And we’re off
Alrighty, back to the hat we were swatching for the other week. The yarn is all wound up and cast on (and yes, yes that branch DOES look rather like a turtle/dinosaur having a chomp on the yarn, you're totally right). As usual, I used a long tailed cast on and cast on over two needles. Someone somewhere is clutching their pearls and is about to send me a note telling me casting on over two needles is a scandal and doesn't really make your cast on stretchier. Which I know! Casting on over two needles doesn't make your cast [...]
Preemptive answers
Ok, how about a general Q&A post about the upcoming pattern! 1) It's coming out Tuesday (standard disclaimer, about assuming no massive catastrophe befalls me or mine between now and then goes here)! Make sure you're on the mailing list if you want me to email you with a coupon when it comes out. 2) Yarn is specially dyed by Gauge Dye Works just for this pattern, and she's got it up for sale now! One skein will make one hat in any size (I made a tall one for my giant 24.75" head and had plenty left over). 3) [...]
Extra
Am I doing something just the tiniest bit extra with the blocking on one or two of these? Why yes, yes I am. Do you have to do it to? Um, no. No I do not expect anyone else to be quite this enthusiastic. In the interest of full disclosure, even I am not this enthusiastic and I will not be doing this to every blippy on the hat when I block it. But I had one or two spots that would benefit from a bit of extra persuasion, and I know I can't actually be the most particular person in [...]
Moral obligations
Ahem. Why yes. Yes I think that will do nicely! I'm pretty sure I'm morally obligated to get pictures of the crowns of all three of these and show them off to you in quick succession so you can tell me which one is your favorite. But now, just for today, I think perhaps we can just revel in how spiffy this one is, don't you? I'll put together a big Q&A post for these hats later this week, but for now, all you need to know is that they're damn nifty and they're coming soon!
Stave off
I believe when last we visited with this hat, I was using it to stave off the despair caused by the whole Snow + Cold + January + Dark + Pandemic + Broken Heat situation. And while I'm not quite sure that's a fair burden to put on a sweet little hat, I can report that the sun is setting several minutes later, the primary heating system in my house is currently working, and it is not snowing. So I'm calling it a win. Details on the pattern release are coming soon, make sure you're on the mailing [...]
Kinky
Ok, before we get to the cast on, let's deal with the swatches from the yarns I'm not using. You'll recall I said I was leaving them attached to the skein (not cutting the yarn at all). When I was done with the swatches, I just unraveled them. But because I blocked the swatches, the yarn is super kinky. Don't. Ever. Knit. With. Kinky. Yarn. It's no fun, and it will wreck your tension. If you need to use the yarn right away, you can wrap it back into a skein (a swift or the back of a [...]
Blocked
And here they are after being blocked. The changes are a little bit subtle (especially in a picture, it's more pronounced in person), but still important. Flip back and forth between this post and the previous one if you want to look more closely. The easiest place to see them is probably to look at the spaces in between the stitches, especially on the Hedgehog Fibres and La Bien Aimée yarns. You can see how they both sort of opened up and filled in the spaces between the stitches to make a much more solid fabric. Which is very much [...]
Unblocked
So here we are, all unblocked. That's Hedgehog Fibres on the top left, La Bien Aimée on the bottom left, and Berroco on the right. I have some suspicions about which one I'll pick, but until they're blocked, that's really all they are. Because I have a feeling all three of these are going to look quite a bit different after I block them. So, I'll bind them off (but not break the yarn), toss them in the sink for half an hour or so (to let them get really really really soaked all the way through), then fish them [...]
And finally
And finally, Berroco's Mochi in color 3225. This one is a slightly different structure than the other two. Instead of being a plied yarn with bits of colorful fluff caught in the twist of the yarn, it's a tube with bits of fluff blown in (mostly gray, a few colorful). I've used yarn of this sort before (the Inklings and Intimations hat and mitt set used it, and they've become one of the household's most reached for sets of woollies, so I know I like it). I've just not used it for cables before, so I'll be interested [...]
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