Now Norma Knits

343. There's More Than One Way to Fork a Biscuit* (A Hat Makeover)

The other day when I posted about the hat with the wonky cast-on, Jean commented something to the effect of, "Wonky is still warm."

Well, actually, I thought not so much.  I tried it on, and it didn't seem all that warm to me at all.  Soft, but not warm.  It is mostly acrylic, after all.  We had one damnably brutal cold snap yesterday, and it helped me to define what is warm and not warm.  I personally only had to move from building to car to building to car to building a few times, and even with all my wool layers, I could not get warm enough. 

So then I looked at the cast-on problems and wondered if I could do something to make that a little better, short of reknitting the whole hat.  I looked around the house and I found a couple little balls of handspun yarn I had left from my spinning days, and I found the skein of lovely handspun that Jean had given me as a gift a couple years ago.  An idea was born.  I carried the three thin strands together -- two of my handspun (one blue, one natural brown Jacob wool) and the lovely blues and purples of the skein Jean gave me, and it came to a bulky weight that was similar to the Thick & Quick.  I picked up stitches along the weird loopy cast-on edge of the hat, and I added a nice snug ribbed brim.  NOW the hat is warm and functional, and the ugly edge is camouflaged. 

Not only that, but the result is meaningful: It's a marriage of my handspun with Jean's, for her hat drive for the homeless.  Now, that's a happy hat.  Warm and cozy against the ears, and soft against the head.

Hats (and a pair of mittens) are in the mail, Jean.  I wish someone could be wearing it on this frigid night, I'll tell you.
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*If you don't know what this title refers to, see my post for December 7.  Gayle's comment about forking a biscuit still has me in "Gayles" of laughter.

332. Abigail's Manos Silk Blend Hat

We had bad lighting and a squirmy puppy, not to mention that I'm not so much the great photographer. Ah, well. We did the best we could with the photos.

Specs:
Yarn:  1.5 +/- skeins Manos silk blend in natural, carried along with one strand of Douceur et Soie, white (one ball -- most of it was used) This gave a lightweight, but warm and soft, hat.

Pattern:  I just used my intuition to construct this hat without a pattern. 

I started with 120 stitches cast on US 4 needles.  I knitted 2X2 rib for 5 inches, then switched to a US 6 needle (after a brief stint in the ribbing with US2s, which didn't seem to make a damn bit of difference in the gauge) and began the cable sequence:  I made 6-stitch cables alternated with P2K2P2.  I knitted in this manner for 5.5 inches more.  Then I began the decreases, again by intuition.  I honestly don't remember how I did the decreases well enough to be able to write it down with great accuracy.  I pulled in the K2 rows to a K1 ridge.  Then I decreased the cable rows symmetrically, followed by the purl valleys, 'til I ended up with 6 stitches, which I cinched. 

She loves it.  She says it's perfect, and she loves the roll-back brim for extra warmth and coziness over her ears.  She is a girl who loves to have her head covered and to have warm ears in the cool weather.  This one fills the bill, and if I do say so, it is a most excellent hat.

I have a non-knitting friend who is interested in the economics of knitting, so for him, I add this info: This hat took two skeins of Manos Silk Blend yarn (with a little bit left over, but not really enough to do anything with) at $11.50 each, and one ball of Douceur et Soie at $13.00, so the total cost for the materials for this hat is much more than the uninitiated might think:  $36.00*. 

And my time?  Wow.  We won't even go there.  Lots of hours and two sore elbows and sore forearms and a sore neck. 

It's worth it.  :)

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*Of course a hat that looks very similar could be made from a couple of $5 skeins of crap yarn, or even a perfectly nice $8 skein of Cascade 220, or, on the other end of the spectrum, a $60 (or more) skein of cashmere or cashmere blend. It's like everything else -- it's a matter of what one chooses to use based on its various properties, softness, availability, durability, machine-washability or not -- or simply (as in this case) what the knitter chooses to use for his or her own knitting and gifting pleasure.

