Thursday, January 26, 2017

A Hat for Me

The color I love to wear currently is navy.  I made myself a navy hat, and just to keep it quirky, I added a stripe of some colorful, lumpy yarn in my stash.  I used this pattern, and it was not too hard, although the top got lumpier than I expected.  

When I cast on, I was worried that the hat would not be big enough and so get stretched out a lot when I put it on my head and let the cold and wind get in.  It's big enough, yes, but now I wished it hugged my ears more firmly!  



I started this hat at a worship leaders' retreat a few hours away.  There were some other knitters sprinkled through the audience; one of them was in front of me at the beginning of the weekend, also a few inches into a hat on her circular needles.  The next evening, I saw that very hat on her friend's head, complete with trees and beaver knitted in different colors on its crown!  I had only managed to add another inch of ribbing to my hat.  I was amazed at her speed and my slowness - I bet she was a continental knitter (I use the English technique - yarn in right hand).  

Another knitter, when I marveled at her speedy continental knitting, told me she manage to switch to continental from English in about a week of concentrated effort.  One of my main gripes with knitting is its slowness.  So maybe I should switch.



Also, in the outerwear line, I re-did the fabric scraps and stitching on my black mittens; I used blues and red perle cotton in geometric shapes to ditch the ragamuffin look I had done a few years ago. Navy is edging out the black in my wardrobe, and I love that.

All photos courtesy of Genevieve!

7 comments:

Rozy Lass said...

I knit the continental way and find I am faster than some, but not as fast as others. I find it produces a more consistent tension throughout the piece. That hat is really warm looking, good job!

Nancy In Boise said...

I have crocheted plenty of hats, can't knit! I LOVE the mittens, how cute! I need to start making grandbabies hats :)

Polly said...

I love your new hat! It looks beautiful with your eyes and skin tone.

GO CONTINENTAL, GIRL! It's the only way to roll. ;)

Becky said...

I love the stripe! I owe my husband a hat - I'm not sure I have enough of his requested color, so now I know how I'll deal with it - a stripe at the top. Thanks for the inspiration!
I'm a slow knitter too, but not sure I want to switch it up.
I like the mitten patches too.

Unknown said...

One trick to a tighter brim on your hat would be to start with a needle size one size smaller just for the brim. Then switch up one size for the rest of the hat. Happy knitting!

e said...

Love the lumpy stripe! Makes the hat much more interesting.
I also knit the 'English' way, aka the slow way. :-) One of my knitting group ladies was teaching me to switch but I haven't put the effort in to make it stick. I knitted a scarf for a Christmas gift, but I had to go back the English method just to get it done. I didn't want to have to think about it while I was churning through the yarn.

jenny_o said...

Very pretty hat, and I agree on the navy. I switch from black years ago because it was just too harsh for my pale skin, and navy made a very good basic for slacks, jackets, etc.