Monday, January 28, 2008

Fibonacci Hat


Well, since the other hat didn't fit my son's ginormous head, I ended up giving it away and trying again. This time, I used JoAnn Sensations Kashmira yarn (which is DK weight, in case you're wondering, but for some reason it's not labeled). I really like the JoAnn Sensations yarn. I didn't think I was going to like it this much but, for cheap wool, it's REALLY smooth. Not soft, really, so much as soft like cotton might be sorta soft. It doesn't feel scratchy at all like normal wool feels. I tried to felt it before though, since the label says "100% wool Felt-able" but the felting was terrible.

The colors I had I wasn't too sure about, so I had read on some blog someplace that if you use the Fibonacci sequence for the stripes it is more appealing to the eye than just straight stripes w/colors that don't necessarily go well together. I had about the same gauge (as far as I can tell) as with the patons classic marino, so I went with it, but I believe I cast on 113 this time to make up some circumference and also did 9 iterations of the increase part of the pattern. I love how it turned out. I'll see if I can get him to hold still enough to get a pic of him with it on.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Baby Hat take 2


Ok, so since they didn't give a gauge (or dimensions), I think the hat I made turned out closer to 0-6 month size. At least, it's tight on my 6 month old, but maybe he has a giant head. here's the pic, though. I guess I'll try a bigger number cast on :)

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Baby Hat

One of my friends did her own rendition of this hat pattern, which I got to see when we were at a playdate. OH SO CUTE!! So of course, I set out to try out my own rendition (she didn't give me the website, I had to search it out). The pattern is translated from a Norwegian pattern, and I don't know about you, but I've never even *seen* a 2.5mm circular needle (I believe that's a 1 1/2 size, US). And of course, I wanted to knit it right away instead of waiting until I got a chance to go to a yarn shop, so I had to go with what I had. I *do* have a size 3 circular needle, which I figured I could use and get a fairly small gauge, and the Patons Classic Wool Merino comfortably knits to a pretty small gauge, so I decided to go with that from my stash. The gauge in the pattern is 28 stitches to 10 cm (about 4 inches), so instead I wound up with 24 stitches per 4 inches with the combo I used. I wanted to make a 12 month size hat, so I calculated out how many inches it would be using their gauge and then used that to decide to cast on109 stitches. That puts the in between straight stockingette sections at 16 stitches instead of 18 or 19.

Ok, I'm off to knit. I'll let you know how it goes!

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Finished Braidy



I finished it, finally. And just in time to give it away as a christmas present. It turned out well, but I think if I were to do it again, I'd go with the worsted weight and a smaller gauge. probably a 6x1 rib. The chunky yarn was just a bit too thick, I think, but good for a men's scarf. I'm extremely happy with how the cabling turned out, though.