328. Abigail's Hat, Take Two

Well, that was fun. Who knew I was subconsciously making a Hudson's Bay Hat? I bet someplace in my brain knew, because when I was running perilously close to the end of the gray skein, and I knew I wanted to actually end the hat gray, I scoured the whole house for bits and pieces of LPB for one more stripe. I have it in so many colors it's crazy, but I did not find the right one until I found the yellow-orange and that was just somehow right. It does look an awful lot like a Hudson's Bay blanket, except for the many Hudson Bay blankets that also have a stripe of navy blue, which my hat lacks.  We will forget that pesky little detail.  Anyway, I like it. A lot. 

Some people asked what the inside looks like, what with that striping trick. Kinda cool, actually:

With the push of getting two hats done in two days, I have a bit of a sore elbow, and I was not going to knit on Sunday to give it a rest. But I got another desperate plea from Abigail for her new hat. Ryan (the brigand!)  has permanently co-opted hers for himself.  It's WAY COLD here now -- unseasonably cold, it seems to me -- and she's coming home today. I'm sure we can find something in the closets to keep her head warm, but she wants a NEW handknit HAT. *whine*

So what's a mother hen to do; lay an egg?  Nope, go to the gym, do some cardio, some pushups and some stretches, put on some arnica gel, have some food and wine, and then start another hat.

 

So it's back on the needles.  This time it's 120 stitches (96 last time was too small) and I'm working on US 4 needles. I'm going to do a wide fold-up brim for keeping the ears extra warm, then a cabled crown. No pattern; just winging it again.

Wonder what ever happened to my pledge to knit only for me-me-ME?

326. A Hat For Jean and More Knitting Archeology

My first hat for Jean's hat drive for the homeless is done.  Simple is really where it's at sometimes, ya know? I love this thing.

I totally have a thing for ribs.  And then there is the brown and gray combo.  Crazy-plain and simple, but just perfect.

One of the reasons charity knitting appeals to me is it scratches my Yankee frugality itch.  I get to use up scrap stash yarns and make something useful and warm.  So in this case, I had some leftover sable brown Lamb's Pride Bulky.  I knitted 'til I ran out, and then I joined in some gray to finish the hat.  A totally stylin' stash buster!

Another reason is I get to practice techniques with not so much need for perfection.  In this case, I got to prove for myself that the knitting trick I read about in a couple places really works -- the one for knitting stripes in rib without getting those weird join lines with the purl bumps sticking out like sore thumbs.  The trick is, simply KNIT all the stitches of the first row of a join of color stripe (do not knit 2, purl 2 -- just knit the whole thing).  Magically, it does not adversely affect the rib -- it still continues on in the rib, and yet makes the stripes look so much neater and prettier. Hot damn. Simple and awesome. 

This hat is knit at a tighter-than-called-for gauge for extra wind protection and warmth.  The Lamb's Pride is very warm anyway, with its mohair content (Boy, does that mohair ever increase the warmth factor), but given the way my skin has felt in the wind and cold in our neck of the woods lately, it's all I could think of was to make this thing denser and more windproof.

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While I was hunting down the charity yarns in my mess stash, I unearthed another of my knitting antiquities.

This will wake you up if you haven't yet had your coffee:

 

JUICY!  This is one of the first socks I ever knit.  It's a feather and fan pattern, in Koigu sock yarn in an incredibly potent tangerine color that was sent to me eons ago by Julie. I love it, but at the time I finished it, it was... well, it was a SOCK.  I have not been so much the sock knitter, and I am sure I nearly expired getting through this thing. 

