Thursday, April 9, 2015

H is for . . .

Hats.

In spite of all my dishcloth output this year, the item that comes off my needles the most frequently is a hat.  Hats have many advantages - they are small, portable, there's only one of them (no second sock syndrome), there are usually only two ends to weave in (only one if you work that first end in as you go), there's only about six to eight inches of slog before you start rapidly decreasing and poof, you have a hat.  Hats can be made flat when you're a beginner, but I highly recommend learning to knit in the round as soon as possible because ZOOM! You weave in that last end and you are done, no seaming!

If you crochet it, you can have a hat in a couple hours,
great when you need a last minute costume
Baby hats are extremely satisfying to knit.  Unless you're intentionally making preemie hats, my advice is to aim big; babies grow quickly, and wrestling a slightly too small hat onto a head with a wobbly neck is not especially fun.  Either way, baby hats take very little time, are adorable, and can be donated to great causes.

A month's work worth of baby hats
You may have heard of the Boyfriend Sweater Curse, but it doesn't apply to hats as far as I know.  However, a boyfriend may lose a hat you made for him, which is frustrating when you haven't had a chance to take a picture of it yet.

I married him anyway
Hats rarely require more than one skein of yarn, so they're a great place to use a special skein of expensive yarn, or to stash-bust that skein of yarn that you have no idea where it came from, what it is, or where to get more.

Truth be told I don't even know where this hat is anymore
Hat patterns that I love:

Bloody Stupid Johnson - a Discworld tribute (free!)
Anthropologie-inspired Bohemian slouch hat
Twizzler - crochet (free!)
Rue du Collège
Star-crossed Slouchy Beret (free!)
Guernsey Potato Peel hat - great fair-isle (free!)
Koolhaas - epic travelling cables

4 comments:

  1. I love knit work and what an awesome job you did. Your hubs was nice to pose for you ;). Great meeting you through the challenge!!

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  2. I'm a rotten knitter. I can't imagine what I'd wind up creating if I tried to do a hat!

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  3. I'm just learning crochet. Knitting lessons still drive me up the wall with frustration!

    Jessica
    2015 A to Z Blogger
    Visions of Other Worlds

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  4. Ha ha - great to meet a like-minded knitter - I posted about hats too!! Came across your blog on the A to Z Challenge list and thought your name was wonderful - I love dragons and my favourite colour is purple - so what's not to like!! I'll be following :) Special Teaching at Pempi’s Palace

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