Starting clockwise at 3 o'clock (which is, in fact, the order in which I made them) is the top-down pattern of my own design (pattern in sidebar at left) except that I used a very thin DK weight, Reynolds Whiskey, on a size 7 needle. This yarn has a raspy, substantial feel, so even though it's finer in weight, it will be warm. And the colour is exceptional! The little stripe is from some leftover sock yarn, which was sadly orphaned and anonymous...
This next one at 6 o'clock is my personal favorite. I made it up as I went along from a vague memory of a hat in the last Harry Potter movie (there were a lot of wonderful knits in that movie!). I knit it bottom up, 68 CO, size 8 needles, Noro Kureyon. K2 P2 for approx 7.5 inches and then began decreasing. I decreased every 4th and then every 3rd and then every 2nd row in the Purl stitches only until all the purl stitches were gone, then decreased in Knit stitches every other row for 4 rows, then in every row until I had four stitches left on the DPNs. You can see this last section of Knit-only decreases in the vibrant blue part at the top of the hat. I then knit all around the four stitches, over and over, until I had a cord long enought to make a nice knot at top. I threaded the tail through the stitches, pulled it tight and secured it, weaving in the end, then tied my top-knot. I love it, if I do say so myself!
The third one is another that I'm really pleased with! It's the ZeeBee from Schmeebot and what an accomplishment to master this seamless beanie technique!! It's a take-off on Elizabeth Zimmerman's brilliant techniques and is truly fast, fun, and easy!. I used the rest of the one skein of the Reynold's Whiskey and size 7 and 6 straight needles. The top yarny-ball is more of the orphaned sock yarn. It looks quite jaunty! The ZeeBee is knit side to side in garter stitch, with short row shaping to form the crown.
My final hat is a bottom-up free-style hat, Noro Kureyon again. This colourway had a brilliant peacock blue and green strand in it, but when I got to those colours, I skipped them so I'd have a repeat of the more muted browns, greys, blacks, and dark greens. It is K2P2 for 7.5 inches on size 8 circular and DPN needles and then I decreased in pattern (very tricksy for me) so that the ribbing continues to the very top of the hat, where the tail is threaded through the remaining stitches and pulled tight. This made the top of the hat look like cable stitching. All it really was, was decreasing the Purl stitches purlwise, and decreasing the Knit stitches knitwise so that a demarcation between knit and purl was visible all the way up. As you go along, you come to places where you are decreasing a knit and purl stitch together, and I always did this by favoring the first stitch on the decrease, i.e., if I decreased P1K1, I decreased purlwise. If I decreased K1P1, I decreased knitwise. At the end Knit stitches predominated and the very top is an interesting delta of knitwise ribs... It looks like the top of a sea urchin shell:
(sorry for the blur, it was the best I could get in my my be-fuddled post-midnight-knitting brain fog)and Finally - a photo of my Black Rose yarn from Tausendschon in Germany!
Here it is resting gently amidst my vintage knitting needles, waiting patiently for its transformation in to Rose Socks! You can see that the colours Nadine chose for me are so perfectly dark rose colours, with none of the blue or orange that other skeins in this colourway show! I love it so much. My idea for this yarn includes a pattern of roses. I can't wait to finally get to this design!
4 comments:
I love the Noro hats........ wish I was more of a hat person- but it usually messes up my hair so I can't wear them before work or during breaks at work. :( They're so much fun to knit. My favourite pattern is an improvised one- I take one ball of solid colored sock yarn and then knit double stranded and use up all the leftover sock yarns with it. :)
Oh, and as for the Rose yarn..... it is awesome. I really like the way the bellatrix socks look but I am torn between frogging them or casting on the mate. The thing is- those dropped stitches do tend to snag on parts of shoes- I already pulled one when I tried it on for the photo and that means those socks would not really be worn all that often which would be a shame since the yarn is STUNNING. Hm.....
Oh, too bad about Bellatrix! Some stitch patterns are just not right for socks. I think a good sock must have all the elements: comfort, style, ease of wear...don't you? And I agree with you - the Black Rose yarn is too, too beautiful to snag!
Well, I think that one has to go to the frog pond. I am now thinking about the coriolis sock pattern by Cat Bordhi. DO GET THAT BOOK! It is most amazing for sock architecture and the socks in there blew me away. I am ok with knitting patterns and all- but the thing is- there is nothing more fascinating for me than working on the basic architecture of a sock. Heels, toes..... and Cat did amazing things there. Including master patterns which mean you can knit any size, any yarn. No worries. I love love love that. And the way Bellatrix is- it is a lovely pattern- just not very useful in everyday life. :(
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