Missing in Action
Upon hearing of my current hat phase, my dad graciously offered up his head for swathing in woolly goodness. We talked about head sizes, yarn colors, and hat styles. A hat was planned and executed. I bound it off the other night. The next morning, I washed it, shaped it, and set it out to dry. Around these parts, hats get dried over the heating vent in our kitchen. Most of our heating vents are giant cookie sheet sized affairs in the walls, but the one in the kitchen happens to be on the floor. If you put a wet [...]
A Simple Plan
The plan was simple. The plan was actually kind of awesome. A friend was doing some Christmas shopping. She wanted to get someone on her list all of the things one might need to start knitting socks. Well now, that's totally the sort of thing I can help with. I'm not usually much of a shopper. I tend to do most of my shopping online, and I can't remember the last time I went to the mall. But there's a nice big exception for yarn shopping. That is scads of fun and is best done in person. Plans were made. [...]
Learning from my Mistakes
So a while back I casually mentioned, late on a Friday evening, that we were heading off to Pittsburgh the next day. I asked for yarn store recommendations. You guys were kind enough to provide them. Then, in a fit of truly brilliant work, I didn't have a chance to check your helpful comments the next day because we were actually in Pittsburgh and my internet access was not what one might have hoped for. It was not my most impressive move. But, I am capable of learning from my mistakes, so I'm trying this with a bit more advance [...]
Let’s Recap
So back on November 6 we got our first snow and I went a bit batty, as is proper and appropriate for the first snow. Then it got oddly warm. Freakishly warm. Downright balmy. Just look at the background in the pictures between then and now and note the bright green grass and total lack of snow. Thankfully, that seems to have been remedied. It's been snowing on and off for the last three days, and it shows no sign of stopping. Alas the snow does complicate getting pictures a bit. The railing of my back porch is rather covered [...]
Tiny Reminder
Just a tiny reminder that the 50% off coupon expires this Sunday. To use it, put 3 or more patterns in your cart (here or on Ravelry, it's all the same cart), click 'use a coupon code,' put in the code 'Math4Knitters,' click 'apply,' watch as your bill is cut by half, then checkout as usual.
Unreasonably Helpful
I went ahead and added the elastic, and it made a huge difference. I used Dritz Thin Beading Cord Elastic which I found at my local Joann store for all of $1.59. I ran four strands of it through the knit stitches on the inside of the hat's ribbing at the brim, one each at the first, third, fifth, and seventh round of stitches. It took all of five minutes and it has totally improved the hat beyond all reason. It is now just the right kind of snug...not tight enough to leave marks on my forehead, but not loose [...]
Because You Can’t Knit All the Time
Have you looked around lately (those of you in the northern hemisphere at least)? See those leaves all over your yard? Or at least all over my yard in the recent pictures? Have you noticed the chill in the air? Or failing that, the barrage of Christmas decorations in the stores? All that bodes very well. Not because it's almost time for the annual frenzy of gluttony and capitalism with which we mark the end of the year. I'm kind of a grinch. I don't really do any of the winter holidays at all. Nope. It bodes well because it's [...]
Much Better
So it turns out the secret to pouf success (or at least to less obvious pouf failure) is rather extreme blocking. I first blocked the hat on a plate. This led to the aforementioned jellyfish incident. The crease or line made by the edge of the plate was too close to the top of the hat, which made the band at the brim far too thick. It was not flattering. I think the theory was sound, and it might have worked with a larger plate, but I didn't have one handy. The second attempt involved a giant mixing bowl, much [...]
Let’s Try That Again
Over the last few days I made what I hoped would be a poufy hat. Before doing this I analyzed patterns for several other poufy hats to determine the general methods for creating pouf and to get a sense of acceptable pouf proportions. Following these guidelines, I knit the hat. Somewhere along the way something went horribly horribly awry. Either I was wrong about the potential for me to look reasonably non-dorky in poufy hats, or I totally forgot how to make shapes from knitted fabric, or (and I'm hoping it's this last one) blocking poufy hats is a bit [...]
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