I have really quite a full sock drawer, though.  I have knitted a few pairs myself and I've been the lucky recipient of luscious handknit socks from (in inadvertent -- or was it? -- alphabetical order:  My brain is so organized, apparently, the list came out of my head alphabetically. I noticed that was the case, and left it for our collective amusement.) Cari, Cassie, Cookie, Debi and Stephanie .... and I sure hope I haven't forgotten anybody.  Organized but forgetful, that's me.  Maybe tomorrow I'll pull them all out and show you my little array of socks. I am rich in the sock love from others (and a few from myself), and each pair is my favorite.

But I digress. 

The thing is, I have run across this tangerine orphan a few times over the years, but I had no idea where the remaining yarn was to make the second. Now I have found the lost-but-not-really-forgotten ball of yarn. This is not to imply I have the desire to make the second sock, but then again, that color sure does wake up my brain and make me happy, so you never know.

325. Abigail Needs a Hat and So Do A Lot of Other People

It's the cold season, well and truly. It seems to have jumped up out of nowhere and goosed us all from behind (which I know is redundant, but the phrase just doesn't seem to be complete without the "from behind" language, heh.)

Here is a photo (the one that Typepad ate) of the hat I started for Abigail, but that I have subsequently ripped out because it was too small.  I have suffered hitting a bit of a knitting wall, and have not yet restarted it.

Yumminess.

Soon I will cast on again.  But in the meantime, I think when I watch Grey's Anatomy tonight (which will be "last night" by the time you read this), I will churn out an easy bulky cap for Jean (see below).  I know, I know.  I said I'd be a selfish knitter this fall.  But it's only one bulky hat.  Shush, you.

It's because my friend Jean has made the call.  She is heading up a hat drive for the homeless in New York City. Please go read about it here and in her posts following that one, and if you can spare a hat or two or three, please join in.

When I got home yesterday, I had two wonderful packages in the mail.  Loyal Readers Tayloe

 

and Jean E. 

 

sent these lovely items of warmth for me to deliver to the clothing drive for the migrant workers who come here to Vermont to help the farmers produce the food we eat and the milk we drink.

Thank you so much, Tayloe and Jean!

 

324. New White Hat -- Stat!

Well, isn't that just ironic. I wrote an entire post about the white hat Abigail needs NOW. It was a good one, too. I ended the post with laudatory remarks to Typepad for having upgraded me yesterday and that there were no snafus -- not FUBAR at all -- in fact, I even said how much I love the new auto-save feature. Part of the post talked about the fact that the hat was too small. I then went and ripped the hat out. I came back here to check things, and THIS POST WAS COMPLETELY BLANK. Yup, totally love that new auto-save feature. It rocks. Y'all would have been wondering if I'd lost what's left of my brain to get only the above title and an empty post.  Although that might have been funny, huh?  We could have called it White Hat In The Snow. 

I slay me.  I really do.

26. Two Kids Starving Artists and a Hat In NYC - The Sequel

This poor boy has no money.  He is cold and hungry.  (But he has a nice hat.) 

What ever shall he do?

Zzzzzzzz.

This poor girl is cold and sad.  She has no hat for her head.  What ever shall she do?

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.  ZZZZZZ.  Zzzzzzzzzzzz.

Hmmmm.  Hey, maybe.....?

Heh-heh-hehhhhhh.

Snip-snip.  Die, hated pompom, DIE!

Add a few twists:

 

And:

Snazzy.

Specs:  Snowball Hat from Interweave Knits Fall 2007, sans pompom,  two added pattern repeats for extra depth to cover the ears more fully.

Yarn:  Plymouth Encore Chunky, Soft White

Oh Dear

So a week or so ago, I was chatting online with Abigail. 

Abigail: Ryan wants you to make him a xmas present

 you up for it?

 me: maybe....?

 what's he want?

 Abigail: haha

10:40 PM i'll send you pics, but he wants -- i kid you not -- a pure white hat with a poofy ball at the top

 me: LOL

  

  yes, send pics

  if I can get it right, I'd love to

 Abigail: ok.  i'll send pics.

