Thursday, December 06, 2007

When Mom's a Knitter...

...you have conversations like this over the breakfast

Mom: It's going to be cold today. Wear that stripey sweater today.
Daughter: What stripey sweater?
Mom: They one I made you last year.
Daughter: Oh, you mean my Noro sweater?


...you get a new hat just in time for the first snow of the winter


Pattern: the ubiquitous We Call Them Pirates
Yarn & Needles: Cascade 220 (red), Plymouth Encore (black), Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino (lining) from (you guessed it!) the stash, US3 needles
Mods: To size down the hat, I knitted at a tighter gauge (about 7 spi) and only did two repeats of the skull motif.

I made a poor choice when I decided not to decrease in the lining. I thought the difference in the weight of the yarns (worsted vs. fingering) would make up for it, and I didn't want the lining to pucker. Well, it flares, dammit! It flares! I did EZ's sewn bind off for the lining for stretch, and then meticulously sewed it down beautifully. I was not about to pick it all out and redo it, so I threaded some elastic in the brim, and it snugged things nicely.

Notes: This was my first colorwork project ever, and it's some pretty craptacular knitting. However, this was knitted as a more of a learning and practice piece, so my expectations were pretty low. Plus, Pepe desperately needed a new hat. And despite some puckering and lack of crispness in the colorwork, Pepe has gotten tons of compliments on it, and I have managed to impress many non-knitters.

I am working on picking comfortably, and have some work to do keeping my floats even. Despite that, though, it was a relatively quick project, knitting up in a just a few afternoons.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

pepe looks adorable!

congrats...and no one will notice the "craptacular" knitting!

nova said...

Seriously? For a first foray into stranded knitting, I think you did a great job. And honestly, I don't think your son is going to complain one bit.

Sally said...

Craptacular my ass. It's great. As usual.

*sigh*

;o)

And can I tell ya, I love Rosebud's Noro comment. Well done, Liz. Well done. You are educating your progeny well.

Ann said...

Assimilate the young before they know any better, that's what I say!

Pepe's hat is fantasic and in no way craptacular! This seems like a not so easy colorwork pattern to begin with, so kudos to you!

Devorah said...

Pepe's hat looks fantastic and should keep him nice and warm. And, I really love the Noro comment!

Anonymous said...

Wow - if that, your first colorwork project, is craptacular, then I can't wait to see when you're good at it!! It looks perfect.

I love that hat - my son told me a girl in his class told him, "Wow - I love your hat - did your mom make it?" Kudos from 7-yr-olds!! I'll take 'em!

Madge said...

From the mouth of babes! Awesome.

Kudos on your first stranded knitting. Pepe's Pirates rock.

Laurie (Moo!) said...

Aw, go on! I'm impressed. And Pepe looks pretty darned happy.

tiennieknits said...

Now that's a child of a knitter! Great hat - I don't think it's craptacular!