Friday, April 28, 2017

sis's chemo hats part 2

Sis came home from the Oncologist with a new hat that was crocheted.  She said it was cool enough to wear all day.  So I sat down with paper-n-pen and counted stitches row by row so I could duplicate it.  Here's what I came up with:

Gauge was 3 double crochets per inch, row was 3/8 to 1/2-inch in depth.
Finished length 8 1/4-inches, finished diameter was 9-inches.

Chain: 3 to 5 join with sl st; chain up 2
Round 1: 11 Dc in Ch ring; sl st; ch up 2 (12 stitches total)
Rd 2: 2 Dc in every stitch of rd 1; sl st; ch up 2 (23 stitches total)
Rd 3: (2 dc, 1 dc) repeat 11 times; 2 dc in one stitch; sl st; ch up 2 (35 stitches total)
Rd 4: 1 Dc then (2 Dc, 1 dc, 1 dc) repeat 11 times; sl st; ch up 2 (47 stitches total)
Rd 5: (1 dc, 1 dc, 1 dc, 1 dc, 1 dc, 2 dc) repeat 8 times; sl st; ch up 2 (56 stitches total)
Rd 6: dc in every stitch (56 stitches total)
Rds 7-18: repeat Rd 6

This hat appears to be done in worsted weight yarn.

Now I don't have to worry about losing my little piece of paper.  Yeah!  A good example of this pattern is Simple Chemo Hat by Mamta Motiyani on Ravelry.

Remember that feather-n-fan afghan I made?  Well, I had leftover DK yarn.  I decided to try and use as much as I could up.  Time for a gauge swatch!  4 stitches to the inch and about the same depth of row using a G hook.  Here's what I came up with for the DK yarn:

Chain 3 join with sl st; chain up 2
Round 1: 13 Dc in Ch ring; sl st; ch up 2 (14 stitches total)
Rd 2: 2 Dc in every stitch of rd 1; sl st; ch up 2 (28 stitches total)
Rd 3: (2 dc, 1 dc) repeat; sl st; ch up 2 (41 stitches total)
Rd 4: 1 Dc then (2 Dc, 1 dc, 1 dc) repeat; sl st; ch up 2 (56 stitches total)
Rd 5: (1 dc, 1 dc, 1 dc, 2 dc) repeat 12 times; then 1 dc, 1 dc, 1 dc, 1 dc, 1 dc; sl st; ch up 2 (66 stitches total) [In other hats I redistributed the 5 dc through out the round.]
Rd 6: dc in every stitch (66 stitches total)
Rds 7-18: repeat Rd 6

LOL Once again I don't have to worry about losing my little piece of paper.

In the first hat I replaced round 18 with a shell edge starting with a half-shell and ending with a half-shell and 15 complete shells in between.  I used a 6 dc shell in this border.


Clown Barf and White for this one.

The next one I replace the last 3 rows with a Cathedral edging, which is an 8 treble stitch shell with a ch 3 picot between stitch 4 and 5 of the shell.  It looked great until you put it on and then the shells stood straight out from your head. 😕  So my solution was to add a band that pulled the points back in.

This hat was done in Teal and White.  If I were to repeat this hat I think I would move the Cathedral edging up towards the middle on the hat, so I would finish with the teal instead of the white against the face.

The third hat was a hat I found on Ravelry called a Diamond-Edge Hat from Designs by KN.  It uses a Catherine's Wheel stitch pattern.  A comment in the project notes of one of the completed hats pointed me to a You-tube video on how to do the stitch pattern.   That hat disappeared (probably in Sis's desk at work) before I could get photos of it.  The hat is primarily White with the first round of Catherine's Wheel in Blue and then a second round of Catherine's Wheel in Clown Barf.

My messy kitchen is calling my name, so I hope everyone is having a great day.

