Red Herring, White Elephant

For all the stupid hype, the mittens are ded. Ded and gone. In replacement, we have this.



Which, if I finish in time, will be for the white elephant gift exchange with my wife's family. Same base chart, just knit three times over and with acrylic. If I'm giving it away as a joke gift, no sense wasting good wool.

And now as I look at the photo, it will probably end up way too f$cking tall. #%$%^@#&*!

FO: Habitat

Pattern: Habitat
Source: brooklyn tweed
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Lettuce
Needle: Knit Picks Options, size 7 & 8
Started: January 1, 2010
Finished: January 31, 2010
Mods:
Ravel It!

If my claim to a Gordie Howe hat trick is to have a leg to stand on, this hat is essential. It ended up being my fight. I pretty much knit the hat twice. The first time through, I didn't knit the ribbing tall enough for my liking. It didn't quite cover my ears, which by now you should know is very important. I let it sit for awhile, like to two hockey fighters circling each other on the ice shift after shift. Finally, I dropped the gloves and frogged the darn thing.

On the second go-round, I got the ribbing long enough, but the cable chart gave me fits. I think I took it for granted because I had knit it once already. Also, I was probably more distracted the second time, since I originally started knitting during Christmas/New Year's break.

I finally finished the hat on the last day of the month only to realize that for as beautiful a hat it is with all the gorgeous cables, half the hat is ribbing! Ugh! At this point I'm calling it done, with a chance of being reknit later on.

FO: Blue Aran Toque

Pattern: Irish Moss Toque
Yarn: Cascade 220, Blue Velvet
Needle: Knit Picks Options, size 6 & 7
Started: January 12, 2010
Finished: January 18, 2010
Mods: Knit the brim extra long, changed cable crosses
Ravel It!

This was the third hat I knit for the 2010 Hat Trick. I love cables and really fell in love with the design when I saw it on Ravelry. I also liked the idea of folded brim as I sometimes have trouble getting hats just the right length. They either don't cover my ears or slip down and cover my eyes. I haven't worn this one out yet, but I think it'll avoid those problems.

The blue yarn really makes the cables and seed stitch pop, which I totally love. What I wasn't totally excited about were the decreases. They're not evenly spaced over the pattern, so they almost formed corners on the hat where they began. Blocking helped as does actually wearing the hat. The yarn stretches to fit my head and the 'corners' go away.

I made two modifications to the pattern. First, I knit the ribbing deeper than called for since I need to lengthen most hat patterns anyway. Even though the brim is folded - and therefore longer than normal - I didn't want to end up with a really small fold. Second, I changed the way the large cable crossed on row 1 and row 13. It just made more sense in my brain that way, it makes the cable look more 'woven' which is what I like.

FO: Swatch Cap

Pattern: Elizabeth Zimmerman's swatch cap
Source: Knitting Workshop
Yarn: Bartlettyarns Fisherman 2-Ply in Medium Sheeps Gray
Needle: Knit Picks Options, size 8
Started: January 16, 2010
Finished: January 18, 2010
Mods: none
Ravel It!

This one is, admittedly, pretty darn boring. One of those goals where you just lull the defense and goalie to sleep only to tuck a dribbler in between his pads. It truly was intended as a swatch cap, one to check my gauge for my Ravelympics project. It does fit nicely, although I should have knit the ribbing on smaller needles. The yarn softened up nicely after washing; I actually cooked it on the stove like I would dye yarn since it felt like there was some oil still left in the yarn. I'll keep it around until my sweater is finished in case I need the yarn, but I may end up donating this one. Which is ok too.

FO: Wood Hollow Hat

Pattern: Wood Hollow Hat
Source: Through the Loops!
Yarn: Stonehedge Fiber Mill Shepherd's Wool in Berries
Needle: Knit Picks Options, size 6 & 7
Started: January 6, 2010
Finished: January 11, 2010
Mods: Went up one needle size for body of hat, knit an extra cable repeat
Ravel It!

I. Love. This. Hat.

Another home run from Kirsten of Through the Loops! Every other pattern she publishes I want to knit. I think she might be responsible for 25% of my Ravelry queue right now. But can you blame me? Kirsten designs some really fabulous stuff.

