Trish Knits.com

Tag: hat

  • Change of Plans and Prayers for Z.

    brown afghan beginnings

    Ok, I’ve said to more than one person recently that I would probably never knit another afghan. Now, watch how fast I am going to eat my words! I’ve mentioned in a recent post that I am knitting with a heavy heart lately. Now I can say why, at least some, and then the afghan will make some sense.

    I have this friend. A co-worker, actually, and I don’t think she knows that I adore her as much as I do. This fall she surprised us with the happy news that she was expecting her third child. Soon after though she began complaining of a pain in her side that would not stop. (She was due at Christmas, so by telling us in the early fall she was already quite far along.) It was difficult to do too many tests, because of course, she was very pregnant and they didn’t want to hurt the baby. However, soon the doctors began to suspect the possibility of colon cancer. They wouldn’t know, of course, until after the baby’s birth, but the situation began to take on some urgency.

    The baby was born after Thanksgiving, about 5 weeks early, and had to spend some time in the NICU at the hospital, but is fine now and at home. About two weeks later mom had surgery and the diagnosis was unfortunately confirmed. She will recuperate for about 8 weeks or so and then begin treatment for cancer.

    I did have all sorts of plans to make tons of things for her new baby, and had even bought mountains of yarn and had started knitting on a baby hat for the baby. As it turns out I made a yucky mistake with the hat and need to start over anyway (my color changes look awful, and I forgot to do the jogless jog, AND I made a mistake on the decreases at the top so have to rip those out anyway). So I need to rip that hat back to before the first color change and start over. While I’m at it, I might as well make the next biggest size, too… so baby won’t outgrow it too soon.

    But anyway, the problem with knitting for Baby, (though I can’t wait to do it someday soon) is that every time I did knit for the baby I would think of mom and start crying. So instead I decided to pour my efforts into knitting for mom. And what did I decide on? A snuggly throw, knit on very LARGE needles so hopefully it will go lots faster this time. I am already having some doubts, but I’m determined to do this for my Miss Z.


    Pile of differently colored and textured brown yarns

    I don’t do browns, and of course, browns are what makes Miss Z feel happy. So I went online to Knit Picks, and buy boatloads of brown yarn in different colors and textures. Clockwise from the top, in the 12:00 position:
    Wool of the Andes Bulky Hand Dyed, colorway, Redwood Forest; Suri Dream Hand Dyed, colorway, Falling Leaves; Suri Dream, colorway, Sandstone; Wool of the Andes Bulky, colorway, Taupe; Andean Silk, colorway, Cinnamon; Quarry, colorway, Dakota Mahogany; (center) Andean Silk, colorway, Chocolate.

    I bought two balls of each color, except for the Andean Silk, for which I bought 6 balls of each color, as it will be my dominant two colors with the others in between. I’ve doubled the Andean Silk for a really soft, bulky feel and am doing a simple ripple pattern from Jan Eaton’s book, 200 Ripple Stitches. I’m liking it so far but am finding the Suri Dream to be a bit fussy to work with. Hopefully I’ll survive. It’s for a good cause. And it’s on size 11 needles, too… so hopefully won’t take me a year like the last blanket did.

    With holidays fast approaching, I’m not sure I’ll be able to post much again before the new year. Thanks for reading, and if I don’t get to it before, I’d like to wish everyone now a joyous holiday time and Peace for 2008. Also, if you’re a praying person, please flip a few skyward for my Miss Z. She’s got three kids who need her very, very much. Thanks for reading.

  • Quick Peek!

    Flower Power baby hat in progress

    It’s the middle of the night here, I know, but I’m up with a stomach thing… yuck! and so I decided to snap a quick pic of my Flower Power baby hat in progress. I’m using Knit Picks Shine Sport and the Harmony needles for the very first time. I LOVE this project and the yarn and needles are turning out to be great to work with. Except that the Shine yarn tends to come off the ball in big puddles. Kelley spoke about how to manage this yarn in one of her podcasts, but now I’ll have to go back and find which one. Wish me luck! (I just checked and it is Episode 17. I’ll have to have another listen tonight as I’m going to sleep.)

