Friday, December 1, 2006

A Knitting Crisis

After finishing Lara a couple of days ago, I found myself in a bit of lull---no big, exciting project queued up. Just the darned mystery hats. I decided to get going on a sweater for my MIL, using some seriously adored stash Koigu---a major gift, IMO. So there I was, all set and I couldn't find the right size needles. I know I have them... so anyway. Then I decide to start still another project---guess what? Don't have the right needles. So I started another man-ish looking tocque as part of the mystery hat series---and after completing about half the body discovered I'd made the only real fatal knitting error---a twist at the join in circular knitting.

I almost decided to just not knit.

And then I remembered seeing this lovely hat on BrooklynTweed and decided to see if I could chase down a similar pattern on the internet, dig up some wool in my stash and pair it with the right needles. Please note, this is not the press shot of the pattern (Shedir, Knitty.com); had I seen that particular photo, I don't think it would have appealed. This photo is the one that was posted on BT's blog; I think its his brother.I love this for its texture, its traditional cables on a very hip beanie for urban men. I don't know who this one is for. It would look totally hot on Lyman, I think, but I'm pretty sure he never puts a hat on his hair once he gets it in place...

Progress shots (I prefer this color, by the way; its tres chic, I think)...
I love knitted cables; they're the reason I began knitting at all. I have to say two things frustrate me, though: first, it takes so long for any gratification while the pattern emerges. Second, in this cap there's SO much freakin' twisting going on. One round (repeated about every four, it appears) is repeats of 8 twists broken only by two purl stitches. Kinda hard to hit a groove with the cable needle in and out of the mix. But I think I'll be happy to have done it if my cap ends up looking anything like Mr. Tweed's. This is Cascade 220 wool; very very nice in the hand, holds up well to lots of work. OK, I hate Blogger. I've tried to upload the progress photos four times now. No luck. Tell me its better at Beta...

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Kathy, I lost one blog this week and I had a hard time posting on the other today. I think its going to be a little screwy for awhile as everyone makes the move over to Beta. I did see something about scheduled maintenance or server shutdown or something today... It looks like I'm about to get back Layla's blog so I think they are trying to make it better and be responsive anyway.

Since I keep my hair so short, I have been wearing beanies for a few years so I hope it goes like you want. I agree that I could see Lyman wearing that beanie, but I'm not sure I have ever seen him wear a hat. I have tried beanies like BT's, but my face structure doesn't always lend itself to some styles of hats. Besides, I'm not a very hip urban man anyway. Good luck with it because it looks intricate and difficult, even from a non-knitting person's point-of-view.

KHM said...

don't you think there's also something kind of rural, celtic about it as well? Your face is quite angular so I think this might be a nice balance with the roundness of the cap and the lines of cables... hmm.

And just to embarass the hell out of Lym: I've known the man to wear blue rubber boots and diapers (simultaneously, nothing else...) but I've NEVER seen him in a hat.

I've been browsing a bunch of knitting blogs over coffee this morning; I feel rather unsophisticated next to some of these guys. I have high hopes for this beanie...