This hat and I had a bit of a rocky start. I began knitting with some Cascade 220 in dark gray and just was not feeling it; the yarn felt too rough for my liking. I totally messed up the small cable pattern, knitting a twisted cable instead of the wavy cables called for. Of course, I realized it about halfway through and totally lost momentum.

When I came back around, I decided I needed new yarn and knew the perfect one. I saw the dark red color on the yarn store shelf and grabbed it up immediately. I love the depth it gives the pattern and it's SO soft. Once I got going again there was no turning back. It took me less than a week to finish the hat. I think it took me longer than that to actually photograph it!

The fit is perfect, long enough to cover my ears and not too tight. I went up a needle size for the body of the hat both to make it slightly larger, but also too keep that luscious softness of the yarn. I think that's one reason the Cascade 220 wasn't working out. I also knit an extra repeat of the cable pattern to make sure the hat fit the way I wanted. Quite a few of the hats I've knit in the past I end up making too tight because they're not long enough. I constantly pull them down trying to cover my ears and they end up squishing the top of my head. With the larger gauge and size, this hat may not keep that bitterly cold winter wind at bay quite as well, but the comfortable fit is a good trade off.

FO: Flat 'at

Pattern: Morgan
Source: Knitty.com - Fall 2008
Yarn: Rowan Felted Tweed
Needle: Knit Picks Options, size 6
Started: November 29, 2009
Finished: March 28, 2009
Mods: Sewed brim to front of hat, free-handed brim stiffener.
Ravel It!

Here in lies the problem with blogging knits so long after you finish them. I can't remember how I came to knit this one! I'm sure I saw it in Knitty that fall when, like everyone else, I crashed the site the day it came out. I do remember having stealing a similar hat from my Dad when I was young, so I'm pretty sure that's why I wanted to knit this one.

I'm not entirely happy with how it turned out, though I don't hate it either. I had worn it a couple times. For me, the Felted Tweed makes the hat too light; like it doesn't have enough substance. The hat doesn't want to keep its shape, instead it conforms to the shape of my head. I also wasn't too pleased with how the brim template fit into the actual knitting. Perhaps my gauge affected things, but I ended up free-handing the layout with some cardboard. The main complaint I've read about this pattern is the fact that you have to pay constant attention to the written pattern because the increases are spread randomly throughout the crown to better disguise them. I can't say it really bothered me, although I do remember having to constantly count the number of stitches on my needles.

I'd like to knit another one of these with more substantial yarn - and something not so warm - so I can have a summer version. This one is more suitable for fall. I did pick up some Cotton Ease for it, but couldn't get gauge. I've also got the idea in my head on how to design my own version. It would be constructed differently and I think it would be better. Also, I want to put cables on the top of the hat. I don't know when I'll get around to that.

Hat Trick 2010

It's that time of year again, time to knit some hats! We started discussing the second annual Puck This! knit-a-long back in November and I've been chomping at the bit to get started. The goal is to knit (at least) three hats in the month of January, but that shouldn't be a problem for me; I had 50 different hat designs in my queue! It was seriously hard to wait until New Year's Day to cast on.

Unfortunately, in all my excitement, I messed up my first hat. I started to make Kirsten Kapur's (Through the Loops) Wood Hollow Hat in Cascade 220, but mis-read the pattern and mis-crossed the smaller cable in the design. I wasn't really enjoying the feel of the yarn either, and I already have a hat with that same yarn, so I set it aside for frogging.

In the meantime, I picked out another pattern I've been wanting to knit for a really long time, Jared Flood's (BrooklynTweed) Habitat. I really enjoyed knitting his Koolhaas pattern with Malabrigo and I planned to do the same this time.

I knit the brim extra long and folded it in half for double the thickness, squishiness and deliciousness of Malabrigo. Hopefully it keeps my ears nice and toasty warm this winter. I love the way cables look in Malabrigo and Jared has designed such an interesting hat both to look at/wear and knit. No two rows are the same - so that means lots of chart tracking - but you don't get bored. I just started the crown decreases last night, so I should be able to finish soon!

