Archive for the 'hat' Category

Marsha

Pink hats

Last week I made ten pink Pussyhats. (The tenth is not pictured because my kid claimed it as soon as it came off the needles.)

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I am not usually a big fan of “craftivism” and see it mostly as an inefficient use of time and resources. Rather than spend time and money to knit a sweater to send to refugees halfway across the world, for example, I think it’s far more helpful to send money to charity and activist groups (such as Doctors without Borders) that are already on the ground in those areas and doing something there.

But the Pussyhat Project appealed to me because of its ability to send a clear statement about the importance of justice and equality for all. Because of an all-day (and unmovable) commitment on our calendar, my family wasn’t able to participate in the Women’s March on Washington last week. So I sent these hats with friends marched for themselves and on behalf of people (like me) who wanted to be there but can’t.

When people marched in Washington, DC, and other cities (and countries! and continents!) on January 21, the world took notice. (Even Trump, I’m sure—though he’s still trying to convince everyone that his inauguration crowds were way, way bigger.) Nearly every photo and video of that day’s events featured a sea of pink hats. It was amazing to see this sign of solidarity.

What next? I hope that the many lawmakers and media who have been tepid in their rejection of Trump’s message of misogyny, racism, and hatred will finally find the courage to call out his lies and bullying and  stand up for what’s right. And I hope that these pink hats (and all of the other resistance modes at play last weekend) inspire everyone to realize that the world is a better place when we work together to benefit us all.

And because I’m certain there will be plenty of future opportunities to demonstrate against the current administration and its policies, I plan to keep knitting pink hats.

Marsha

Free lunch: Hats

I like how this pixie hat looks as a semi-slouchy hat with the point jauntily sticking up a bit in the back

This twirl and tie cap reminds me a bit of a barbership pole, with how the stripes just twist around at an angle. (Sizes range from babies to adults.)

When you’re in the mood to make a hat and don’t want to bother with figuring out gauge or fussing about yarn, you can make an any-gauge beret or an any-gauge earflap hat with any yarn you have on hand (and without having to do any math in advance). Just start at the top, knit each section until it’s the size you want, then keep going.

Hey, hey, it’s Mike Nesmith’s hat from The Monkees!

Finally, here’s a lovely hat with cabled owls all around it.

Marsha

Baby knits

My oldest friend (that is, the friend I’ve had the longest) just welcomed her second child at the end of March. I started knitting for this baby late last summer.

First I decided to knit a blanket. I made up this log-cabin design as I went along, and managed to knit this entirely from stash. All of the yarn is pima/tencel DK weight; about half of it is left over from Sylvia’s Anouk pinafore (for which I was very cautious and aggressively over-ordered yarn), and the rest is left over from other projects.

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I actually finished the blanket over Thanksgiving weekend and thought I was done. But about a month ago I came across some Wool-Ease in my stash, in a nice muted mauve/pink color, and decided the baby (which we now all knew would be a girl) needed a sweater, too. This is the Simple Boatneck by Debbie Bliss, my favorite go-to sweater for babies and toddles. And of course once the sweater was done I needed to make a hat to go with it, right?

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Marsha

Free lunch: Hats

Now that you’ve knit Elizabeth Zimmerman’s famous February baby sweater and the more recent February lady, complete your collection with this February baby-sweater-style beret.

There are lots of other free great beret patterns out there. Take a look at the Grace Lace Beret and this fairisle beret.

Mad for short rows? Then here’s a hat for you.

A few other hats of interest: a button-tab hat, the Love Nugget hat (you know you want to click on the link just to see what it is),

If you’re knitting for small heads, check these out: a watermelon hat; a slouchy toddler hat, using sock yarn (the pattern is in adult sizes, too); a clochette baby hat that looks a bit like a flower/fruit cap; a hat with adorable blue bunnies around it; and a tassled beanie.

Honestly, this bike helmet ear warmer looks pretty dorky. But I bet it does a good job keeping ears warm. And when it gets really, really cold outside, most people don’t care whether or not their bundling up makes them look dorky–they just want to stay warm.

The name of this pattern (and the blog on which it resides) alone makes me want to knit it. I give you the Brainmonster Hat!

Marsha

Two knitted gifts

After my last knitting-related post, I was still feeling pretty antsy to cast on for a non-sock knitting project. I started two and have already completed both of them.

p6108672bonnetftf.jpgFirst up: a bonnet based on the one Lyra wore in The Golden Compass. The story behind this yarn is a sad one. My friend Gina has a colleague whose mother died recently, and the colleague gave Gina her mother’s yarn. There were two balls of Lion Brand Jiffy Thick-and-Quick, and when Gina was at my house last week telling me the story, she asked if I wanted one. We both decided to knit charity hats with them (part of our admission to Knitters Day Out this fall), and I like to think that her friend’s mother would’ve have liked to see the yarn used this way. This was a very quick knit, done in maybe an hour and a half.

p6108673vestftf.jpgNext, I set out to knit something for Maggie, the daughter of one of my college friends. I’ve knit Maggie a few things already (a jester hat and a novelty-yarn scarf), both of which she’s appreciated. She just turned six in March, so I thought I’d make a foray into full-on garments this time. I started with the vest pattern in The Knitter’s Handy Book of Patterns: Basic Designs in Multiple Sizes & Gauges (a very excellent book that belongs in every knitter’s library) and tweaked it here and there. I opted for a button-front style (rather than a pullover) and knit it in the round out of yarn I’d gotten in Vermont over the past few years. This was a lot of fun to knit!

maggie1.jpgThe result? Apparently, it was a hit! It arrived on an 85-degree day, and Maggie insisted on wearing it anyway. As you can see, it mostly fits yet still has lots of growing room, so she should get to enjoy it for at least a couple of years!

