Merry Christmas! No, I’m not afraid to say it. Though I do appreciate the winter holiday traditions of many cultures, at the moment I happen to be working on a stocking cap that will look like a country Santa hat when it’s done. I purchased the pattern last year from Knitpicks and started it while visiting my dad. But alas, when he died I could not finish it. Then when I picked it up this year I realized it was a bit smaller than I would have wanted. So I set out to start over, but then I couldn’t find the pattern. Of course Knitpicks doesn’t sell it anymore. But then Amy from my Knittalk group came to my rescue. And so here it is! Thanks, Amy!
Of course, I have no real expectation that this hat will actually be done in time for Christmas. That’s just not my style! Haha. But I’m giving it a good try. The hat has cables, which I love, and it is knit up in sort of a spiral pattern, wherein you shift the position of the stitch markers over by one at the start of each pattern repeat. It took doing about four repeats before the cables started to “pop” for me and I could see the pattern happening. I think I definitely will be making this pattern several times. I was showing the pattern to someone at the skating rink today and nearly left it there! I’ll have to be sure to make one copy for myself to keep as a backup, since I can’t buy it anymore.
When I wrote to Knitpicks about the pattern, they said the designer’s name was Brian Kohler, and that maybe he is selling the pattern on his own somewhere. I’ve done a search on his name and have come across several Brian Kohlers, but none of the sites mentions knitting. Are you a closet knitter, Mr. Kohler? Or just laying low? You know, I just got this amazing DVD called “Real Men Knit” which is produced by the company, “Unconfined Mind.” The video is great and I loved watching it. Not only is the main feature fun to watch, but it shows many men (and boys!) engaging in their craft. It also includes a conversation with Kaffe Fassett, which I found fascinating. How someone could be so gifted as to never have knit a sweater and be able to pick up 20 yarns and design a sweater that he saw in his head, well… wow! I can’t imagine being able to do that. Someday, maybe I’ll make a hat inspired by a Kaffe Fassett design. I could never imagine doing a whole sweater.
And so I must sign off for now… it’s my friend Steve’s birthday and he wants to go to the Melting Pot for dinner… twist my arm! Plus there are Christmas cards to address and a couple of things left to wrap. Catch you later!
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