As soon as I do finish my Habitat, I'll be back at the Wood Hollow Hat. I really do love that pattern, and yesterday I picked up the perfect yarn for it. After discovering Stonehedge Fiber Mill Shepherd's Wool this summer, I knew it would be perfect for a hat. Plus I love the fact that it's a locally spun yarn. Bonus: I found a new yarn shop near work that carries the yarn I wanted! Heritage Spinning and Weaving in Lake Orion, MI is less than 10 miles from work and was very nice. I'm always apprehensive about new yarn shops, how they react to a guy walking in. Everyone was very nice and helpful and did not once assume I was there for someone else. I picked out two skeins of Shepherd's Wool in the Berries colorway.

The color is pretty close in this photo - berries really is the perfect name for it - though I really had to massage it in Photoshop. I'll try to get a better photo this weekend when we have some freaking daylight! Maybe I'll already have another finished hat.

FO: Red Wings Winter Classic Hat

Pattern: Very Warm Hat
Author: Elizabeth Zimmerman
Source: The Opinionated Knitter
Yarn: Knit Picks' Wool of the Andes in Natural, Cascade 220 in Red
Needles: Knit Picks Options, size 5
Started: January 16, 2009
Finished: January 31, 2009
Modifications: none
Ravel It!

For the final goal of my January Hat Trick, I wanted to replicate the Red Wings version of the 2009 NHL Winter Classic hat. As soon as I saw the players skate out onto the ice wearing them, I knew I had to have one. I had one fortunate false start with this hat before I ripped it out. I say fortunate because after I frogged it, I rinsed/set the dye in the red yarn to avoid ending up with a pink hat. I'm glad I did because quite a bit of dye came out of the yarn. 

My first attempt had about a 4 inch lining in it to double up the material around my ears - I started the hat during the coldest point of winter thus far. I didn't like the way it sat on my head - you could see where the lining ended - so I decided to knit a fully lined hat. Of course, I turned to Elizabeth Zimmerman and her Very Warm Hat. I didn't want to use up any more of the natural yarn that absolutely necessary, so I knit the lining fully in red. The upshot is that the hat is completely reversible. I wasn't sure I would like the purled turn row (the original lining was just folded over) but it does form a nice edge between the two sides and I like how the white edging sets off the red side nicely on the reverse side.

It took several attempts to get the logo the way I wanted it and again, I'm so glad I stuck to my guns and did it right. I tried some practice, free-hand embroidery on the reverse side and was pleased with the result, but I knew I could do better. With the deadline for the knit-a-long fast approaching, I considered sewing on a felt patch. But after seeing how thin and flimsy the felt at JoAnn's was, I knew it wouldn't work. Not to mention the skinny parts of the logo would've been impossible to sew. The felt wasn't a complete waste though, as I used it for backing of the final logo. I believe the technique I employed is called satin stitch. It's basically filling in a shape or outline with lines of yarn sewn right next to each other. If you look at a store-bought, machine-knit cap, you can see a more refined version of this, and that's what I set out to duplicate. I'm cooking up another post that goes into further detail of the process.

The final verdict is absolute love, and quite possibly my best FO to date.

FO: Yzerman Aran Hat

Pattern: Fishtrap Aran Hat (January)
Author: Elizabeth Zimmerman
Source: Knitter's Almanac
Yarn: Cascade 220 in charcoal
Needles: Knit Picks Options, size 7
Started: January 11, 2009
Finished: January 18, 2009
Modifications: none
Ravel It!

This is goal #4 in the January Hat Trick KAL. I plan to knit the Aran Cardigan from the January chapter of Knitter's Almanac, but I definitely wanted to practice the pattern first. The hat still needs to be blocked, but I love how it fits. I'm not sure if the fishtrap pattern pulled up or the ribbed cables at the sides pushed down, but the result is a very handy brim edge. The ribbed cables extend just enough to cover my ears comfortably while the front and back of the hat sit up a little higher, so it doesn't slip down to cover my eyes and it doesn't bunch up in the back. The cables at the side also give some extra thickness for even warmer ears. 