  • Afterglow…

    trish knitting a baby hat and new hairdo

    Ok, usually I hate putting pics of myself on the blog, but do you see the look of absolute GLEE on my face? You wanna know where that look comes from? That’s me, NOT knitting a baby blanket! I’m doing a teeny, newborn sized baby hat in Knit Picks Shine with a brand new pair of Harmony needles. I love the yarn, which I already knew, but the needles are just perfect for it! Shine can be just a touch slippery so I do prefer to work with it on wooden needles. But because it is also cotton, it doesn’t have a huge amount of give, so the needles are *just* slippery enough to be a good fit for the yarn.

    The pattern is the Flower Power baby hat in Knitty. Can you say totally CUUUUUUTE? It is a quick knit with two strands of yarn held together and I actually thought I might finish it today, but tomorrow, for sure. Can’t wait to post a pic.

    The other reason why I’m looking giddy? I finally got a decent haircut and spent the money to do some highlights. Wednesday is my 15th wedding anniversary and I’m tired of looking 42 and drab. Ok, so I still look drab for now with no makeup and the icky Sunday ’round the house sweatshirt, but I do feel brightened up.

    Yesterday L. from KnitTalk came over and do you know what? She sat on my sofa and wove in my ends on my baby blanket! I still can’t believe that someone would come over and do such a thankless job. While she was here my DD continued her knitterly ways and knit up another small project. The new skill gained in doing the “Amulet Bag” was purling, as the item was knit in a ribbed pattern.

    After the weaving of ends was completed, L. then showed me the secrets of Mattress Stitch. I can’t believe after all this time that I have not understood and mastered this. But this was one thing I needed to see in action to understand how it is done. And, if I can whine for a second, part of that problem, I think, is not having decent access to a LYS where I can consult with an expert and learn what I need to know. Yes there are shops around but most are not wheelchair accessible. I hate that. A new shop opened up near my mom’s house too, and I was looking forward to going there, but it, too, is not wheelchair friendly. Someday I’ll have a million dollars and open my own shop where all will be welcome. Sigh.

    After the sewing lesson I then got a lesson in weaving in my ends as I go, so I never have another issue where I have a bazillion ends to weave in at the end. The method that L. used was not compatible with the way I hold my yarn while knitting, so I watched very closely what was happening with the yarn as she knit, and figured out a way to make it work for myself. So, yet another skill learned. Yay!


    Score!

    Principles of Knitting book cover

    While L. was here yesterday who should show up but my wonderful postman, and what did he bring? THE BOOK. Principles of Knitting by June Hemmons-Hiatt. Knitters in the know, know what the “street value” of this book is. I, of course, was not going to pay that. Not by a long shot. But I am not the type who can scour used book stores and yard sales, and none of our bookstores are actually old enough that they might actually have an out of print book on the shelves. (I did hear of someone who actually found one in a bookstore within the last year or so, but it would have had to be on the shelves for a very long time.) So, I did compromise a little, but mostly in the area of patience. I have been waiting and searching for over a year until I was able to get one where the price was right for me.

    Of course, this is an “old school” knitting book where the author is somewhat rigid in her beliefs as to how things “must” be done with knitting. Since then of course, the knitting explosion has occurred and set just about all of the rules on their ears. So, I accept the snootiness with a grain of salt in favor of the unbelievable amount of knowledge this tome has to offer. I am very glad to at last have this reference on my shelf.

  • I Have This Little Hat…

    Blue crocheted hat with brim

    I bought this hat quite a number of years ago at a local craft fair. The lady who sold it to me said it is made of plain old Red Heart yarn and it is crocheted. I loved it so much I immediately set out to emulate it, hence my start of the love of making hats! I never quite achieved the same thickness with the hats I tried, but I never used Red Heart, either. Perhaps if I had used a stiffer yarn and even smaller hook. It is made with two strands together.

