Monday, October 31, 2011

Amazing Ski Hat

I worked all weekend, so I decided to delegate hat photography to my husband. When I woke up yesterday, the entire living room was turned upside down to make room for an elaborate lighting set up-- and these were waiting on my desktop this morning:







Have I mentioned that I met this man when I was fifteen? If I am wrong about everything else for the rest of my life, at least I can say that I had the sense to know a good thing when first I saw it. But you probably want to hear about the hat, right?

Project Notes

Yarn: Lion Brand Amazing. I had lots of leftovers from my Chroma Stocking Cap, and I brought them on vacation with me to play. Though I have now sampled Noro Silk Garden, I remain a huge fan of this yarn-- it's just plain fun to knit.

Pattern: Improvised. I was originally planning a horizontal-striped beanie. Then I had a flash of inspiration outside of a ski shop in Rangeley-- ask my husband, a giant light bulb actually appeared over my head for a moment-- VERTICAL STRIPES. I started knitting seconds after we got back to our cabin, and the result looks exactly like the image that popped into my head. I'm calling it a ski hat because it's shaped exactly like the hat my dad used to wear cross-country skiing.

Etc: So this means I have yet another pattern to write up, which looks like it might happen... sometime after this project is finished. Which will be rather soon-- tomorrow is the first day of the final month of 52 hats!

Friday, October 28, 2011

Quest

Boy, at the rate I'm going, my hat-backlog stands no chance! This is hat 39, from August:

It's a little bit demure...

...and a little bit dangerous.


Project Notes

Yarn: Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Purple Magic. The color has to be seen in person to be appreciated-- it really glows.

Pattern: Quest by Laura Nelkin. Very sweet and easy-- I loved the use of short rows to shape the brim. It's also knit from the top down, so it's very easy to customize the fit.

Techniques: I couldn't quite remember how to do Emily Ocker's cast-on when I started this hat-- I've since used it for a couple of other top-down hats, and it really is the perfect method for starting any piece of knitting from the center. Try it!

Etc: The recipient of Quest has a very polished, ladylike style that suits her perfectly-- and I think this hat will too. If I were to make one for myself (and I'm very tempted to do so) I would probably need a whole new wardrobe to go with it. Each hat I've made has its own personality that (I hope) reflects the person it was made for-- it will be interesting to see how well these matches hold up in reality...

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Hurricane Hat

Fall has taken its sweet time arriving, and I've been seeing a lot of abandoned hats out on my walks-- mainly kid-sized. I can imagine a little person taking advantage of a moment of adult distraction to fling off the unneeded and unwanted head covering.

This is an abandoned hat of another kind:


I finished it waaaaay back in early February. It was a quick, easy, knit with some leftover, unwanted yarn. I don't know who it's for. I didn't even bother taking a picture of it before today... but it sure did come in handy when I locked myself out of the house at the same moment I stepped out with hat and camera. Fall has definitely arrived, along with a nibble of winter's bite, and I was grateful to have any head covering, however unwanted, while I waited for my brother to show up with the extra key.*

Project Notes

Yarn: Knit Picks Shine Worsted-- the hated yarn that will never end! To be fair, it is very soft and silky. And evil.

Pattern: Hurricane Hat by Andrea Goutier. Nice, easy, free.

Etc: There are about seven or eight more orphan hats that are still waiting to be photographed and blogged-- but none so forlorn as the sad little Hurricane Hat. It can finally claim its place in the lineup.


*Thanks, Vincent!!!

Monday, October 24, 2011

Shadow Tuque

My friend Maggie is petite, blond, and ridiculously photogenic... which, I suppose, is why no one could resist disrupting our photo shoot:





Or maybe Leah was just trying to demonstrate that you can, indeed, pick your friend's nose... just remember, Maggie, I gave you your hat first!

Project Notes

Yarn: Quince and Co. Puffin-- which now comes in very pretty heather grays. It's squishy.

Pattern: Shadow Tuque by Lee Juvan. I don't think I'd ever seen the word tuque spelled out before this pattern. So naturally I had to knit one.

Etc: I'm finally wrapping up Beanie month... which was August. What's even funnier is I'm still finishing a hat I started in July. But I started my last hat for October today, so I can still claim to be on schedule!

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Sunday morning, 10:38AM

I'm having a super-productive weekend-- I've finished two hats, I'm blocking two others, and I'm on track to finish two more before tomorrow! Whee!

Elsewhere in my house, some people are taking things a little bit easier:

It's a rough life.

Ahem, anyway, lots of hat posts coming your way this week! I bet you can't wait.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Irving

We are having a peculiar fall in Maine. The weather is not behaving in a normal manner at all. Eric and I spent the last week in the mountains, where temperatures reached 80 degrees on Sunday and Monday-- emphatically not sweater weather. I had to make the most of a cold snap in order to show you my new hat-- number 44!

These pictures are pre-blocking...

I just couldn't wait to wear it!

Regarding the count-- by my calculations I have seven more hats to knit. I sort of lost count this morning, began to despair, and had to recount several times before I ended up where I started. Seven left.

Project Notes

Yarn: SHELTER by Brooklyn Tweed-- pricy, but in my opinion worth every penny. I could go on, but I will just say this: cables + SHELTER = awesome.

Pattern: Irving by Jared Flood. I knew I had to have this hat the instant I saw it-- yet I wanted to keep knitting it forever. Very rarely do the joy of knitting and the joy of possessing coincide so perfectly.

Etc: I'm wearing this hat at every opportunity-- unseasonable weather be damned. I think the fit of a hat is as much-- if not more-- a matter of personal taste as the fit of a sweater-- and having knit quite a few of them, I've developed some fairly strong opinions about how I like my hats to fit. This one is perfect-- not too tight, not too loose, just long enough to cover my ears and have a hint of slouch... I'd better stop before my other hats get jealous. There are, after all, enough of them to gang up and start something!

Monday, October 3, 2011

Selbu Modern

Leah and I had ourselves a knitalong some time ago. To ensure proper appreciation of the following images, I want you to know that they were MONTHS in the making... if only because we could not manage to get it together to have both of our hats AND a camera in the same place and time. Anyway, here we are:

Look at us! Red hair, porcelain skin, adorable dimples-- could we get any cuter?

Yes we can-- in profile!


Project Notes

Yarn: I used some unbranded alpaca/merino blend purchased at the Maine Fiber Frolic-- it's very dense and fuzzy.

Pattern: Selbu Modern by Kate Gagnon Osborn. I seem to have a slight crush on the ladies of Kelbourne Woolens-- so far I have knit four hats from either their patterns, their yarns, or both.*

Modifications: I couldn't match the pattern gauge with my chosen yarn, so I subtracted two pattern repeats horizontally and 1/2 a repeat vertically. I think it turned out a wee bit small, even for my tiny head-- so I may need to give it to someone with an even tinier head.

Etc: I think we spent more time talking about taking pictures of these hats than we spent actually knitting them... but it's pretty sweet to have almost matching hats!