You may be wondering about the name I chose for this hat. I try to come up with interesting names for most of my projects rather than just calling them by the pattern name. This project is named after Steve Yzerman, arguably the best hockey player in Detroit Red Wings history.

The decreases for the top of the hat were a bit tricky. In the Knitter's Almanac, Elizabeth Zimmerman simply states, "bring the hat to some type of close at the top," thus leaving everything up to the knitter. I knew I wanted to preserve the cable patterns a long as possible, so I had to get creative. 

The main fishtrap pattern forms diamond-like points on the side with purl stitches for a background. A plain purl column separates columns of twisted knit stitches on either side. I knit two full repeats of the fishtrap pattern before beginning decreases with a p2tog at both edges. This still left a purl column separating the main motif from the twisted rib next to it, and followed nicely with the diamond shape of the fishtrap. I also worked a double decrease in the center of the pattern and repeated all decreases for the other side of the hat, to eliminate 8 stitches per decrease row. 

I repeated the decreases every other row until 60 stitches remained, where I stopped knitting a plain row in between. I also changed to centered double decreases at four points: the center of the fishtrap at front & back and the center of the ribbed cable pattern at both sides. I continued this way until 18 stitches remained and - following the trick I learned from my pocket hat - grafted these together for a flat top. I'm not quite sure how I ended up with 18 stitches down from 60 (42 is not a multiple of 8) but that's ok. It's a swatch after all.

FOs: 5-Hole Pocket Hat & One Good Turn Deserves Another

Hat Trick complete!


Pattern: 8-trick pocket hat
Author: TECHknitter
Source: TECHknitting
Yarn: Cascade 220 in burnt orange, marine, yellow, charcoal and red
Needles: Knit Picks Options, size 5 & 6
Started: January 2, 2009
Finished: January 7, 2009
Modifications: none
Ravel It!

I've been wanting to make this hat since seeing it on TECHknitter's blog last February. I knew I had enough Cascade 220 to make it work, I just needed the motivation of the January Hat Trick to get started. I was pretty surprised with how little of each color I used. The yarn was leftover from various projects and I still have enough for at least one, maybe two more hats.

I knit the brim on size 6 needles, but decided to switch to size 5 for a bit tighter gauge for the body of the hat. I'm glad I did. The hat hugs my head nicely, not too tight and not too loose. The only part of the fit I don't like is the top. It really needs to be ripped out and made shorter for two reasons. One, with the brim positioned just below my ears, the top sticks up and looks goofy. I prefer a hat to fit snugly on the top of my head and to do so now bunches the hat in back. Two, the extra room up top allows the hat to shift around while I'm wearing it. We got 6+ inches of snow this weekend and I wore the hat while shoveling. I had to continually re-adjust the hat to keep it out of my eyes. Luckily, the pattern accounts for size adjustments all in the last 'stripe' at the top of the hat, so I won't have to redo the whole thing.


Pattern: Turn a Square
Author: Jared Flood
Source: b r o o k l y n t w e e d
Yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in black & Noro Silk Garden in 252
Needles: Knit Picks Options, size 7
Started: January 10, 2009
Finished: January 11, 2009
Modifications: knit two stitches between crown decreases
Ravel It!

To complete the hat trick, I took the easy way out.* My first Turn a Square went so quickly, I knew I could whip out another easily. I happened across some leftover Wool of the Andes in my stash this weekend and - after seeing how little yarn my first TaS took - thought it would be enough to make another hat. To better ensure I wouldn't run out though, I switched things up and knitted only 2 rounds in the main color and 3 rounds in the contrast color. I was right to do so, I only had a few yards of the black yarn left when finished. 

I had a bit of difficulty with the decreases on my first attempt at this pattern, so I decided to try something different. I knit two stitches between the decreases to try and eliminate the gaps that formed the first time. I'd say it was a success, but had one unexpected side effect. The normal raglan decreases form the titular square on top of the hat. Putting extra stitches between these in effect rounded the corners of that square. If I were to knit this pattern again - and I think I have just enough Silk Garden to do it - I would move the decreases so they lay in the middle of a needle rather than at the end to better close up the gaps.

