of the pattern coming in sizes for the whole family.
Fun fact, 3 skeins of bundles allowed me to work up ALMOST 6 beanies and 4 yarn pom poms! If I would have thought out the colors better I bet I could have made the entire size run.

Available Sizes

Which brings me to the available sizes this pattern offers! It became clear pretty quickly that this design could be adjusted for the whole family. When I sent the pattern to my lovely testers, I had written out 5 sizes. By the tine the testers were done I had 6! Just look at the newborn one!

Yarns Used During Testing

During testing was the best part of the entire process. I got to really see how the pattern worked up across a few different yarns and all that did was give me fomo so I had to go work up a bunch more myself! A few testers had held out on some stash of Sugar Bush Chill, a yarn that has been discontinued, and I must say that this pattern works up gorgeously in it if you have any lying around!! A Classic yarn was Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick & Quick, and a luxury crowd favorite - Malabrigo Rasta! One super creative tester even tried it using two bulky weight strands of yarn together and it worked up beautifully as well. What I guess I am trying to say is, there is no wrong Super Bulky weight 6 yarn to choose!

 

 

My Creatively Talented Testers

I've gotta shout out my ladies! I had such a great time working and learning from each and every one and I truly think we all came together to really bring you a high quality pattern that you will want to make multiples of! I'm thinking markets, website listings, and Christmas gifts for years to come!

If you are able to, please go show these lovely ladies some love and appreciate the talents they all have!

Andrea of @ggcuddlebee

Annabelle of @abbylaineknits

Dani of @danisdarlingknits

Erika of @hapa_threads

Janie of @miss.klo.chapo

Merrilee of @kozeekuddlez

Tami of @fishnhookco

It is pretty cold right across Canada right now, so having these handmade makers showing up in your feed will definitely come in handy :).

The Inspiration Behind The Name

One of my favorite childhood memories was coming up to Cape Breton (always the St Peter’s way there, Baddeck way back) and eating Paul’s Pizza Burgers (IYKYK) and dill pickle popcorn. My Nana would always greet me at the door with a kitchen stocked with both. Once I was old enough to drive myself, the store in my Nana’s town closed down and dill pickle popcorn became a hot commodity. I discovered the East Bay Country Market one time and they saved the day with their popcorn selection, and I have been stopping there ever since. And the Sandbar ain’t a bad sight either!

You can grab your copy of the East Bay Beanie exclusively in my Etsy shop!

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