David’s Hat

Pattern: My Own Design, Hat for friend David
Reference Books: Knitting Workshop, Knitting Without Tears, Brooklyntweed, Eunny Jang

Yarn Brand: Knit Picks
Yarn Name: Wool of the Andes
Yarn Colorway: Coal and Daffodil
Yarn Content: 100% Peruvian Wool
Yardage: 1 ball = 1.75 oz (50g) = 110 yards (100 m)

Yarn Source: Knit Picks
Amount of yarn purchased: 2 balls Coal, 1 ball Daffodil (7 oz = 440 yards)
Yarn Cost: $1.99/ball (x 3 = $6.00)

Yarn Brand: Knit Picks
Yarn Name: Andean Silk
Yarn Colorway: Olive
Yarn Content:55% Super Fine Alpaca, 23% Silk, 22% Merino Wool
Yardage: 1 ball = 96 yards/50 gram ball

Yarn Source: Knit Picks
Amount of yarn purchased: 1 ball Olive (96 Yards)
Yarn Cost: $4.29/ball (x 1 = $4.29)

Needle: Size US 5 (3.75 mm) and US 7 (4.50mm) (16″ Circular Addi Turbos)

Gauge: 4″ = 21 stitches, 1″ = 4.5 stitches

Dimensions: 21″ head Circumference

Project Duration: Started = 12/24/2007 – 12/28/2007 (4 days!)

Recipient: David

Project Notes:
Alot of what I have said has already been for mentioned in the last post. But I have a few more things to add.

Well, first to summarize.

A hem is knitted, then a purl ridge and then turned and joined. The inside of the hem is made of a softer merino silk combo which I think would be more comfortable to the wearer’s ears.

Then, from my ass, I pull this out:

And then it becomes a blur how I closed the crown. But all in all it looks nice. Even on the inside:

There are 2 improvements which I can see being made for this cap. Maybe the next time, I won’t knit such a wide hem, because it pushes the Norwegian pattern way up to the crown and it becomes difficult to see. But then, if the hem wasn’t wide enough, it the softness wouldn’t cover the whole ear, so I might have to improvise and knit the hem with the same width but somehow, skilfully, masterfully, cleverly join it to the body, IN THE MIDDLE of the color pattern. We’ll try that another time.

The other improvement that I think I should investigate is the color jog between rounds. I know that are tons of information out there especially by Meg Swansen on how to close the jog, but I just didn’t bother with it. But it is barely noticeable because these aren’t striping patterns. Apparently they show more with striping patterns.

3rd you may ask, how I came up with this. Well, the recipient has been bugging me about knitting him something, ever since I started knitting, I hadn’t knitted anything for anyone really. He wanted an Kenny original. He wanted his alma mater colors, black and yellow, and if possible, incorporate his favorite color green into it. And he’s a cheap ass, so he wanted an affordable cap.

I said, fair enough, if I’m going to be experimenting on you, I would also like to go cheap. And it would be my gift to you. So I bought the yarn. So, I figured that instead of a plain ribbed hat, I add the Zimmerman’s touch of the turned 2 color hem so I could incorporate the softer green color. Then instead of just a plain ol’ yellow stripe, I will dip my toes into stranded knitting. Well, and I guess it turned out to be a win win situation. David gets a hat and I get to try new techniques!

I will be giving David his hat tomorrow and I will post a picture of him wearing it. I hope it fits!