All in all, the January Hat Trick was (and still is!) a lot of fun. I've really enjoyed seeing everyone else's hats and getting to know members of the Puck This! group on Ravelry better. Thanks to Lolly and Mesange for putting this together. I look forward to more great KALs with this group.

Finally, I leave you with an outtake from this weekend's hat photo session:


She was so fired up, she wouldn't sit still for a photo

*I've since cast on for the Aran Swatch Cap I originally queued to complete my hat trick. I fully intend to finish with 4 goals this month.

FO: Top Shelf Turn a Square

Pattern: Turn a Square
Author: Jared Flood
Source: b r o o k l y n t w e e d
Yarn: Cascade 220 & Noro Silk Garden
Needles: Knit Picks Options, size 6 & 7
Started: January 1, 2009
Finished: January 2, 2009
Modifications: none
Ravel It!

My first FO of the new year and boy did I get it in early! I cast on shortly after midnight passed on New Years Eve, knit all through the 2009 Winter Classic (Go Wings!) and finished just before 3 a.m. Hey, I was on a roll!

This is the first of at least three hats I plan to make this month as part of the January Hat Trick KAL in the Puck This! group on Ravelry. If you knit three hats, they're all put into a poll to be voted on by group members and the top vote getter wins a prize. I'm not in it for the prize, I'm sure my hats will be more on the boring/simple side, but so far it's been great fun to read all the chatter about hat patterns, yarns and goals.

I made sure to knit this pattern long enough to cover my ears. When I originally knit my orange Koolhaas, it covered my ears, but after weeks of wear, it seems to have shrunk up. It also needs to be washed and blocked again, so I wanted to have a replacement hat ready in case it doesn't dry in time.

For some reason, the skein of Cascade 220 I used here is Really Soft. I don't find Cascade 220 to be scratchy by any means, but this particular skein was remarkable. Combined with the Noro Silk Garden, I ended up with a very cozy hat. I was a little unsure how the colors would stripe and work together, but I'm VERY happy with the result. I even have enough yarn left over for a second hat.

FO: Zeebee

Pattern: Zeebee
Author: Schmeebot
Yarn: Knit Picks Shamrock in Doyle
Needles: Knit Picks Options, size 8
Started: September 6, 2008
Finished: September 8, 2008
Photographed: September 9, 2008
Modifications: I modified the instructions to repeat steps 6-14, also to finish with 22, then 20 rows and repeat
Ravel It!

Another reaffirmation of my love for garter stitch, I even love the raw knitted edge rather than a nice, smooth, slipped stitch edge.

The pattern
The instructions have you knit 8 total sections around the circumference of the hat using short rows to shape the crown. The first wedge has progressively shorter rows with the second section working back up towards the crown with increasingly longer rows. I flipped every second section around and just knitted straight back to the crown after completing the first wedge. I felt it gave a rounder shape to the crown. Oh yeah, by the way, I figured that out because I knit this beanie twice. The first time was too big all around, the second attempt fits perfectly. I guess that shows I can learn from my mistakes.

In order to end up with a completely seamless beanie, the pattern starts with a provisional crochet cast on. Never worked one of those before, but no problem there. The other half of seamless hat equation then, would be garter stitch kitchener. Whaaaa?! Of course, I hit the internet and was relieved to find this wonderful tutorial (PDF). Looks easy right? Right. The pattern instructions hold your hand with explicit instructions on how to orient the stitches on your needles to avoid a telltale indent at the brim edge. I don't know how, but I beefed it. Oh well, at least the rest of the seam turned out right.

The yarn
The was the third time I've used Shamrock. I know from the scarf I have that it's warm enough, but I also know from the neck warmer I made that it gives off a lot of fuzz. What I found out this time around was the colors in Doyle are kinda weird. Light blue and brown together, it's become increasingly popular in recent years. Brown and white, sure why not? A simple combination. Even orange and brown works for me, they're both warm colors and the orange is not shockingly bright. But all in the same yarn? It's almost one color too many. I say almost because I'm just weird enough to wear it anyway :)