"You've Got Some Nerve!"

"You did what? How dare you?!"

Ok, so I did something I wish I didn't have to. And I'm feeling a little shameful about it, but before you judge, let me defend myself.

I absolutely loved the hat I got at the hat exchange. I did.
First, it's alpaca and dreamy soft. Let me say again, Al-pa-ca. Yum. I loved that someone made it with care and did a great job. The colours are gorge. BUT...

But, I couldn't wear it. It just didn't fit. The colour stranding wouldn't stretch and the hat was too tight. I finally decided that if I really loved the hat I had to remake it, rather than let it sit in a drawer never worn and feeling unloved. I hope if its maker ever reads this post she will forgive me for the sacrilege and recognize that I redid this hat out of love...

But once the decision was made, I unraveled the hat from the top down. Another testament to how well the hat was made was how straight forward it was to undo. No knots, and logical construction. (So often not the case.) When I got below the colour work, I put all the stitches onto some dpns [double pointed needles]. 112 sts.
And rolled up all the yarn I had to use:
Then I started again. Although I considered recreating the original pattern, I didn't because 1. it would be a pain to try to chart it, and 2. I'd probably run out of yarn since I would be knitting looser so that hat would stretch and fit.

So, instead, I went with the Three and One pattern from EZ's book The Opinionated Knitter. It's a colour pattern she designed for sweaters in which every row contains 1 st of one colour and 3 st of another, with a few solid rows thrown in. It's one of those cases where something very simple leads to a deceptively complex design.

I started following her pattern closely, except that I had to stick with the same two colours for a few consecutive rows instead of changing them as often as she did. Then after I lost my place in the chart once, I was "loosely" following her pattern. And by the end I was doing a pattern "inspired by" EZ's pattern. I did, however, stick with the Three and One principal. When the hat was long enough, I switched back to black yarn and made the crown according to EZ's pillbox pattern in the same book.

The final hat:
I am a little disconcerted by all the left over yarn I have, but I think my version came out shorter. (The original was pretty long; or at least long enough that I could fold the brim over as a cuff.) I still feel a bit like I've lived the comic scene where someone rebuilds a clock or an engine and has three leftover parts that don't seem to belong anywhere...but you know they must have been needed somewhere...

But in spite of that, and best of all, it fits!

Or, if you prefer, a side-by-side comparison:

While knitting this up, I took pics and video for a colour stranding tutorial...look for it soon!

-christina

Fridays at the Purl: Hat Exchange

Tonight was the big night at the Purl for the hat exchange. I believe there were 11 hats exchanged. We all brought one, Amy put them into bags, and we pulled numbers to see who got which hat. As often happens when things are randomly distributed, it was amazing how many people got the perfect hat for them. (Ok, one person did a "second round" trade a little later but that all worked for the best, too.)

Since I had been keeping my hat top secret, I will now reveal that I did a Vortex from the latest issue of knitty in Malabrigo worsted in Blue Surf and Simply Taupe.

It was a fun knit with lots of short rows, but the top came out very pointy. I got most of that blocked out by arranging the wet hat onto a large pickle jar with a flat top (well, usually it's the bottom but I had the jar upside-down)

and it came out pretty long too. However I thought it looked good on the recipient and she seemed to like it. The pattern would be much more dramatic in colours that contrasted more, or if one were a self-striping yarn, but that is not for everyone either.

I, myself, got a lovely fair-isle hat in dream-a-licious alpaca. I believe I heard that this was the first fair-isle done by its maker, and if that is true, she really did a great job. (Well, it's a good job either way, but especially for a first time.) The hat will look great with my black coat, and is a really nice combinations of colours.

Here is the whole gang after we have all gotten our new hats:
In addition to all the hat exchange fun, and the fantastic treats you can see laid out on the table, I also got in about two and a half hours of knitting so all in all, a very good night.

And that is what I wish you: a very good night,

christina

One More Tote

I got my red bag done tonight. I just love it. As I've said before, the red looks so rich and deep. Very surprising effect coming from plastic bags, but it works.

My niece came through with the few more bags I needed to finish it up. I ran out on the very last row! So I was frustratingly stopped just as I thought I was finished. I got them in the mail last week I'm embarrassed to admit, but finally tonight took the time to finish the bag while watching a football game I'm not very interested in. (Some also call it the Superbowl.)

I considered a fancy scalloped trim on the top, but in the end decided nice and simple would do the trick. It's a little smaller than the other large totes I've done, and even smaller since the handles are "inside" the bag instead of sewn on the top, but it's nice to have a variety of sizes, right? This one is 12" x 4" and 13" tall.

All for now. I think I will cast on for a hat exchange going on at the Purl Friday the 13th. Everyone brings a hat, and Amy says "lady luck" will determine which hat you go home with. I'll give pictures after the exchange because I wouldn't want to give away any secrets before their time!

-christina