Warty Bobbles

My Dad's Cabled Hat

My Dad was quite pleased with his cabled hat.  He wore it several times during Thanksgiving weekend and I hope he will continue to enjoy wearing it on his walks at home.  It is a warm hat – all those cables doubling up the insulation. 

 

He commented on how soft it is.  My Mother had said the same about her hat.  And Emilia and Oliver admired the softness of the kimono I knitted for their baby.

They seemed so surprised – but, then, most people have little contact with hand-knit woolen garments.  Cotton, acrylics, microfibers, mostly.  People shy away from commercially-made animal fibers, too, because they have the reputation of being itchy (except for silk and cashmere – which are usually reserved for luxury wear).

It made me realize that I have become so accustomed to knitting with good quality wool (and alpaca and wool blends that include silk and cashmere!) that I expect knitted garments to be pleasing to the touch.  In fact, I have pretty high standards!  I found myself frowning over the wool (blend) socks I found at Nordstrom – too thin, too stiff, the cuff seemed like it would be binding.  “I should just knit my own socks!”  I huffed to George.

And certainly I could!  (Don’t tell Sarah that I am even thinking about knitting socks for myself…

The Hat That Went To Portland

So, as I mentioned in an earlier post, my Mother asked me to knit her a hat.  Actually, she was looking at a photo of my grand-daughter Gwen in a hand-knit (by Sarah --- who is still kind of obsessed with baby hats) hat and said “It would be nice to have a warm hat like that.”  And I said “Y’know, I could knit you a hat like that.”  And then I asked about colors and she said “Bright colors, like that one – but with ties.”

Gwen Wearing Her Hat

 

Okay.  Doesn’t take much more than that to get me knitting!

I got some yummy cashmere/silk/merino yarn and a fun accent yarn.  Sarah helped with the design (including the tail – which is the signature detail to this particular hat).  I did a little intuitive knitting to make tabs for the ties – wanting a sturdy join (ties to hat) that would not look like big earflaps.  And I “finger-knit” the ties (it’s one of those things one learns at camp, but I also found directions in Charlene Schurch’s Hats On!).  

My Mother's Hat

The Two Hats

My Mother loved that hat -- and she looked darling in it (I must say!).  Interesting how it came out so Scandinavian -- but my daughters say that is because it is on a "little old Finnish woman."

I hope to get photos of Great-Grandmother and Great-Grand-daughter together in their hats at Thanksgiving!

 

 

The Hat That Went To London

In our last episode, the Wartybobbler had (almost) a week to design and knit a warm yet cool hat for her son (who is studying abroad) which was to be sent along with her daughter (who was flying to London to visit the son – which, oddly enough, sounds like something Pussycat, Pussycat did in a nursery rhyme, but we digress).

And so, TA-DA, we present The Hat That Went To London!

 

(modelled by a family member who is not in London and who wishes to remain anonymous)

I thought I might write about the agonies I go through as I try to get a hat to fit “just right.”  And the inexplicable irony that one can walk into a department store and buy a hat marked “men’s” and it will fill any guy well enough – but try to knit a hat specifically for a guy even if you have a good idea of his head measurement and can try it on a variety of family members who also have heads (which you can pretty much guess are slightly smaller or slightly larger than that of the intended recipient)….Well, Sarah says that store-bought machine-made hats are stretchier. 

Anyhow, I only had to rip back the hat twice. 

Once when I, knitting it in the round, apparently failed to “join being careful not to twist” and had a charming wool mobius going.  And since I had to start over anyhow, I flapped about in agonies over the size and added cast-on stitches (which turned out to be the right thing to do – so I forgive the mobius). 

Once when I had finished the hat and started trying it on random family members.  And it was too short. 

 

Okay, except on Gwen!

 Grrrrrr.  This was Monday night and I had been feeling almost smug because I (thought I had) finished 24 hours before the hat was due to fly to London. Sarah actually ripped it back for me and I worked on it that evening (after we taught our knitting class) until I was too tired to continue. 

So, there I was Tuesday afternoon, madly knitting away -- gritting my teeth and glancing at the clock.  The usual routine.  And 20 minutes before we had to leave for the airport, I cast off and wove in the ends.  And we stuffed it onto the head of the nearest family member we could find (who wishes to remain anonymous) and took a few pictures.

And then, The Hat Went To London!  In the “ta-da” knick of time.  As usual.