Hat Happy

The sock is going well, thank you, but I need a change of pace for the holidays. So, I have decided that the sock is what comes with me in the car on a daily basis (I’m not the driver, don’t worry!) and that I need a different project to work on at home. So I decided to cast on for an old favorite hat:

This is the “Long Winter’s Nap” hat by Brian Kohler, which was done for Knit Picks in 2005. Sadly the pattern is no longer available. Please don’t ask me for it either, as the copyright is now solely in the hands of the designer. I don’t know if he plans to re-release it or not.

I loved knitting this hat, but even though I worked it at a fairly tight gauge, the original hat I made still came out too loose for my head. So this one I began the ribbing with fewer stitches at a tighter gauge. I’ll increase to the number of stitches needed for the pattern after I’m done with the hat band.

The other thing I am going to try with this version? Stripes. It means doing rounds of plain stockinette between the pattern repeats to hide the color transitions better, but we’ll see how it goes. I think it’s going to be an adventure. I hope I get it done in time to be able to wear it for Christmas.

For the yarn I’m using Cascade 220 in a natural color for the ribbing band and pom pom, and then alternating colors 2425 (rust) and 9338 (olive heather) for sort of an antique faded-looking red and green. At least that’s what I’m seeing in my head! Time will tell whether I have have a workable idea. Wish me luck…

I’ve been having the urge to write again. Not just about knitting, but lots of things. When I was younger I wrote short stories and essays and poetry, a lot. I filled notebooks with my writing. I’d like to try my hand at writing again. Sometimes I wonder whether age and a half lifetime of technical and marketing writing has sapped the creativity right out of me. But I guess I don’t know what will happen unless I try, right? So, occasionally this blog might contain other types of entries, just for fun, and I hope you’ll bear with me if I do veer away from knitting every once in a blue moon. I can’t even say it’s going to happen soon, because writing well takes a while, but if it does, I hope you won’t mind.

In the meantime I’ve got lots of knitting to do. It feels good to be making progress again.

Back from the Frog Pond

Looks better, doesn’t it?

Last night when I posted about my unhappiness with my sock toe, it generated more comments and feedback than I have ever received in the blog comments. Thank you all for your advice and support!

Most of you suggested that I should frog the sock and start over. I hate frogging. With a passion. But I’m glad I did it.

At the suggestion of several commenters I started by casting on more stitches to begin with to get a more square, neater toe. I also took care to pull my stitches very tight as I was knitting into the cast on row. This helped a lot!

Then a couple of other people actually suggested that when I was pulling my edge stitches to make them tight, that I was actually pulling them too tight. Who knew? I relaxed on the edges and pulled tighter on the second and third stitches from each edge, and that helped a lot!

I’m not quite to where I was before the frogging began, but I think it won’t be long. I’m feeling better after restarting the sock, and I think it’s actually causing me to knit faster.

Thanks to everyone for your help!

So… I Have a Sock Question

I’ve started a pair of socks.

Ok, now that you’ve recovered from that bit of shocking news, let me tell you about my sock knitting experience so far. If I’m gonna knit socks, they’re probably going to be a big ol’ pile of the craziest socks you could imagine. But I didn’t quite know what that meant. Then I saw a YouTube video of Brian Kohler knitting a week’s worth of socks all at once, and I “had” to find the yarn for the American flag socks he was making. The yarn is Schoeller Fortissima/Socka in colorway 1776 Stars & Stripes. Crazy socks? here I come. See? This is what I have so far:

Actually this photo was from two days ago. Today, it looks like this:

Which leads me to my question. I did a figure-8 cast on and I’m doing toe up on Magic Loop. I do four increases every other round, one stitch in from the edge stitch on each edge. Try as I might to pull the edge stitches tight, they look all big and loose and wonky. How do I avoid this so that they look all nice and even? I’d appreciate the practical tips from all you who have knitted a thousand pairs before.

Thanks for the help! I eagerly wait your wisdom.

Yours in Knitting,

The Sock Knitting Knoob.