Hat Hole

I knit pretty much all my hats from the bottom up. Why? Because I don't find the bound-off edge stretchy enough for the bottom of a hat. I also don't like to knit "soul-crushers" (my term for any knit where the rows/rounds acquire more stitches as you get farther along), with the exception of the OSW which does not bother me for some reason.

Many people don't like knitting hats from the bottom up, however, because of the dreaded "hat hole" (pictured above). You don't have to get hat hole! The following technique occured to me when I made my very first hat, and I'm really surprised I haven't seen it anywhere else. Once you've drawn your yarn tail through the remaining stitches and pulled tight, drop the needle down the central hole so the tail is on the inside of the hat. Now look closely at the hole. There's the hole, then a round of relatively loose stitches around it, followed by a round of "normal" stitches. Poke the needle up through one of the normal stitches, just beyond the edge of the looser stitches. Bring the needle down again, diametrically opposite of where you poked it up. You have just made a line across the hole. Pull the yarn tight. Now make another line across the hole, the same as the first one but perpendicular to it. Pull tight again. You've made a plus sign covering the hole, which is now virtually invisible. The yarn tail is on the inside of the hat. Turn the hat inside out and weave in the tail. Ta da!

Good Idea, Wrong Yarn

I finished the new hat in Philly. I like the idea very much, but Noro Transitions was the wrong choice. It's not chunky enough, and the self-striping, while not bad looking, doesn't really add anything. It's still a nice hat, though. I'm not going to rip it out or anything; I'm going to wear it. It's just not quite what I had in mind, somehow, and I wouldn't want to sell it. I'm going to try again using Rowan Big Wool, then I'll post photos of both hats and you'll see what I mean.

I was getting worried there for a minute.

The hat mojo - IT HAS RETURNED!!!! I am very happy about this. It had been seriously waning for a while. Partly because you can't actually wear hats now, what with it being summer and all, partly because FOs that need to be photographed *coughDARROWcough* always drain my mojo, partly because I've been obsessing with OSWs and sweaters, and partly because of a couple of failed hat ideas that I had a few months ago.

A new idea for a hat came to me yesterday. This is the first idea I've had in a while, so I'm very happy about it. I'd been starting to think I was out of ideas! Now the new idea is consuming me (Cara has an awesome description of the creative process here), and it will continue to consume me until I knit it up and determine if it's good or bad. Fortunately I am headed to Philly tonight - I have a one-day seminar tomorrow on the ultrafascinating topic of GAAP accounting - and I will cast on for the new hat on the train. Between the two 1.5-hour train trips, and my having absolutely nothing else to do tonight (work is paying for the trip, so I can't exactly rent a pile of movies in my hotel room, or spend the night on the phone with V.), I'll probably get this finished before I get home tomorrow night. I even brought some extra knitting stuff just in case I finish early - Noro Transitions and size 10.5 needles will make for a pretty quick knit.

It also really helps the mojo that I read about this place in the NYT Style section last Sunday. It's a consignment shop that showcases designers who are just starting out. I plan to get about a dozen hats together (about half of which are already made), photograph them (UGH!), and email the owner to see if she's interested. While I'm making the remaining hats, I've got to get myself some labels and possibly some business cards. Also some little tags to write the care instructions on. I'm a little worried that it's too late - she's already got fall stuff for sale, and I need at least a month before I even contact her. But hey, it doesn't hurt to try.

In other news, my sweaters are languishing. I am not very upset about this. I will gladly give up my sweater-a-month deal in exchange for the returned hat mojo. The sweaters are also languishing because I decided to put them down and make - for myself, finally - an OSW. I made it in Rowan Cashdoft Aran in Thunder (a medium grey). I did all the edgings in 2x2 rib, just like I did for the other two OSW's I made. For all the edgings, I did the last round and BO edge in the color Foxglove (kind of mauve-y). It's purty! I still need to weave in the ends. The other two (Silk Garden and Lamb's Pride Worsted) looked good without blocking, but this one could definitely use some time in the washer and some pinning out. Once that's done I'll post a photo.

Five Easy Pieces

Several years ago, I read an article in Glamour magazine called "Five Easy Pieces." It was basically about how you read all the fashion previews every season, and these get you all greedy and stuff, and then you buy all this crap that you end up never wearing. What you should do instead, the article says, is think very carefully about all the stuff you see, and narrow it down to five things you really want to buy. Then you buy those five things, and coordinate them with your existing wardrobe (which will get more and more fabulous as you continue to practice this five-things rule, since it acts as an incentive to buy things that are more timeless and higher quality) during the next season.

