Working on another hat: Could a free pattern be on the way?

So William needs a hat, mittens, and a scarf. He picked out the yarn from my stash, a very colorful variety of Caron Simply Soft called "Embroidery Print." It is perfect for a little kid.

When he looked at the patterns he loved the gnome and pixie hats. So using the amazing Ravelry I found a selection of free patterns for gnome hats. I settled on "The Ironic Gnome" (don't you LOVE that name) for "hipster gnomes" from the great blog The Work is Getting to Me. One thing I REALLY love about this hat that I don't know how to do is the color gradient dye job that XandY did to her yarn. It's amazing and she is promising a tutorial. Can't wait.

Side from The Work is Getting to Me


back from The Work is Getting to Me

I love the slouchyness (she used Paton's Classic and any acrylic isn't going to have the same slouch) and the aforementioned gradient dye.

BUT, as all of you know, I am a designer, and I'm always making modifications to everything I knit. My first was to start with ear flaps, which I worked in the following way:

Best worked on the dpns you'll use to make the hat
Cast on 4
Row1: Perl
Row2: K1, M1, K2, M1, K1
Row3: Perl
Row4: Knit
Row5: Perl
Row6: K1, M1, K4, M1, K1
Repeat rows 3 - 5
Continue to add 2 stitches to following row until there are 14 stitches on needles
Then:
Perl 1 row
Knit 1 row
Perl 1 row
Knit 1 row
Perl 1 row
Then add 2 additional stitches, continuing in this manner until there are 20 stitches on the needle
Perl 1 row
Hold each ear flap on needle

At this point I should tell you that I think I'm using size 6 dpns (I eyeballed them, so I'm not sure: can't find my measuring tool) since I'm making this for a 4 year old and the gauge was much smaller than called for in the Ironic Gnome pattern. So I ended up using a knitted cast on with 30 stitches in the back of the hat, knitting on the ear flaps, and 50 stitches in the front of the hat for a total of 120 stitches cast on. I also did a 2x2 rib instead of the 1x1 rib called for in the pattern. I added an additional stitch every 12th stitch on the first row after the rib stitch and am now following the pattern as written.

I am thinking of making the top of the hat longer and pointier and maybe adding a pom pom, but William didn't seem to thrilled with the Jayne Cobb hat when I showed it to him (how I love the Jayne)

source on Craftster

Maybe I'll just have to knit that one for myself!

Ethical and Fun

Ethical . . .

"At Yellow Label Kids, we believe that products can be equally fun, stylish and comfortable, while still being ethically made."


Sushi Rattle Set - $32.99


Flower Peace Hat - $27.99


Kaftan (available in blue, pink, or beige) - $33.99


Cupcake motif sweater - $57.99

The playful world is a toy company created to provide today’s children with unique, custom designed toys that are handcrafted by artisans in less developed areas of the world and purchased under fair trade agreements.


Bowling Buddies from Kyrgyzstan - $45.00


100% Alpaca knitted lion - $40.00


100% Alpaca rabbit hand puppet - $20.00

Fun . . .





Tees by Mental Floss - all $17.97

. . .And the Big Kahuna


Wenger Swiss Army Giant Knife Multi-Tool - $1099.95 at The Knife Center

87 implements, including a Golf shoe spike wrench, cigar cutter, compass, fish scaler, laser pointer, reamer, and flashlight

141 functions

weighing in at 2 pounds

You know you want it!

Darn Yarn Needles and Thread

I'd like to introduce you to a new friend of mine. Lisa Krack is the soon-to-be purveyor of locally crafted fiber arts, supplies, and notions at her storefront, Darn Yarn Needles and Thread in Butler, PA. In addition to Handspun yarns by EnchantedYarn, e-reader wraps, hats & crocheted miscellany by Allkrackedup, Tapestries by HotShades Tapestries, Tri-Looms by Jim @ Sunflower Fibers, and Buttons and Shawl Pins by Handmade in the Hills, she'll be stocking recycled yarns from my company, Howard Knits! I'm excited for her, and excited to have my yarn in a store! She is slated to open on St. Patrick's day, so if you are in or around Butler, PA, make sure to check out her shop!

The Morgan Hat

I promised my mom that I would knit her a hat, something unique. What I cam up with is a reversible cap with a stylized brim. Decide which side you like, and wear that side!



The brim takes the most time, and, quite frankly, it's not all that tough. From there, it's just stockingette stitch with a few decreases here and there. It's also a hat that would work equally well for a man (although, not in pink, like here). I would, however, cast on 4 to 8 stitches more.

The Brim is made from a lovely reversible pattern that you can see above, and the reverse side below. The reverse almost looks like a cable, but it is just a series of knit and perl stitches.



I used a recycled dehaired angora coupled with Lion Brand cotton to create a chunky yarn. Other appropriate selections would be Extra Fine Merino Chunky by Jaeger or Newport by Classic Elite.



