The Final Countdown

Believe it or not, I have only five hats left-- I finished number 47 last night! Today, I'm going to do something a little bit shocking-- brace yourselves-- I'm going to start my 52nd hat. I've had the yarn for ages, and I want to savor the experience of knitting with it:

Springtide cashmere-- so good it's kind of naughty...

I also want to end up with a hat that I will actually wear, rather than one that I just pet occasionally*, so I'm giving myself plenty of time to get it right.

There have been many times in the past couple of months that I've wished this project was over already-- but now that November is here, I want to enjoy it as much as possible and give these last five hats all the attention they deserve. Let the games begin!


*Not that there's anything wrong with petting cashmere...

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!

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...

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!!!

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 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.

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!