Kiss My Knits!

I apologize for the small size of these photos. Click through if you want, but these are as big as it gets. I’m not sure why iPhoto decided to suck them in at such a low resolution, but I’ll look into it later.

These are three baby hats in Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sport Multi, colorway Happy Valley, knitted on a size 3 needle. Left, 48 st caston. Center, 51 stitch caston. Right, 54 stitch caston.

I knitted these in three sizes to show how a fairly small change in the number of stitches cast on can dramatically change where the striping on space-dyed yarn falls. It also demonstrates just how many tiny little hats you can get out of leftover yarn. I’ve made four from the remnants of this skein, and there’s enough yarn remaining for at least two more.

Left has six repeats for the decreases. Center dropped down to 50 stitches for a five section repeat on decreases. Right was a straight k2tog across over two or three rows for a quick pull-in to avoid disrupting the swirl as much as possible.

At the bases, which obviously you can’t see in this picture, the left is a k2p2 rib, the center is seed stitch, and the right is k1p1 rib. At the top, the first has a long i-cord tied in a knot, the second ends with a fairly standard crown, and the third has three short i-cords sticking out like a mini jester’s hat. I kind of figure that it’ll be easier to take off if there’s a handle on the top.

These show the sizes: a little organic Gala apple, a giant non-organic Granny Smith, and a grapefruit. There’s only a three stitch difference between each size, but it makes a significant difference.

These hats were knit for the Charlotte Knitting Guild‘s “Hats for Alex” charity project. They’ll be going to a local children’s hospital.