I Fought The Hat... And The Hat Won
Some of the knitters over in the Thrifty Knitters group on Ravelry are having a Hat Knit-A-Long. Well, it's an Any-Hat-Or-Sock-Or-Really-Anything-Else-A-Long. So since, I have several hats on my Christmas knitting list, I thought, "That's for me!"
I decided to cast on the November Cable Hat using some Bernat Alpaca. That's a bulky yarn and should be pretty warm with the natural fiber content. (Keeps the alpaca warm, right?)
First, I decided to go down to a 10.5 needle because I'm a loose knitter. (I love to say that. It seems so dirty. Ha! Why does she have so many projects going at once? [Sniff. Disdainful look] "Well, she's just a loose knitter.") But, I couldn't seem to find a 10.5 circular anywhere. But then I remembered I had these 10.5 wooden dpns. And they're long, for hat making! Huzzah!
And, I decided to try this new cast on that I learned... It's a variation of the cable cast on, but it's a ribbed cable cast on. It looks great because it makes the pattern start right from the cast on row. (Instead of that weird cast on row you get normally.) I thought this would be a great opportunity to learn something new and then I could take pictures along the way and share with you.
But... After casting this on in a 1X1 ribbed cable cast on (which I forgot to take picture of, but don't worry, it didn't look like much because I hadn't knit the first row yet), I glance over at the pattern to see what the first row is. And it's 2X2 ribbing.
So I ripped it out. That was frustrating, because let me tell you, the Alpaca yarn does not want to work with wooden needles. It's too "catchy" and it's not fun to knit. I decided maybe I should run some wax paper over those needles so they wouldn't be so tempted to grab my yarn. But, I couldn't find any wax paper. Actually, I just got tired of pulling boxes of Ziploc freezer bags out of the cabinet. (That's a long story. Best not to get into here. Suffice it to say, I got a good deal on Ziploc freezer bags.)
So I went to theyarn horde storage shelves where I keep my UFOs and pulled a hat-in-progress off a set of circulars that looked like #10.5s. Don't worry. I wasn't going to finish that hat. It was a black fun fur hat that I had cast on many years ago because all my friends loved the way the fun fur stuff looked more than the stuff that took time to knit. (Non-knitters. Gotta love 'em, right?)
So I took these needles and (luckily) they were #10.5s. And I cable rib cast on 2X2 ribbing. But, it doesn't seem to work very well with a 2X2 rib. Of course, I didn't know that until I cast it on and knit a row. And then I realized that the first stitch--the slip knot--was actually a purl stitch. And when I knit my 2X2 ribbing on row 1, I ended up one stitch off.
Ugh! So I frogged all that out and cast on again. This time, I thought, I'll just make that first cast on stitch a purl, and then the next two will be knits, etc. And, when I join, I'll just move the round marker over one and no one will be able to tell the difference, right? Except... The cable cast on looks awful in a 2X2 ribbing. Boo.
So I ripped that out (And by this time, I've moved beyond the normal lexicon of swear words. I'm at the point where I'm making up new swear words. Actually, I'm just putting random syllables together at this point. Random, angry syllables. It frightened everyone in the room. Poor cats.) But then, I cast on with a regular ol' cable cast on. And knit a row. But that seemed really tight. (Although it looked good.) So, my choices were to:
A) knit a hat with a too-tight brim
B) rip it out and reknit it
So... How many times is this now? I don't know. At this point, it's just me against this hat. And I'm gonna win. So I ripped it out and just did your basic cast on. And I knit the first 10 rows of 2X2 rib in less time than I had spent in total trying to cast this damn hat on.
But...
I think it's too airy. As it is, this is not the kind of hat you'd wear to actually keep your head warm. At least not the way this is looking now. It needs more bulk in that bulky guage, if you know what I mean. So, I think I'm going to (ugh I can't even say it)... I mean, I have to (oh, it hurts so much)... There's no other choice but to (NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!) frog this thing and start over with either a double strand or a bulkier yarn.
