Monday, March 4, 2013

Seventh Hat

I like doing the braided cable, but I could never remember how many stitches since the last cross from the other side and I'm not so good at counting.  Still it came out well.
You can't see it in the pic, but there are a total of six cables - three braided and three doubles with a simple repeating right to left cross - alternating around the hat.
Yarn:  Madelinetosh Worsted DK - French Grey
Same comments on Tosh worsted.  Looks beautiful on the skein, but the hand isn't so luxurious as I hoped.
It looks good though.  We'll see how it wears/pills.


Sixth Hat

This took somewhat more work (thought-wise) than the first five hats - but ultimately it seems that the skill required for cabling is more math and memory than craft. 
The size was pretty perfect except the ribbed band at the bottom was too loose so I ended up having to re-thread the needle in just above the ribbing and then snip it and separate the ribbed band and frog it and splice it and re-knit the ribbed band with a decrease of about 20 stitches - and I made the ribbed band a full inch shorter than it originally was.  Wish I had a pic of before - but I only have after.  

Yarn: Madelinetosh Worsted DK - Stormy Night (or something like that)
I like knitting with this stuff, but it isn't very tightly plied and it splits fairly easily.  The upside is that the variegated dye results in a beautiful abrash AND the yarn picks up the light differently depending on the angle of the thread, so the more movement in the pattern, the more it really jumps.
downside is that it isn't a very soft yarn.  Feels more suitable for a tank-top or something than a hat.  
Anyway, the wretch likes how it came out and can't believe he had the patience to keep it up for a whole hat.


Third and Fourth Hats

I made this one out of some extra lengths of yarn - some merino-cashmere blend and some straight merino.  Strangely, this is my favorite hat for fit - the ribbing at the bottom is tight and springy and feels great.  I want more of it - wish I knew which brand it was.


The Accursed Wretch ought to try to look happier in these pix 

And then there is this fancypants number, which is made from a bunch of different left over lengths of yarn - alpacas and merinos - crazy soft but a little ridiculous looking maybe?  Anyway, it isn't for me.  

Second Hat

Knit this on the flight home from CA.  
Yarn: Blue Sky - some sort of Alpaca / Merino blend.
Fuzzy and soft.  

First Hat

Knit this slouchy thing in Winter 2011-2012.
It has the distinction of being the first item I ever knit.
Yarn: Karabella Margritte - 80% Merino / 20% Cashmere. 
Plied.  Nice to knit.  Feels super.  Doesn't pill too much.