Last we met, we learned all about my insecurities and short comings. Yay! It appears I've unveiled some kindred spirits in the process. I'm sure if we all took the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test, we'd find ourselves scoring largely the same. But that's not what this post is about. I thought I'd tell you more about that hat I had mentioned.
It sort of came out of nowhere, huh?
Get the whole story, after the bump.
The owner of the Knit Cafe asked me if I'd knit her a hat in time for the...what's it called...megabowl? supercup? grandslamfest? Oh, you know, that day when all the good commercials come on.
I try not to take on too much commission knit work. I'm pretty conscious of the fact that when I feel obligated to knit something, it takes out some of fun, but this didn't seem like a huge commitment and I hadn't done any knit for hire in a long time. So she provided the yarn and the general instructions. It should say "Knit Cafe," have a folded brim and a pom-pom on top. With that, I was on my way.
I considered just doing "Knit Cafe" across the front and calling it a day, but since the hat is for a knitter, I really figured it should be in the round, which means working a motif or set of motifs, entirely around the hat. So, after plotting out the gauge and then charting the number of stitches, I came up with hearts for filler, and the store name on the front and back. That meant two distinct motifs repeated twice; name, hearts, name, hearts.
Are those hearts cute or WHAT? I love them. A note to any of you considering a hat design like this. As you may know, circular knitting + colorwork = jogs unless you plan carefully. I think all techniques for avoiding that little stair step between rows, fall a little short of perfection, but most will certainly get you close. To improve the situation, I started and ended each row at a point where I'd never have a color change.
In this case, there were columns of just blue stitches between the hearts and the store name, the rounds started and ended there. That meant the only potential jogs were in the stripes above and below the motifs.
I got a little funky with the pom-pom too. Instead of doing a solid one or an evenly dispersed two-color one, I first wrapped my homemade template with one strand of each color and then wrapped the template with just yellow. This produced a cute effect, I think.
I felt like the coffee can wasn't really doing the hat justice but I wasn't entirely motivated to get myself camera ready, so I took a dozen or so really crappy pictures of myself wearing the hat and this was the best I could come up with.
I call it "Disembodied head in hat" the print will be available at posters.com, next to the Unicorns and the Babies Dressed like Animals and Food.
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Comments (9)
I am the lucky recipient of "that hat" and I'm here to tell you that as cute as it is with Marnie wearing it in the photo, it is even cuter in person. AND, I've looked and looked and can't find one jog. The most amazing thing about the hat is that it was knit in just 8 hours....that is some fast knitting! I can't wait to wear it in Detroit on Sunday when the Lakers play the Yankees. Thaaaank you Marnie!
Posted by suzan | February 2, 2006 11:50 PM
Posted on February 2, 2006 23:50
You did a great job with the hat. Can I ask, what you plot on before embarking on creating something like that? I'm gathering as much info as possible to push my "art" forward.
Posted by sedie | January 30, 2006 10:14 AM
Posted on January 30, 2006 10:14
From this vantage point, it seems like you avoided the jogs very well in the stripes. Which particular technique did you use? Love the color combo BTW, it's very retro.
Posted by Jenna | January 30, 2006 9:46 AM
Posted on January 30, 2006 09:46
I know Suzan will look great in that at the SuperCup!
Posted by Julia | January 30, 2006 9:45 AM
Posted on January 30, 2006 09:45
The hat turned out beautifully!
Posted by Wanda | January 30, 2006 8:49 AM
Posted on January 30, 2006 08:49
Just lovely! And the photo of you in the hat? Very arty!
Posted by Leah | January 30, 2006 8:00 AM
Posted on January 30, 2006 08:00
Very cool hat. I just did a workshop on helix knitting that avoids the jogs but can only so stripes. Iwonder if it is applicable to other patterning. ( has anyone mentioned you resemble Alanis
Morrisette )
Posted by Laila | January 30, 2006 7:54 AM
Posted on January 30, 2006 07:54
I think it's adorable!
Posted by Mary-Heather | January 30, 2006 7:54 AM
Posted on January 30, 2006 07:54
That is such a cool hat!
Posted by AmyP | January 30, 2006 5:52 AM
Posted on January 30, 2006 05:52