Eff this. I'm going to bed.
I decided to cast on the November Cable Hat using some Bernat Alpaca. That's a bulky yarn and should be pretty warm with the natural fiber content. (Keeps the alpaca warm, right?)
First, I decided to go down to a 10.5 needle because I'm a loose knitter. (I love to say that. It seems so dirty. Ha! Why does she have so many projects going at once? [Sniff. Disdainful look] "Well, she's just a loose knitter.") But, I couldn't seem to find a 10.5 circular anywhere. But then I remembered I had these 10.5 wooden dpns. And they're long, for hat making! Huzzah!
And, I decided to try this new cast on that I learned... It's a variation of the cable cast on, but it's a ribbed cable cast on. It looks great because it makes the pattern start right from the cast on row. (Instead of that weird cast on row you get normally.) I thought this would be a great opportunity to learn something new and then I could take pictures along the way and share with you.
But... After casting this on in a 1X1 ribbed cable cast on (which I forgot to take picture of, but don't worry, it didn't look like much because I hadn't knit the first row yet), I glance over at the pattern to see what the first row is. And it's 2X2 ribbing.
So I ripped it out. That was frustrating, because let me tell you, the Alpaca yarn does not want to work with wooden needles. It's too "catchy" and it's not fun to knit. I decided maybe I should run some wax paper over those needles so they wouldn't be so tempted to grab my yarn. But, I couldn't find any wax paper. Actually, I just got tired of pulling boxes of Ziploc freezer bags out of the cabinet. (That's a long story. Best not to get into here. Suffice it to say, I got a good deal on Ziploc freezer bags.)
So I went to the
So I took these needles and (luckily) they were #10.5s. And I cable rib cast on 2X2 ribbing. But, it doesn't seem to work very well with a 2X2 rib. Of course, I didn't know that until I cast it on and knit a row. And then I realized that the first stitch--the slip knot--was actually a purl stitch. And when I knit my 2X2 ribbing on row 1, I ended up one stitch off.
Ugh! So I frogged all that out and cast on again. This time, I thought, I'll just make that first cast on stitch a purl, and then the next two will be knits, etc. And, when I join, I'll just move the round marker over one and no one will be able to tell the difference, right? Except... The cable cast on looks awful in a 2X2 ribbing. Boo.
So I ripped that out (And by this time, I've moved beyond the normal lexicon of swear words. I'm at the point where I'm making up new swear words. Actually, I'm just putting random syllables together at this point. Random, angry syllables. It frightened everyone in the room. Poor cats.) But then, I cast on with a regular ol' cable cast on. And knit a row. But that seemed really tight. (Although it looked good.) So, my choices were to:
A) knit a hat with a too-tight brim
B) rip it out and reknit it
So... How many times is this now? I don't know. At this point, it's just me against this hat. And I'm gonna win. So I ripped it out and just did your basic cast on. And I knit the first 10 rows of 2X2 rib in less time than I had spent in total trying to cast this damn hat on.
But...
I think it's too airy. As it is, this is not the kind of hat you'd wear to actually keep your head warm. At least not the way this is looking now. It needs more bulk in that bulky guage, if you know what I mean. So, I think I'm going to (ugh I can't even say it)... I mean, I have to (oh, it hurts so much)... There's no other choice but to (NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!) frog this thing and start over with either a double strand or a bulkier yarn.
Eff this. I'm going to bed.
posted by Patwoman | 11:30 PM
2 Comments:
Oh Pat; ROTFLMAO...... this post absolutely slayed me!!! It took me a while after reading it to be able to type a comment ;-).... I have been there tooooo many times in my knitting career, thank you so much for lifting my spirits today. Now, back to starting over again (for the umpteenth time) with this SIMPLE baby sweater I am knitting.... Thanks again, Anne 1happyknitter in Ravelry.
Anne, I think the issue with this hat (and probably your baby sweater, too) is that I'm such an awesome knitter that I just can't downskill myself enough to manage a simple cast on.
Yeah. That's it...
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