    Well, I don’t crochet anymore and I have yet to find a knitting pattern that produces this stiff of a fabric without felting. But I am going to try to do it. I am sure it can be done.

    I like this hat because it spent about the last 5 years crumpled up at the bottom of our family hat and glove crate in the hall closet. A few punches and it pretty much went right back in shape. My felted hats, on the other hand, need another trip in the hot sink to be wearable again. (This year they got balled up in the hat crate… sigh…)

    The first question is of course how to attain the flat top shape, which requires a bit more thought with knitting than with crochet. I posted yesterday to two of my knitting communities, KnitTalk and KnitHatsNow. I’ve received quite a few tips so far.

    blue crocheted hat with brim

    • Linda suggests that I knit an I-cord tube of 8 stitches until the stitches don’t have a ladder anymore, then switch to working yarn and begin increasing in multiples of 8 stitches. Depending on how and where I do the increases, the top of the hat could look like a spiral, or it could look like a wheel with spokes. I’ll have to see which I like.
    • Carol pointed me to a pattern online for a hat with a brim. This one doesn’t quite have the shaping I want, but it is a cute hat!
    • Rita pointed me to Emily Ocker’s Cast On, illustrated by Theresa Stenersen, whose Techniques with Theresa articles are a staple at Knitty.com. This cast on looks really helpful for the type of hat I am planning to try and I think I will use this technique. Theresa’s articles and tips are always so clear and I love them.

      • .

    • Bonnie then mentioned this round pinwheel blanket pattern by Genia. Wow, the knitting world is small — Genia is the kind lady who taught my daughter Diana to knit. This pattern shows another way to do the increases to achieve a flat circle.

    Wow, so many options! Of course. Knitting is like that. That way, there are many ways of achieving a desired result, so I will play around and see what works best for me. Thanks, everyone! (Sorry for the blurry photos; it was my first attempt at doing a self portrait, a la Wendy Johnson, by staring in the bathroom mirror. My mirror glass is very wavy!)

  • Before…

    Diana's hat before felting
    Diana’s hat before felting

    Yay! I finally finished the felted hat for Diana! She’s home with a sinus infection today so she was really happy to model the hat without having to show her face!! I started by looking at the Fiber Trends AC-1 Felted Hat for reference, but in the end I deviated quite a bit to get sizing that was appropriate for a 9-year-old girl! I’m actually proud of myself that I’m getting to know enough about hats by now that I could figure this out pretty much by myself! I’m looking forward to the day that Diana will be able to wear this cute little hat! Plus, it was good to get back to making one of my favorite things, to offset the ongoing nature of some longer-term projects.


    … and After

    Diana's hat after felting
    Diana’s hat after felting

    And here’s the hat after felting! Isn’t it cute? This was the first felting test for my new Kenmore front loader washer (nearly identical to the Whirlpool Duet) and I am happy with the results! Since my old front loader usually took three cycles to achieve a desired size, I decided to live dangerously so we set the washer on the “Sanitary” setting with a “No Spin” on the rinse cycle. I was so nervous when it came out of the wash; it looked like a tight little ball and smelled something like a wet dog! (wet sheep?) But with rigorous stretching and kneading, it took a nice shape fairly quickly. There’s a Gladware bowl underneath the hat for now as it dries, which happens to have the same diameter as my lovely child’s skull. I’ve been smoothing it every so often, and it feels a bit like working with dough!

    So this was my first experience felting with KnitPicks Wool of the Andes, and I do have to say that so far I am pleased! This is a nice yarn to felt with and very inexpensive, too. Where it used to cost me about $30 to make this hat, I can now do it for about $10. I am still working on a garter stitch hat band, which will be embellished with a rainbow-colored butterfly pin. I’m sure this hat will be gorgeous! I’m doin’ the happy dance!