Ruthless Knitting

I’ve finished a hat for the Dulaan project, but it was such a quickie I’m not sure it deserves the full FO treatment. Nonetheless, here goes . . .

(Apologies for yet another picture of my head. I tried to take the hat’s picture flat, but it wasn’t very cooperative.)

Pattern: My own — a bastardized combination of EZ’s “prime rib” hat (from Knitting without Tears) and Stephanie Pearl-McPhee’s Scarf Rescue Hat (from Knitting Rules)
Size: about a 15″ circumference, but stretchy; about 8″ from crown to brim
Yarn: Knit Picks Gloss in black; Stahl Wolle Socka Color in 9128, blue tones
Yardage: less than 1 ball of each
Yarn Source: Knit Picks and my aunt Cathy
Needles: bamboo straights in size 6
Gauge: not sure
Notes/Modifications: Following Elizabeth Zimmerman’s directions for the brioche stitch hat in Knitting without Tears — with the understanding that since I was using doubled-up sock yarn, not chunky yarn, I’d end up with a much smaller hat — I cast on the required number of stitches (something like 32 or 34) and knit brioche for a while. It became clear that I wasn’t going to get a large enough hat even for an infant, so I decided to keep knitting a scarf-like strip until it was long enough to be turned sideways to make a “scarf rescue hat” a la the Yarn Harlot. I changed from black to blue whenever the mood struck me, kept knitting until I could stretch the hat around my head, bound off, mattress stitched the ends together, ran a thread through the stitches around the top, and cinched them tight. The brioche is wonderfully cushy, the yarns are soft, and the hat is nice and warm. It’s a little small for me now that I’ve run it through the washer and dryer, but it’s the perfect size for an older child or a small-headed adult.

I still have more of the blue Socka and black Gloss left, but I’m good and sick of them, so they’ve been returned to the storage tubs. I have one more Dulaan item to knit to meet my commitment of five objects, but it will just have to wait.

The brioche scarf that I was making right up until I turned it into a hat was quite lovely, and it made me think that brioche stitch is perfect for scarf knitting — cushy, flat, textured, interesting. Perhaps sometime I will make a brioche scarf.

Meanwhile, I’m on to other projects. Two, in fact.

For this pretty little number, I’m using the overdyed Andes yarn leftovers (from this sweater) and some overdyed Araucania Nature Wool from Veste Evereste (here) as an accent. I’m nearly to the underarm, and I’m enjoying the knitting so far. It’s mindless stockinette, which I can do while watching movies or reading.

For Clementine, I’m using the Handmaiden Sea Silk in Sangria that I bought from Knit/Purl. I previously swatched for the Swallowtail Shawl using this yarn (see it here), but I decided that I’d rather do the Swallowtail in some Misti Alpaca laceweight in a solid color, so the Sea Silk was freed up for this pattern. Clementine is a nice, easy lace project, and I’m having fun with it. I suspect that the shawl will be even smaller than in the published pattern when blocked, but I’m okay with it being a “scarfette” rather than a “shawlette,” since I only intend to wear it draped over a black shirt for the occasional fancy-dress affair, and it’s not like it will be needed for warmth.

That’s all I’ve got. Oh, except it’s not! If you listen to Cast On, you might want to keep an ear out for me in the next episode. It’s possible that I’ll make an appearance.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 2nd, 2007 at 12:36 pm and is filed under Finished Objects, Projects in Progress. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.