It made sense to me. I mean, if you buy a really trendy outfit, you can't wear it very often or people will start to comment, because it's noticeable. If you buy an awesome but subtle cashmere cardigan, you can probably wear it three or four times a week and no one will notice.

So here are my five easy pieces for Fall 2006:

1. The Corps de Ballet blouse in platinum, from Anthropologie

(How great will this look with my Smoke Kid Classic/Kidsilk Haze OSW?)

2. The Wellesley cable cardigan in heather graphite, from J. Crew


3. "O Chevrons with Black Details" (what a name!) from Sock Dreams


4. Mary Janes in black, and boots (I'm undecided between the black and the tan) from Aerosoles


(I love Aerosoles. Comfy and cheap, but they still look good.)

Hopefully this is distracting everyone from the lack of knitting content. I've been sleeping more, working out more, and knitting less. But the sweaters, they are coming along. I will post pics of them soon.

Travesty (Warning: Non-Knitting)

I just looked it up on imdb and, alas, it's true. They're looking to cast Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt as Dagny Taggart and John Galt in the Atlas Shrugged movie. Ick. Those two are just all wrong. For the record, here's my ideal cast:

Dagny Taggart: Cate Blanchett
John Galt: Aaron Eckhart
Jim Taggart: Kevin Spacey
Hank Rearden: Hugh Laurie
Francisco D'Anconia: Johnny Depp (yeah, I know he's a little old... he looks young, though)
Ragnar Danneskjold: Josh Lucas
Hugh Akston: James Cromwell
Robert Stadler: Robert Duvall
Lillian Rearden: Julianne Moore
Cherryl Taggart: Ginnifer Goodwin
Paul Larkin: Philip Seymour Hoffman
Philip Rearden: Ed Norton


(I wish they had made this movie 15 years ago - Cary Elwes would have made the perfect Ragnar, and Annette Bening the perfect Lillian...)

Help me pick colors!

After rereading the new VK a few times, I have become captivated by pattern #2 (a U-neck, fitted fair isle pullover in Dale of Norway Heilo). I have decided to knit this sweater in December, instead of trying to get my own design together. However, I'm not so into the beige-and-blue colorway. I have five alternative ideas, and I can't decide between them. Please help me choose!



The colorway called for in the pattern is Tan (MC)/Sheep Heather/Taupe with Mist/Blue/Navy (actually, it calls for Aqua instead of Mist, but apparently they don't carry Aqua and Mist is close enough). My alternative ideas are:
1. Tan (MC)/Sheep Heather/Taupe with Moss/Fern/Green Heather
2. Tan (MC)/Sheep Heather/Taupe with Light Grey/Medium Grey/Charcoal
3. Tan (MC)/Sheep Heather/Taupe with Medium Grey/Charcoal/Black
4. Moss (MC)/Fern/Green Heather with Mist/Blue/Navy
5. Moss (MC)/Fern/Green Heather with Peony/Red/Garnet

Which one should I choose?

I'm Bored, So I'm Gonna Ramble

Top 10 yarns (in no particular order) for OSW's (in my humble opinion):
1. Noro Silk Garden
2. Noro Kureyon
3. Lamb's Pride Worsted
4. RYC Cashsoft Aran
5. One strand of Kid Classic held together with one strand of Kidsilk Haze
6. Two strands of Koigu KPPPM held together
7. Artyarns Ultramerino
8. Manos del Uruguay kettledyed wool
9. Jade Sapphire 8-ply cashmere
10. Filatura di Crosa Zara Plus

Can you tell I'm slightly obsessed with this pattern?

Yarn!

I just bought a buttload of yarn. I read on Elliphantom Knits that Rowan is discontinuing their Yorkshire Tweed line. I plan to make Demi sometime this year, so I ordered enough YT Aran (in "Thorny") from Jimmy Beans Wool for that sweater. While I was at it, I picked up a couple skeins of Kid Classic and Kidsilk Haze in "Smoke" - I'll probably make myself a OSW from these.

The Silk Garden for the Mystery Sweater has still not arrived, but V. just called me and told me I got a package from Webs, which must be the Kureyon for the Fibonacci Raglan. I'll probably cast on for that tonight.