Not the Scarf

Hello:

I am still waiting to take some finished photos of THE SCARF.  It is completely finished with ends woven in.  I love how it looks now that it is blocked.  I could just take some photos of it on a hanger, and I might have to do that if my kids don't wake up (it is only 1:15 pm...). 

Today I finished a hat that I have been slowly knitting all month.  I started this hat when I was in So. Cal. I got there right before December 1, so had a few days where I wasn't yet knitting THE SCARF, but needed something to knit.  I am using up all of this rust colored Wool-Ease I have from a failed sweater years and years ago.  Everyone is getting something with rust in it, either as the main color, or as a stripe.  Anyway, I had downloaded a free hat pattern, ... I don't remember when, and cast that on.

The pattern is Xeranthemum by Tiina Kuu.  I liked the flower details. 

I still need to block it, and weave in the last end.

I should probably say that it is ... based... on the pattern by Tiina Kuu.  I didn't follow the pattern exactly because I never bothered to print the pattern out, and since I worked on this in between Days of THE SCARF, I wasn't working regularly enough to remember exactly how to make the flowers.  I would come to a make a flower row, and think... how did she make these again?  And then I gave it my best shot.  They look almost right.

The pattern instructions say to knit until the hat is 23 cm, then begin the crown decreases.  I have tried the hat on and it feels really long.  I think I have a small head.  I made a hat for my nephew who is in college in Indiana (from So. Cal. so experiencing winter for the first time).  His mom told me that it doesn't even reach his ears!  He brought it home with him for Christmas, and his little sister is now wearing it for fun.  I hardly ever bother to measure when I am making hats.  I just keep trying on the hat, and when it seems slouchy, I start the decreases.  Maybe I need to actually measure.

This is the hat on a bowl for a model.  You can see it really needs to be blocked.

If I can get Pookie to model for me, I'll post better photos tomorrow.

If Moogie doesn't want it, I might send it to my niece in New Jersey.  I've been wanting to knit something for her.  I can't send it to Halos of Hope because it is wool, and not particularly soft.

I have also been working on my Age of Brass and Steam scarf.  About 1 1/3 years ago!  I decided that I needed some pretty scarves/shawlettes/shawls to accessorize my wardrobe as I was hoping to go back to work.  When we went to Bellingham, WA, on our little 4 shop LYS tour, I bought yarn for three different scarves, and this was one of them.  I bought some beautiful Silk and Merino -The Diana Collection from Yarns Northwest at The Wool Station.

I cast the scarf/shawlette on right away, then it just languished.  I really don't know why.  I like the yarn, I like the pattern.  I guess I just got busy with other things.  And it is a lot of stockinette.  I want to make this scarf.  So, for HPKCHC, (Harry Potter Knitting/Crochet House Cup), I proposed a NEWT (a 4 month long project) that involves four scarves/shawls.  THE SCARF is the first part of the NEWT.  The other 3 are the Age of Brass and Steam, Racing Raindrops by Churchmouse Yarn & Teas, and High Plains Drifter by Kristen Hipskey.  I bought the yarn for the High Plains Drifter on the same mini-yarn crawl in Bellingham when I bought the Diana Collection yarn. 

I was worried that my tensions might be completely different from how I knit that long ago, so I ripped it out, and cast it back on a few weeks ago, when I had a moment between THE SCARF knitting.

This is why I love HPKCHC.  I actually knit and finish projects.  Well, we shall see about the finishing.  But, I am really excited to make these scarves. 

Peace,
f1bercat
shaping the planet with a new hat.