Saga of a Hat that Fits
When I posted yesterday, I was so excited about this hat. I was making up some Lorna's Laces Shepherd worsted weight yarn in a hand-dyed version of camoflauge. How could I go wrong? The yarn was sublime, the pattern was from Stitch and Bitch Nation, and was going smoothly and quickly. How was I to know?
Here's a close up of the cable detail on the camo hat.
Cody models the camo hat, close to the decrease stage, according to the original pattern.
With his input, I decided at this point to add another repeat of the cable in order to add length. I felt so confident at this stage, thinking how quickly the decreasing goes; I knew I would have it finished last night. We kept trying it on him as I worked, and came to the conclusion that it was going to turn out too short to cover his ears!
I was frustrated because over the years, this has often been the case. I can't figure out if my family just has big heads, or if those patterns are knitted up for "show" hats (as in to look cute, but not to keep you warm in a
blizzard). We have lived in the Sierras for 19 years, and the winter weather is pretty chilly. We also like to snowboard and snowshoe and you really need a hat that covers your ears. I tinked back to the original decrease and added a few rows. It STILL was too short. It was also 11:00 PM and I knew I was not at my best for more reworking. It was obvious that I would have to tink back to the first decrease row, and add another cable repeat to get the extra inch and a half I wanted.
I spent the morning undoing my work. It sure took a lot longer than I thought it would. I finally had the additional cable repeat in and started on the decreases once again. This time, when I had Cody try it on, it was much more likely to work the way my family likes their hats.
I took a break and ran over to North San Juan to get some veggies at our local, organically-oriented markets, Mother Truckers' and Master's Market at Ananda. I also stopped in at the Ananda Thrift Store, which the school children there run, and I found a partial ball of Anne Blatt Salsa, a viscose, linen and cotton blend in the Coquillage colorway. It will make great trim for some scarf.
I came back home determined to wrestle this hat to completion. I had had enough with this tinking around. It was going to get finished! Within the hour!
I was pretty pleased with the results. Cody was ecstatic.
Here's Cody, modeling his finished hat. And it does cover his ears!
Cody wanted me to include this picture that shows the cables well.
Here's a close up of the cable detail on the camo hat.
Cody models the camo hat, close to the decrease stage, according to the original pattern.
With his input, I decided at this point to add another repeat of the cable in order to add length. I felt so confident at this stage, thinking how quickly the decreasing goes; I knew I would have it finished last night. We kept trying it on him as I worked, and came to the conclusion that it was going to turn out too short to cover his ears!
I was frustrated because over the years, this has often been the case. I can't figure out if my family just has big heads, or if those patterns are knitted up for "show" hats (as in to look cute, but not to keep you warm in a
blizzard). We have lived in the Sierras for 19 years, and the winter weather is pretty chilly. We also like to snowboard and snowshoe and you really need a hat that covers your ears. I tinked back to the original decrease and added a few rows. It STILL was too short. It was also 11:00 PM and I knew I was not at my best for more reworking. It was obvious that I would have to tink back to the first decrease row, and add another cable repeat to get the extra inch and a half I wanted.
I spent the morning undoing my work. It sure took a lot longer than I thought it would. I finally had the additional cable repeat in and started on the decreases once again. This time, when I had Cody try it on, it was much more likely to work the way my family likes their hats.
I took a break and ran over to North San Juan to get some veggies at our local, organically-oriented markets, Mother Truckers' and Master's Market at Ananda. I also stopped in at the Ananda Thrift Store, which the school children there run, and I found a partial ball of Anne Blatt Salsa, a viscose, linen and cotton blend in the Coquillage colorway. It will make great trim for some scarf.
I came back home determined to wrestle this hat to completion. I had had enough with this tinking around. It was going to get finished! Within the hour!
I was pretty pleased with the results. Cody was ecstatic.
Here's Cody, modeling his finished hat. And it does cover his ears!
Cody wanted me to include this picture that shows the cables well.
posted by Birdsong | 6:37 PM
2 Comments:
Great hat! I think it is just a smidge longer than the pix in patterns, but not by much. Great grin. How's his healing?
Really great hat! I think most hat patterns are for "show", and your right, up here we NEED to have our ears covered. Even today it's cold. Ummm it's MAY :-)
I have a friend from Texas coming here next week. I hope it will snow, she has never seen it snow!
But I plan to drag her to Truckee for ome Jimmy Bean's Wool, is there still snow there?
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