Traveling rib hat #2

[vaneramos]

This hat is for mark_monroe. You might remember the first one I finished for myself six weeks ago, using mohair/wool in autumn colours from Wellington Fibres using Danny's Traveling Rib Hat pattern. For Mark's hat I used Cascade 200 Wool "Charcoal" for the background colour and Fleece Artist Novasomo for the main colour; the particular yarn isn't listed on the site, but it is a blend of merino, kid, nylon and silk.

Danny's pattern offers instructions for a grafted (invisible) seam in the band, which I tried. That was an adventure! When it came time to tighten the stitches of the dark yarn, I couldn't see what I was doing and ended up with a tangled mess. I got frustrated and had to put it down for a few days, but eventually sorted it out. I don't know whether I would attempt it again, not in a dark colour, but the result is very pleasing. It's going to be hard to part with this one.

So, I ended up stuck at home this week mostly because of an infected baby toe. It sounds funnier than it is. I'm taking antibiotics and staying off my feet as much as possible so I can be in good shape for work next week.

Comments

[dewittar.livejournal.com]

I love this hat and your rendition of it. I hope my husband will make one for me.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

You are very welcome. It has been a gratifying project, and I'm pleased with the result. :-)

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I hope so, too, and I hope he likes cabling. It's not an easy pattern!

[djjo.livejournal.com]

Congrats there Van! This is so beautiful. I love how the colours spiral into the center of the hat on the top. And the colour so what is outside right now. Yay!

And hugs as well and hope your toe heals up soon. Stay off it and keep knitting! grin

[inishglora.livejournal.com]

That is gorgeous! I know zip about knitting or yarn, but I can imagine working with the dark color is as challenging as, say, starting with black dye on a Ukrainian Easter egg for the very non-traditional "stained glass" effect popularized by Jane Pollak. Now that's hard on the eyes...

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I also like how the colour distribution worked out. I expected it to be homogenous, but the top turned out darker and greener than the band. Also, there's a neat, bright star at the finishing point! The pattern worked out much cleaner and finer than with the Wellington Fibres yarn, but I still love my hat!

Next project: I'd like to finish Brenna's scarf in time for Nov. 15.

[dewittar.livejournal.com]

He's been doing quite a bit of cabling this past year. I don't know if he'd agree but he looks adept at it to me but always eager to learn more.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

And I know practically nothing about Ukrainian Easter eggs, but it's a craft I always wanted to learn.

The problem with dark yarn is the same as with a small, dark shoelace when it gets in a knot. It's just a dark mass, and you can't discern the threads. Trying to untangle it is literally a stab in the dark. With light colours you can see the individual threads and approach the problem more deliberately.

It doesn't help that my eyes are 44 years old.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Then he should give it a try. I didn't have much experience with cabling before these two hats.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I hope he will.

The most gratifying aspect was the motivation to do it right. If I had been making a hat "just for fun" and realized after a few hours that the colours weren't working, I wouldn't have bothered to start over. But I did start over, and am delighted with the result. It was an excellent experience.

[bixie.livejournal.com]

ouch! as a swimmer, I used to get periodic infected toes and they are no picnic.

that's a great hat! I remain completely impressed by your knitting abilities! if you participate on Ravelry, I recommend connecting with another person from my flist who lives in Seattle and works part time at a knitting store, crankyisgood. I think you would enjoy the variety of her stuff.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Okay, thanks!

[trinker.livejournal.com]

Oh, my - gorgeous! So that's a kind of cabling, then?