Kiss My Knits!

The best thing I’ve seen on LiveJournal all year: outofthisplace‘s Star Trek hat. Also available on Ravelry.

Knit Long and Prosper.

FO: Toddler hat
Yarn: 3/4 of one ball of Adriafil Knitcol
Needles: US Size 4/3.5mm
Pattern: CO 84, 2×2 rib for base, 12×7 decreases.
Gauge: 6 sts = 1″
Ravelry project page here.

Notes: Modeled on a McCann’s Irish Oatmeal tin. Man I love that stuff. The hat was going to be for Afghans for Afghans, but I’m skeptical that I can get it there by the Friday deadline.

The reason it’s so late in getting done is that I had to remake most of the hat twice. The first time, I used size 5 needles and wasn’t satisfied with the fabric. Too loose. The second time, I was knitting on it during the trailers at a Star Trek IMAX show. In the darkness and conversation with the non-Trekkie friend I brought with me, I lost a stitch in the ribbing. I didn’t notice until the decreases when the stitch count was off. Pulling it up with a crochet hook just puckered the fabric oddly. Rrrrip!

Fortunately, now it’s just fine. I could have gone down to a three, but this is good enough and I’m not doing it again.

I really like this yarn, Adriafil Knitcol. Click the link for the yarn description. You can tell it’s an Italian company because English is definitely not their first language. It’s all correct, just stilted, which makes me smile. I picture lots of fashionable people wearing black and smoking cigarettes and gesturing. My mental image of Italy may be just a wee bit stereotypical, but at least it’s “Roman Holiday” and not “Godfather.”

I never would have bought this yarn based on the way it looked on the ball, but I saw a shop model knitted up last time I visited The Needlecraft Center in Davidson and I really liked it. It’s superwash and sport weight, so it would be great for baby things, socks, or little legwarmers. I’d use this yarn again.

FO: A4A Lorna’s Laces baby hat
Yarn: Lorna’s Laces worsted in denim and Lorna’s Laces Shepeherd Sock in Lakeview
Needles: Size 9 US/5.5mm
Pattern: CO 42, 1×1 rib four rows, stockinette until piece measures about 3.5″
decrease round 1: *k4, k2tog*, round 2: K1 plain, round 3: *k3, k2tog*, round 4: K1 plain, etc.
Ravelry project page

Notes: This is essentially the baby spiral hat pattern I’ve got up on Ravelry. Although I noticed yesterday that it has a typo and I accidentally overwrote the original, so if you use it before I recreate it, just remember that 8×8=64 and not 65. Ahem.

The hat is modeled on a grapefruit. I didn’t omit plain rounds near the top so it’s a bit peaked, but that’s intentional. It’ll make it easier to pluck it off the top of the head. The yarn is about 40-45 yards leftover from a baby sweater a few years ago.

This is going to Afghans for Afghans, which has a deadline of May 15th for baby through child items for their Spring campaign. It’s a cause I’ve wanted to contribute to for a while now. Sometimes a quick and easy project is just what’s needed to raise one’s spirits, and if it also clears clutter from the house, so much the better.

Pattern: Brooklyn Tweed’s “Turn A Square Hat” (with modifications)
Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca
Needles: 16″ size 6 circs (two circs for crown)
Notes: I might decrease the number of body stitches next time – it’s just a little looser than I’d like, but not unacceptably so. Also, while I know it won’t have sharp corners if the double decreases are separated by a knit stitch between, I still might try that. I’m not sure how I feel about the gap that it creates. It’s not what I’d normally do. I love the colors that Ultra Alpaca comes in. You get a lot of bang for your buck with this yarn. All in all, I’m pleased.

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.

Another preemie to small newborn size hat, this time using Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sport Multi, 100% machine washable soft wool. It’s the same pattern – size 3 needles, 48 stitch caston, but this time with a little i-cord nub at the top. This is modeled over a large apple, and you can see it has to stretch a bit to fit over it.

I bought this yarn at Haus of Yarn in Nashville a few years ago on the way through Tennessee to St Louis for Simucon. It’s not my color at all, so I’m not sure why I got it. I last used it for a tiny pair of baby socks. It’s perfect for these little hats. I’ve got another pattern I want to write up, and I think this yarn will do just fine for it. When you’re making tiny little clothes, one skein goes a long way.

I did this for tonight’s Charlotte Knitting Guild meeting, where I’m giving a talk about basic hat design in conjunction with our charity project, Hats for Alex. We’re knitting hats for the Levine Children’s Hospital. To give you a sense of size, this hat is modeled on an apple. I deliberately kept it very simple, so that the individual knitter could customize it however he or she liked. Personally, I think this would look good with a little embroidered heart on the front.

The pattern is here on Ravelry, or here (pdf) on tvini.com just in case I screwed up the Ravelry link. Turtlegirl, I know you can’t see flickr at work, so pics are here and here.

It’s a baby hat, but the pattern tells how to do the very simple math to do spiraling decreases at the top of any hat, like this one or this one.

Hopefully the talk will go okay tonight. I have handouts. Everybody loves handouts.

Pattern: Bunny Tail from “itty-bitty hats” by Susan B. Anderson
Yarn: About 2/3 ball of Sublime Kid Mohair Blend
Needles: #5
Size: 6-12 mos

I was inspired by the super-cute one that the owner of Charlotte Yarn did as a shop model. This was a tolerably quick knit – the mohair was a bit “sticky” even on my addi turbos. I’d do this again. It’s just an adorable pattern.


It did, however, lead to this rather horrifying conversation with Turtlegirl76. I brought the hat in to Charlotte Yarn and showed it to her during the shop’s Mother’s Day event yesterday. Turtlegirl76 had loaned me the #5 DPNs I needed to finish off the ears.

Her: That turned out really cute.
Me: Thanks!
Her: What yarn did you use? Is it the same as Remy used for her bunny hat?
Me: Yep!
Her: Am I handling mohair right now?
Me: …
Her: …
Me: Oops.

Ack! I forgot you were allergic to mohair, Turtlegirl! Sorry sorry sorry! I hope your hands didn’t itch too much for the rest of the day! I owe you something nice.

Ah, non-Jayne hat orders. I love you so.

This is the first time I’ve steam-blocked a hat. I’ve wet-blocked before, but this was new. I just wanted to even out the fair isle a bit. Mmm… steamy sheep smell.

This is about ready to go out. More Jayne hat yarn should arrive today or tomorrow.