Judy

Friday, April 21, 2017

sister-in-law's hats

While I was knitting Tiffany's family their hats, my brother and sister-in-law came to Wichita to visit Sis and I.  Sister-in-law asks about what I was knitting, so I explained it to her.  She then asked if I would knit her a couple of ponytail hats and I said, "Sure!"  I sent her to the store to get worsted weight yarn.  She came back bearing 4 skeins yarn for two hats.
With the first skein of variegated yarn I made the Waffle Hat by Gail Bable.  It was one of the patterns I found on Ravelry while looking for hats for Tiffany's bunch.  It was knitted on US#6.  I cast on 96 stitches.  The Waffle pattern would have looked way better in a solid or a more subtle variegated.  I moved the ponytail hole up to 3 1/2 inches from the bottom edge.  It seemed to fit better there.  I started the crown decrease at 5 1/2 inches cause none of us really like the slouch look.  I didn't keep the band off the yarn so I can't tell you what color way it was except it was some CraftSmart Value Yarn.

The second hat was the same hat pattern (Jogger's cap by Karen Steward Longest) I used for Sister Suzy's hat, moving the ponytail hole to 3 1/2 inches.
I used US#6 needles again with a cast-on of 96 stitches.  Began the crown at 5 1/2 inches dividing the crown into 8 sections of 12 stitches and decreasing every other row.  I used the CraftSmart Value yarn SIL purchased in Giverny for the variegated and some white Sis had.  This hat turned out much nicer.
Next up...more hats.  😀

I hope everyone is having a good day!

Judy

Saturday, April 8, 2017

the hats for tiffany and family

While I was knitting Sister Suzy's ponytail hat and mitts my sister was talking to Tiffany, one of her co-workers, about it and asks if I would knit a hat.  I said, yes, find a pattern and some yarn.  So the pattern my sister found was the Goodie Bag Hat by Cheryl Oberle on Ravelry.
I used Red Heart With Love in Boysenberry on US #6 needles with a 30-inch cable to do the Magic Loop.  It was a fun little knit once I decided to ditch most of the instructions.  I just knit the garter stitch sections using a traditional garter stitch in the round (knit one row, purl the next).  Using the gauge I was getting which was 5 stitches per inch times the 20-inch circumference.  I cast-on 100 stitches using the German Twisted cast-on.  I used a 3 stitch I-cord for the drawstring.  The something new I learned on this project.

The next hat was Dominic's.  This kid loves purple so to get a hat that nobody would think he was wearing a little girl's hat I found Robot Hat by Jane Sharp on Ravelry
I knit a standard stocking hat and used the chart for the robots.  I used the lt. gray from Sister Suzy's hat for the robots and some neon green yarn my sister had in her stash for the eyes.

Then I knit Riley's.  Mandie Harrington calls the pattern Swirl Hat.  I put a ponytail hole in this one at 2 1/2 inches because Riley doesn't like her hair pulled up too high as it gives her a headache.
Riley likes a wild riot of color and my sister had this variegated which I coupled with a solid turquoise ribbing.  I didn't use the ribbing called for in the pattern because I have had the best success with 2x2 ribbing.  I was disappointed with the crown, as it wasn’t, as flat I like them.

They have a little girl that stays with them off-n-on so I knit Maddie a hat too.  I used In-Between Seasons Hat by Elena Nodel from Ravelry.
I used the bayberry from Tiffany's hat coupled with a hot pink my sister had in her stash.  Loved the simple little lace pattern.  The pattern calls for DK weight yarn but I used Worsted.  The lace pattern is an eight stitch repeat so I cast-on 96 stitches which gave me 12 repeats.  No ponytail hole in this one as Maddie's hair is fairly short.

Last but not least was Josh's hat.  I originally was going to knit a Ribbed Watchman's Hat by Channah Koppel I found on Ravelry but my sister saw it and ask if I was knitting a balaclava.  I said no, she said a balaclava would be a better choice because he rides. Okay, but I'm not sure I have enough yarn.

Used Easy Balaclava by Nanette Blanchard again.  I lengthened the neck portion by two inches as most people were noting that the neck was too short for most men.  Then I lengthened the top by an inch to make sure the top of the opening covered the forehead.  I had maybe 2 yards of yarn left after I finished the crown.

I kept the pattern for the Watchman's Hat because I think it is an excellent pattern for a male hat, which is long enough to fold for extra warmth around the ears.

This is part of the knitting that interrupted the knitting of the feather-n-fan afghan.

I hope everyone is having a good day.

Judy