Yet More Knitting

[akirlu]

I finished my first hat over the weekend. Took me a while to get the double decrease I was doing right, so there's a zig zag in the decreases across the crown. I decided to leave the wrong ones -- the zig-zag looks deliberate. Also, while I did a gauge sample and based the size on the sample, I didn't know how much to reduce the size to allow for stretch, so I didn't, which means the hat really is a bit on the big side, since unstretched it's just the size of my head. Might be better for someone with dreds. On the other hand, it is an object, it is finished, and it looks pretty good for beginner's work, so I am provisionally pleased. But I still have a bit of yarn left over so the question is: tassel or not?

Comments

[txanne.livejournal.com]

Good work!

Tassels look ratty pretty fast. I'd say save it; you never know when you'll need a stripe of exactly that shade and gauge.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

I'll take your word. Though, when I say 'tassel' we all understand that I mean a pom-pom, yes?

[txanne.livejournal.com]

Those look ratty fast too. So does fringe.

[greenshadows.livejournal.com]

No tassel on this purple awesomeness.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Okay, the tassel is running 0-2. Thanks!

[tysolna]

That is a seriously cool hat, I like the colour too!

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Now, all I need is someone with a big enough head to wear it...

[tysolna]

Say, are you working off-the-cuff or do you have some sort of "how to"-book? In either case, I'd like to recommend one to you: "Knitting Rules!" by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (aka Yarn Harlot), she's got all kinds of tips and tricks in there. It's also extremely fun to read.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

I'm mostly working off-the-cuff, supplemented by a variety of books on loan, and the mystical, magical, amazing resource of YouTube knitting videos. Suggestions of good books are always welcome, however, and once I manage to pay down my overdue fines at the library (sigh) I will look for Knitting Rules!. Thanks!

[voidampersand.livejournal.com]

We'll try to give you as much egoboo as possible and maybe then it will fit.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Whatever it takes to get the egoboo...

[voidampersand.livejournal.com]

Well it is a really nice looking hat. I love the color.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Ah, I feel my head swelling already.

[carbonel]

Lovely color, and nice work.

It's amazing how much head sizes vary, so unless you already have a very large head, you're likely to find someone that it fits without needing to find someone who wears dreads.

I am personally not a big fan of tassels, but it might look nice on this one.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

I do have a pretty darned large head, so it may be tricky finding someone to go under it. Particularly since many of the folks with larger heads will probably be men and I'm not sure how many men have the confidence to wear purple.

Given what I have seen

[groliffe.livejournal.com]

on the Ski Slopes, where men who normally wouldn't be seen dead in anything brighter than gray happily wear Pink Panther suits or orange hats with sequins, if you can find a skier with a sufficiently large head they will probably accept it with cries of delight.

Re: Given what I have seen

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Context is everything, isn't it? I'll keep a weather eye out for fat-headed skiers.

[athenais.livejournal.com]

I vote for the pom-pom. But it certainly is awesome as is.

[intelligentrix.livejournal.com]

I prefer the hat un-pom-pomed, myself. It's gorgeous, but would not fit my freakishly small head.

You know, I was just talking to my knitting ladies about trying a hat next. What pattern did you use?

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

I'm afraid there's no pattern. I decided to just wing it.

Working from memory, what you have there is something that is a multiple of 4 stitches around (in my case 108). After doing a long tail cast on it's k1 p1 all the way around for um...enough rows that you can fold it up and have a nice wide cuff. (Looks like it was 17 rows on my hat. This is probably too many, esp. if you have a small head and work with a medium weigh yarn.)

Then k2 p2 all the way around for 4 rows, then a k2 p2 row where you do a single decrease ahead of each k2, and a single increase behind each k2; another 4 rows of k2 p2, then another row with a decrease ahead of the k2s and an increase after, then k2 p2 for another 4 rows. Then when you get back to the beginning as indicated by the stitch marker at the bottom of your work, it's p2 k2 (i.e. purl on top of prior knits, knit on top of prior purls) for 4 rows; go back to k2 p2 for 4 rows. Then do a row or two of knitting all the way around, put a stitch marker in right above your original starting marker, divide your total # of stitches by 4 and count that many around the row, place another stitch marker, and on around until the markers divide the work into equal quarters.

From here on just knit all stitches except that whenever you come to a stitch marker do a double decrease. Knit until you've reduced down to just a dozen or so stitches in the row then take your working yarn, cut off a long tail, thread it into a tapestry needle, and run it through the remaining stitches and pull tight. Weave in your various yarn ends as normal.

You can probably skip the part where you do the double decrease the wrong way (wrong: leaving the two slipped stitches *on the right needle* behind the knitted stitch) because while this does still create a decrease, it's a bitch to work. Also, it's wrong.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

By the bye, if you do this on dpns, be sure to invest in a few of the little rubbery end caps that keep your work from slipping off the needles you aren't currently using. You'll be glad you did. Or, save yourself the practice at picking up dropped stitches with a crochet hook, and just get a set of circular needles from the get go.

If you haven't used stitch markers yet, the little plastic ones that look like tiny padlocks are easy to use and cost almost nothing.

[kateyule.livejournal.com]

At $5 for a packet of 20 or 24, those little buggers are about a quarter apiece. Which makes me think differently about strewing them recklessly behind me! (Still, almost inevitable that you will turn up some stitch markers if you look beneath the couch cushions, under the car floor mats, etc.)

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Really? That much? I could swear I'm paying under $2 a packet.

[kateyule.livejournal.com]

I decided to leave the wrong ones -- the zig-zag looks deliberate.
Sally Melville says "Once is a mistake; twice is a problem; three times is a design."

[wild-patience.livejournal.com]

I'm not a big fan of pompoms or tassels.

www.knitty.com is a nice source for free patterns. You're on Ravelry, aren't you?

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

Nice purple! And I am too lazy to make tassels unless I use my tassel-maker. Amazing how useful a cheap piece of plastic is.