 

Hm, I say.  The last time he asked me to knit a hat for him, it was something he'd seen in a photograph of Brad Pitt, and I didn't feel up to the task of recreating this thing from a dark photo of Brad and Angelina, toting several kids and running through the airport to get away from the paparazzi.  The focus of the photo was not exactly on the hat, you know?  So I declined.  Or I may not have exactly declined.  I think I just never got around to making the hat.

So the next day I get an email from her with some photos attached.  One of the photos led me to, with a little online sleuthing, find out that it was the Snowball Hat from Interweave Knits Fall 2007.  How he found this thing on someone's knitting blog, (which he did) I don't know. But could you just die from the cuteness?

So I ordered the yarn called for in the pattern.  It arrived yesterday. 

Houston, we have a problem. 

This yarn is probably (maybe?) soft enough for me, but I know, as surely as I know that dried dandelion leaves taste vile, it's not soft enough for Ryan.  Ryan's tolerance for scratchiness is minus 25, on a scale of zero to 100.  Now what?  Oy.

I've got some really great cashmere yarn, but it's grey, not white.  Also, it's a cabled yarn, not suitable for making a pompom (or as Abigail calls it, a "poofy ball"). 

Any ideas?  The gauge is 16 stitches/20 rows = 4 inches in 2X2 rib.  (I never know, when a pattern is written like that, if that means with the rib unstretched or stretched.  Eek.)

Little Socks and a Hat, Do-Be-Do-Be Do

(click for bigger)

Little Lavender Socks for Dulaan
Mini-Basketweave Toddler Socks made from this pattern
Bainin (Irish Aran) yarn, Size US 6 double-pointed needles

Vintage child's sock blockers courtesy of the very generous Rachel H.

Dyed in the dyebath unexhausted and
left over from the last pair of Dulaan socks.
(I am glad to finally get that off the kitchen counter.  Sheesh.)

And a hat:

Lopi yarn, 74 stitches, blah blah.  Not sure what size the needle was.  It was an Addi, just whatever was the easiest to grab when I was going out the door for a bunch of errands (with a chauffeur).  I think it was a U.S. 10. And a one-yard piece of string (the lime green) that was lying on the floor and a tiny fuchsia-colored ball that was also kicking around on the floor.  Hey, that's called "tidying up" around here; I feel accomplished! Obsessive-compulsive I am not. Life is too short and I have too many interests to sweat the small stuff. Those pieces of debris added some colorful punch to the hat, though, don't you think?

Dulaan Items Completed: 22

So about those errands:

Gardener's Supply...  Res ipsa loquitur

...and Costco.  I swear to Yahweh, there are ~600,000 people in this state, total. 599,000 of them were at Costco Saturday afternoon. The other thousand were at Gardener's Supply. Bah! I hate people!  Where's that damn hermit cave? 

Which of course brings us to the Monty Python hermit sketch again.  (long ago when I was talking about my hermit leanings, KnitSteph sent the link)

Now I'm going to clean the house.  CHECK THE DATE.

Hey, it's Kim's birthday today.  Happy birthday, Kim!  No April foolin'. 

P.S.  Bloglines did some maintenance, or so they say, on Thursday evening.  Apparently they forgot to plug it back in, or flip the switch, or turn the breaker back on, or......let's see......what other bad metaphor can I come up with?  Anyway, Dear Bloglines, you are cordially invited to pick up my feed and those of my friends.  Please RSVP by midnight tonight.  Black tie optional. 

Saturday Sky

The snow is thin, the sun is out,
The snow is water, all about.
I'm splashing in it with happy joy.
It's better than playing with a toy.

~ a poem by Abigail S. Miller, Age 5

As the March lion roared yesterday, I stayed inside and made a wee hat for Dulaan.  (There was some yarn-dyeing as well, which I will tell you about later.)

Today is all about being outside, enjoying the blue sky, crisp air, and meltage. It's absolutely gorgeous out there. I hope you have the same.