Gauge: 16 stitches/4 inches
Yarn: Heavy Worsted Weight
One Skein ought to do it
Needle size: one 10-1/2 circular or 4 10-1/2 dpns

ybk = yarn to back

Cast on 88 stitches.

Brim:
Rows 1, 3, and 5: P
Row 2: *P2 tog but leave stitches on LHN, ybk, Ktog same 2 stitches, rep from* to end
Row 4: P, *P2 tog but leave sitiches on LHN, ybk, Ktog same 2 stitches, rep from * to last stitch, P

Continue rows 1 - 5 for 3 inches.

Place stitch marker at beginning for rows.
Next row: *P7, P2 tog, rep from * to end
Remaining rows: P

Continue in this manner for 7 inches

Crown decrease:
Row 1: *P6, P2 tog, rep from* to end
Row 2: P
Row 3: *P5, P2 tog, rep from* to end
Row 4: P

Continue in this manner until 6 - 8 stitches remain. Run yarn through remaining stitches, ties off, and using tapestry needle, weave tail into knitting.

Viola! You are done

Note: When knitting the decrease rows, you may find a few extra stitches at the end of the row. Perl these, then continue with pattern.

Hope you enjoy the pattern, let me know if you have problems, and have fun!

The Wallis Hat

After a brief Thanksgiving hiatus, it's back to the old blog. As promised, I am bringing you the pattern for my hat (William's hat, for my regular readers) which I am calling "The Wallis."



I used recycled yarn with a gauge of 7 stitches per inch. This hat can be made for all age groups. As you can see, I put ear flaps on the toddler version and didn't on the adult version. You could do flaps and ties if that is what you would like.

The yarn measured out at 14 wraps per inch, so look for a sport weight yarn.



The pattern looks difficult but it really is quite simple and should be easy to pick up once you start knitting it.



Wallis Hat

Gauge = 7 stitches per inch

Knit with 4 size 7 double pointed needles or one circular (you will need dpns for the crown decrease)

Because I give instructions for 5 different sized hats, I have noted the repeated stitches in parenthesis and state to stitch "all around" which means to continue the instructed stitches to the end of the row (where you have placed the stitch marker).

C4F = Slip two stitches on cable needle, hold in front. Knit next two stitches, then knit the two on the cable needle

T3F = Slip 2 stitches onto cable needle, hold at front of work. Perl next stitch, knit the two off of the cable needle

T3B = Slip one stitch onto cable needle, hold at back of work, knit nest two, perl stitch from cable needle

Hat Pattern

For a newborn cast on 96 stitches
For a 1 year old cast on 120 stitches
For a toddler (2 - 5 y.o.), cast on 126 stitches
For a child (5 - 12) cast on 132 stitches
For an adult, cast on 144 stitches.

Join the last stitch to the first stitch being careful not to twist the stitches. Place a stitch marker on the first stitch.

Rows 1 - 5: (K4, P2) all around
Row 6: (C4F, P2) all around
Row 7: - 11: (K4, P2) all around
Row 12: K2, then (T3F, T3B) all around
Row 13: K2, then (P2, K4) to last 4 stitches, P2, K2
Row 14: Transfer last 2 stitches from Right needle to Left needle, (C4F, P2) all around
Rows 15 - 20: (K4, P2) all around
Row 21: (C4F, P2) all around
Row 22: (K4, P2) all around
Row 23: Transfer first 2 stitches from Left needle to Right needle, K2, then (T3B, T3F)all around

Repeat 23 rows until length is about 1/2 to 1 inch shorter than you would like the hat to be.

Crown decrease

This crown decrease is for the adult hat. The smaller hats have less stitches, so you will be able to tie off the hat with fewer rows. Just follow the pattern for the adult crown decrease and once you are down to around 6 stitches, you can thread the yarn through the stitches, tie off, and you are done!

Row 1: (K1, K2tog, K1, P2, K4, P2) all around
Row 2: (K3, P2, K4, P2) all around
Row 3: (K3, P2, K1, K2tog, K1, P2) all around
Row 4: (K3, P2) all around
Row 5: (K1, K2tog, P2) all around
Row 6: (K2, P2) all around
Row 7: (K2, P2tog) all around
Row 8: (K2, P1) all around
Row 9: (K2tog, P1) all around
Row 10: (K1, P1) all around
Row 11: K2tog all around
Row 12: K all around
Row 13: K2tog all around

Thread yarn through remaining stitches and tie off tightly. You are done!

To knit on the ear flaps:

First, a Disclaimer: I sort of improvised the ear flap pattern as I went along, so if your flaps turn out either too long or slightly wonky, it is because this was my first set of ear flaps! You have been warned!

use size 7 dpns

On either side of the hat, pick up 18 stitches in the following manner (going Right to Left):
Start at the right side of a knitted rib, pick up 3 of the knitted stitches, then (1 perl, 2 knit)x4, then 1 perl, and finally 3 knit stitches.

Using this basic pattern (3 Knit stitches on either end), you can make the ear flaps wider of skinnier, depending on your preferences.