Marsha

Baby hats

Two friends of mine just had their first babies. One friend is someone I was close to in high school, saw a lot in early grad school (he lived in the same town where I was in school), and fell out of touch with for several years. We’ve recently resumed contact, and when I learned that he and his wife were expecting their first baby this month, I knew I just had to knit a hat for them. Their daughter arrived last week, and I knit the little red strawberry cap for her in one three-hour stretch; it will go out in the mail this week.

p1185811hatsftf.jpgThe other friend is someone I met in Oregon many years ago. A little over a year ago I made hats for her and her husband as wedding gifts (and apparently they still get a lot of wear—hooray!). Their first child, a little girl, was born just over a week ago. Not long before that, I sent them a sweater and hat for the baby: a simple boatneck and rolled-brim hat, both from Debbie Bliss and both done in Rowan All-Seasons Cotton left over from Sylvia’s first Wallaby—and both, unfortunately, unphotographed before I packed them up. As soon as I’d heard that little Orla had arrived, I just had to knit her another hat. The pink raspberry hat is for her, and I knit it in a not-newborn size, so she’ll have something to grow into.

Both hats were done in Lamb’s Pride worsted on the bottom, and Knit Picks Wool of the Andes worsted on the top. Lamb’s Pride is the very first yarn I ever knit with (and I did three garter-stitch scarves in a row with it), and I’d almost forgotten how much I love this yarn. Once I knit through my stash, I may just have to plan a project in Lamb’s Pride…

Marsha

My Halloween knitting

totorosmall.jpgJan attended a costume-required Halloween party last weekend. Once he decided on his costume earlier in the week, I knit this hat for him in two evenings.

Can any of you guess what it is?

(By the way, Gina and Katie aren’t allowed to answer this question, because they both saw me knitting the hat and we discussed it at length.)

Marsha

Free lunch: Holiday knitting

Halloween is around the corner, so start knitting up some pumpkins with a pattern than works with any yarn, gauge, and needles you like.

After that, it’s time for Thanksgiving. And really, what is Thanksgiving without turkey finger puppets?

If you’re trimming a tree, don’t forget your own handknit-and-felted Flying Spaghetti Monster ornament. And if you’re not a tree decorator, well, I’m sure this little fellow can fit in just about anywhere.

Here’s another tree-trimming idea: knit mini-mittens. I bet they would look cute hanging from an I-cord across the top of a window, too.

The Jingles Bells hat comes in sizes to fit infants through adults, so you can torture delight everyone you know with the gift of festive headgear.

If you’re feeling particularly sadistic, whip up a knitted baby Santa suit and stuff a defenseless infant in it before he or she is told enough to resist.

Marsha

Free lunch: Hats

It’s never a bad time of year to knit hats. If it’s summer now where you live, you can start planning for ways to keep your head warm when the mercury drops in a few months. And if you’re in a cold spot right now, well, take comfort in the knowledge that hats knit up pretty fast and you can be sporting new headgear in no time at all.

Like a retro look? Not afraid to toss your wool knitting into a washing machine full of hot water? This felted cloche may be just the ticket for you.

If you eschew head-hugging hats and yearn for something long enough to trip over, then give this stocking cap a try. The pattern is available for both kids and adults. They’re both based on the hat worn by Schwartz in one of my favorite holiday movies, A Christmas Story.

And here’s a whole page of free hat patterns, if you’re looking for more options. One thing I love about this page is the use of thumbnails and not just design names. So when looking at the list it’s easy to tell at a glance if something appeals to you rather than have to navigate to another page to see the images.

Marsha

A gift for Frank

p5150502frankgift.jpgOne of Jan’s coworkers is a guy named Frank. He’s always very friendly whenever Sylvia and I stop by the office to meet Jan for lunch, and never takes it personally when Sylvia gets a case of the toddler “shies” and refuses to talk to or look at him.

He’s a hardcore Mac user and an amateur photographer, so when he learned about my own interest in photography, he started sending digital photography books home with Jan. For me to keep. What a nice guy.

I wanted to repay his kindness, so with Sylvia’s help (she chose the projects: “Frank needs mittens and a hat!”) I did some knitting for him. After verifying that he can wear wool and loves blue, I used Patons SWS in Natural Indigo, with some stripes in Natural Wood. (I should mention that I am forever in debt to Lynnette, my upstream SP9 partner, for introducing me to this fabulous yarn.)

The mittens and the hat are both straight out of Ann Budd’s Knitter’s Handy Book of Patterns. I knit the largest size in each pattern (making Jan try them on from time to time), and I think that worked out pretty well.

Sylvia and I went to Jan’s office last Friday, and she eagerly presented the box to Frank. I’d wrapped it in some white packing paper saved from IKEA, and she’d decorated the box with ink stamps, stickers, and crayon markings—including an S for Sylvia and an F for Frank. He seemed pretty pleased, so I think this is one knitted gift that will definitely be worn!

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