Bespeckle (plus giveaway)
Bespeckle is up on ravelry, there's yarn to give away on instagram, and the pattern is 10% off for the first few days it's out with the code SPECK. This was just supposed to be about the pompoms. I had this burning need to put all the stuff I find myself saying about pompoms (how to get them really full and round, how to make them detachable, how to add stripes or polkadots, what tools I like) down in one place. So I figured fine, I'll embrace the delightful ridiculousness that is my life and do just that. But then [...]
And now we start actually knitting
So, after all those swatches, it's time to actually knit the thing! I'm doing a rolled brim (in part because I like how it looks and fits, but also in part because I want to get to the color change bit as quickly as I can, and plowing through a solid brim in the colorful yarn lets me get there quick). And I generally cast on over two needles (not to make the cast on stretchier, it doesn't do that, but it does make the loops of my first row of stitches a better match for the rest of my [...]
Tip top
So this is done... And it's unquestionably adorable. Like that's totally a good looking hat, no doubt about it. But wait till you see the top. I mean that's just pretty much magic! I'm not even going to pretend to say anything modest or self effacing. That's grand, I love it, and it makes me gloriously happy! [pextestim pex_attr_set="looking-for-this-pattern" pex_attr_autoplay="false"][/pextestim]
All grown up
So, those itty bitty hats we did back before the holidays? Yeah, they needed people versions. Now...I am totally not diligent enough to make all 12 of them into people versions. Because that is...well...that is an unreasonable amount of knitting/photography to pull off for one pattern. A dozen hats is a book, not an individual pattern. I'm just not that cool. But...I can manage a few...likely three. So I've picked some of my favorites and am zipping along. Yarns are Alegria Grande (in Natural) and Maxima (in Daffodil), both by Manos del Uruguay (looks like one skein of each yarn [...]
Just about done
Home stretch... The decreases on this are fun. You work them inside the cables (like on Imply and Welter) and it's just a really neat trick to have in your knitting tool kit. It keeps the lines of the cables zipping along perfectly. Plus you'll feel super clever when you do it. Which is a not insubstantial part of my motivation for knitting anything! Pattern Tuesday, at which point you'll see just how pretty the top of this one really is!
Playing favorites
I resolutely decline to pick a favorite side. They're both nifty in their own way. And I love how different they look from each other. Sure stitches that look the same on both sides are cool and all...and useful for all sorts of things. But having one that is lovely and different on each side...that's something grand! Pattern should be out on February 5...you can click the magic doohickey down below to get an email when it comes out if that makes your life easier! [pextestim pex_attr_set="looking-for-this-pattern" pex_attr_autoplay="false"][/pextestim]
Very bad words
See that? See that set of stitches that is very much not involved in the cable? Yeah...that's not supposed to be like that. So we figure out the stitches involved and we rip. Two of the strands are longer because I needed to rip out more stitches there...the rest are shorter because I didn't need to set as many free down there. And then reknit it, this time actually crossing the cable like a smart kid. And then it's as good as new (er...better actually, what with not having the glaring error and all). Much faster than ripping out the [...]
So very very lazy…
I'm no good at row counters. I generally prefer to just count my rows or find some sort of landmark on the stitch pattern I can use instead of counting rows. But, on this hat, it's all cables. And cables are sort of a pain to count rows (you can do it, it's just fiddly). So I cheat. I tie slip knots in my tail for every plain row. Then when I finish the cable row, I yank them all out. Works great here because I don't need to count very high (4 or 5 knots is practical...12 is not) and because the [...]
Left right left
Yeah, I'm over here loving everything about this. I can't decide which side I like better...they're both pretty darn nifty. And don't stress, reversible cables are NOT hard. You know how normally you're working cables over just knit stitches? Like you cross three knits over three knits? Yeah, well if instead you cross ribbing over ribbing (so think knit one purl one knit one over knit one purl one knit one) magic happens. All of a sudden the back of your fabric gets very spiffy indeed. Take the time to twist those purls, then the front and back look even [...]
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