Rows 1 - 10 (or however long you want the main body of the ear flaps to be): K3, (P1, K2)x4, P1, K3
Decrease Rows: At the beginning and end of the flap on the right side, knit 2 together TWICE, then on wrong side, follow pattern as established. Continue in this manner until you are down to 4 stitches. Bind off.

Make a cord in the length of your choosing using the method of your choosing (I used braids on the toddler hat, i-cord is ok, a crocheted chain would work, too). Attach cords to flap ends using a tapestry needle.



Please let me know if you find any errors or have any problems with the pattern. I know that it's not written in an entirely traditional manner, so if you can think of ways to change it or make it more user friendly, I'm always open to suggestions. I'm just a beginner in the whole hat designing area, so it's a learning process for me. But I hope you find it easy and a fun knit! Enjoy!

I really don't feel like writing today. I've been reading all of these "writer's inspiration/method" books and they say that I should sit my butt down and write anyway. SO I'm taking published author's advice and doing a post.

It's not that I don't have anything to write about. I'm in the midst of making an adult sized William's hat so that I can work out the crown decrease and publish a pattern for it (my first published pattern!) I've been knitting so furiously over the past few days (4 new scarves, now this hat) that my right thumb feels sprained and my left hand is going numb when I knit. I think I'm giving myself carpal tunnel syndrome from knitting! But I have to say that the scarves are pretty good for using 35 needles and el-cheapo and recycled stash yarn. My daughter wants all of them.



Just a few of the scarves, and not the greatest picture, but you get the idea. I often use two different but coordinating yarns to create a chunky one. Also, you can use novelty eyelash and metallic thread yarns to other yarns to give them depth and that added zing. I'm knitting the hat with a recycled angora/wool maroon tweed. It looks so earthy and man-like (at least a man wouldn't cringe at the thought of wearing it).

I've also been refering back to a book that I have found endlessly handy from the moment that I branched out and started designing things myself. I know that there are a million stitch libraries out there, but I really like "Super Stitches Knitting" by Karen Hemingway. It has over 300 stitch patterns, and I've never had a pattern in mind that I wasn't able to locate in this book. I also like the way the swatches are photographed - like they are live works on the needles. I have a few other stitch libraries, but this is the one that I always come back to.



On the domestic front, Collin and Kendall were home sick today. They had a cough, sniffles, and Collin had this prickly rash all over his body. They slept for hours while Will and I chilled out in my room watching Spongebob and knitting and eating popcorn (or "pacrn" as Will likes to call it). Lovely day, all-in-all, especially since the kids seem to be better and are headed off to school tomorrow.

Lots of knitting

Well, it's been a while. Bad, bad case of Seasonal Affective Disorder. 'Nuff said on that.

Have been doing lots of knitting. Made two hats with the Binary Cable Hat pattern on Ravelry. I just love this pattern! It lets me cable while at the same time appealing to the geeky side of me as the cables represent the numbers 1 - 16 in binary. But it's cool enough that if it was gifted to a non-geek they'd love it, too.


The big picture shows the details.

Collin begged me for a hat, and I made him one in black and red using the Fibonacci strip sequence. For those of you not familiar with this, the number of rows in each band are added together to get the number of rows in the next band like this: first band has 1 row, 2nd has 2, add them together, next band has 3, etc. His hat used this sequence: 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, then what I needed to do the crown decrease. I'm hoping that by placing a mathematical pattern on his head, math will flow into his head by osmosis. It's worth a try.



My poncho is now over half done. I am proud to report that I no longer need the pattern to work it - the cables just make sense!!! I've put it aside for a while because I've been itching to make a sweater, and I chose Michael Cors Cabled Sweater from the Fall 2004 edition of Vogue Knitting. If you are a Ravelry member, you can see a good example of it here. This is a little less than I have done currently - I just started it 3 days ago, so I'm happy with my progress.



One thing that has really helped is that I have learned to cable without using a cable needle. I've only done this over 4 stitches and am not sure that I could do it over 6, but it really speeds things up. I found a video for you from YouTube that demonstrates the basic way of doing this - I've found the method in this video to be by far the easiest.



Another thing about this sweater. It called for Tahki-Stacy "Zara Plus" yarn. At $10.50 a 50 oz. skein, and with me needing 21 skeins, this sweater would have cost me around $220 to make. I would love to go out and get this yarn, really, really would. However, I'm not related in any way to Daddy Warbucks. So, the sweater is being made with Caron Simply Soft. I know - a Michael Kors in acrylic???!!! This yarn is soft, I like knitting with it, it has a lot of give, and I'll be able to machine wash and dry the sweater. And it will just get softer and softer. Yes, acrylic is o.k. Embrace it. Love it. Just be sure to use a soft kind like Caron Simply Soft (my fave) or Vanna's Choice (which I feel is a little rougher) or Berroco Comfort (a nylon/acrylic blend and also the most expensive, but the most bragworthy with your knitty friends, of the bunch). Yes, acrylic can be your friend.


We aren't related. Plus, he's not real.