I had the pleasure of “meeting” Clare Devine through working with Lisa Barnes of LMB Designs. Lisa interviewed Clare in a recent newsletter and featured the hat patterns in her new e-book, The Tea Collection. There are 11 beautiful hat patterns designed for knitters with beginning to advanced knitting skills!

When I expressed my appreciation for these beautiful designs, not only did she gift me her e-book, but she also offered one for a giveaway here on my blog! Read on about the hat I knitted from her e-book, then enter the giveaway for your own copy!

Chuy Everyday Brew Hat

I quickly downloaded Clare’s e-book from my Ravelry library and set about picking yarn from my current stash for each hat pattern in the book. Although I pretty much had yarn for every hat, I found this:

It was a beautiful skein of Malabrigo Yarn Mecha in colorway Chuy. This photo does not do it justice. Mecha is a bulky 100% Merino wool and the blues and greens in it told me it needed to be made into Everyday Brew. Knowing this would be a quick knit due to it being bulky weight yarn, I thought that would be perfect for my first Clare Devine hat.

The pattern offered the option of being made to fit snugly or slouchy. Since the pattern called for only 109 yards, and Mecha comes in a 130 yard skein, I figured I’d go for the slouchy style just so I could use up as much yarn as possible.

I enjoy learning new things and Clare’s book offers a fun way to learn a new technique or two. For example, Clare recommends the German Twisted Cast-On, which I had never attempted before. I searched YouTube, my go-to resource for techniques I need to see to figure out, and found this little video that really made it easy. It’s not too much different from the long-tail cast on that I usually use for most projects, so learning it was a snap. The German Twisted Cast-On made the brim so nice and stretchy that I’ll probably use it for future projects that need a stretchy cast-on.

So, I weighed my yarn at the beginning and knitted happily away until I had 10 grams left. (Clare cleverly added that in order to finish the crown, 10 grams needed to remain.) It was perfect!

I love how Malabrigo made this hat’s colors look like stained glass!

And the crown came out pretty awesome, too.

I love how the slouchy style looks.

The varying thickness of Malabrigo Mecha really makes this hat look casual, yet structured.

I’m quite happy with the beautiful results! So squishy and will stretch to fit without binding. Super warm and will look great on both guys and gals. This pattern was well-written and the book is beautifully photographed. I look forward to making another hat from her book soon!

And my Chuy Everyday Brew Hat is up for swap or sale on my Ravelry page to Ravelry members only.

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About Clare Devine and The Tea Collection

Read about Clare, her design company, Yarn and Pointy Sticks and what went into The Tea Collection, in the interview newsletter by LMB Designs.

From The Tea Collection Ravelry page:

The Tea Collection

Celebrating tea from around the world, this collection of hats and cowls will take you on a voyage of discovery enjoying glorious tea and delightful stitches as you go.

Consisting of eleven hats this collection features an interesting range of hats, some are easy and relaxing others great for learning news skills. None are overly complex and each one an utter delight to knit.

All hats can be made from a 100g skein of yarn and the designs feature DK, worsted, aran and chunky weights.

Join the (virtual) Tea Party knit-along in my Ravelry group.

17th October – 31st December 2015.

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The Tea Collection E-Book Giveaway!

To enter the giveaway for Clare Devine’s e-book, The Tea Collection, you’ll be able to choose any or all of the options available to enter:

• WordPress: Leave a blog post comment about which hat you especially like in The Tea Collection e-book!
• Facebook: Visit OrangeSmoothieKnits Facebook page. Likes & comments are appreciated, but not required. 🙂
• Twitter: Tweet about this giveaway.
• Twitter: Follow OSKnits on Twitter or if you already follow me, enter your Twitter username.
• Ravelry: Add my Chuy Everyday Brew Hat to your favorites in Ravelry and/or queue or favorite any of Clare’s The Tea Collection hat patterns.

Each option equals one entry. No purchase necessary. Entries accepted from 11/20/15-11/30/15. The winner will be drawn randomly via Rafflecopter and will be announced on 12/1/15 here on my blog, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Good luck!

I will not share the information you provide to enter this giveaway.

CLICK HERE to ENTER TO WIN Clare Devine’s e-book The Tea Collection
(You will be redirected to Rafflecopter’s entry page)

Good luck!