Thursday, July 28, 2011

Crooked Paths

July 16: I've wanted to knit this hat for quite a while (even though I'm sure it won't look quite right on me). I finished the 1.5 inches of 1x1 ribbing this evening. Even though the designer stated she is a tight knitter, I actually went up a needle size because starting with 5s and moving to 7s just still seemed too small for my usual use with Malabrigo worsted. Even the 6s for the ribbing feel a little small. Perhaps I shouldn't have used the smaller needles for the ribbing and just started with the 8s. But I'm going to just keep going and see how it turns out.

July 17: I finished the three repeats of the pattern today so all that is left is the decrease section. This hat definitely knits up quickly. Just looking at the pictures of the finished projects made me think that it was a little more complicated than it actually is. So it's one of my favorite types of patterns: a simple easy-to-follow pattern which looks amazing on the finished project.

I also tried it on since I finally had enough hat to do so, and it might be a tad tight but it does fit. Yay! If I knit this hat again in the future (highly likely), I think I'll use 7s for the ribbing instead of 6s just to make it a little less tight.

July 18: Finished! I'll have to see what happens after I block it, but I think I also should have gone up yet another needle size for the body (9 instead of 8). I had forgotten that almost every beret type of hat that I've knit has failed to have that distinctive beret poof because of my tightness in knitting. So right now it fits more like a beanie than a beret. It still looks nice, but it just doesn't quite have the same effect. Crossing my fingers that blocking will help it.

July 27: Blocking does seem to have helped. I blocked over a dinner plate as usually suggested for berets (I had not done this before).




Pattern: Crooked Paths by Melissa LeBarre (available for purchase on Ravelry)
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Violetas

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Portlandia Cloche

June 28: I really just wanted to start a new project, something not too complicated yet with a little lacework, so I think this hat will work nicely.

July 14: I got a little bored in the repeat section so I put this down for a while. But once I got through that section and back to the longer section (with the decreases), it finished up quickly. Alas, this type of hat looks terrible on me.


 
Pattern: Portlandia Cloche by Emily Johnson
Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy in In Vino Veritas

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