Tuesday, February 10, 2009

I Must Be Cursed

Dear weather,

          Please make up your mind.

Love,

Someone who constantly tries, but fails, to dress accordingly.


Here's the deal.  I finished my super warm, super soft, super wind-tight hat and have been really eager to wear it, but I've hit a bit of a snag:  The weather will not cooperate.  I was joking when I said that knitting my malabrigo cowl made the temperature rise, and was humoring myself when I claimed that my not-so-successful hat brought the temperature back down, but come on.  This one cannot be ignored.

Today is February 10, it is the middle of winter in Wisconsin, and the high today is 50 degrees!  (Not 50 below, just 50).  I haven't been able to wear my hat because it makes me overheat if I do.  I've been trying not to develop an ego, but you guys, my knitting can totally control the weather.

Here is the hat that has brought you (if you're lucky enough to live in Wisconsin) such a welcome break from the bone-chilling cold:


I knit this hat using malabrigo worsted in Lettuce and Chestnut.  There is a folded hem that you can't see which I knit on a US 2 and then I went up to a US 4 for the rest of the hat (we're talking wind-tight remember).


The pattern is the Oslo Cairo Hat  by Urraca and was really fun to knit up.  I'm not sure if you can tell from these pictures, but I still have a bit of a tension problem with my floats when I do stranded knitting, but once I started spreading the stitches on my right needle before switching to the other color, things seemed to get better.

I was hoping to take some better pictures, but my battery died before I could snap more than the three you see here and now it is simply too warm to do it.  Once I have more pictures I will post them over on Ravelry if anyone is curious.

I opted to sew the knitted hem down once all the knitting was over with, partly because provisional cast-ons and I do not get along (especially when trying to knit with a worsted weight yarn on US 2s) and partly because of this post over at Techknitting.  It didn't really occur to me that sewing the hem down at the end had its advantages, but I'm glad I did it, not only to avoid the "hem flip", but also because the hem (which I knit in chestnut) would have show through if I knit it in as I went.


All in all I am happy with this hat.  It is a wee bit on the long side, but I don't think it's anything to get worked up about, and I would rather have a hat that covers my ears than one that leaves them to the elements.  I'm debating whether or not I should add a tassel, any thoughts?

8 comments:

  1. I think your knitting sent the cold weather down here to San Diego. Rain for days and temps in the 50s?!? WTF? I'm freezing! (And yes, I fully admit that I have turned into a pathetic wuss since leaving Minnesota.)

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  2. The hat looks fantastic!! It looks like it will keep you nice and toasty when the weather turns grim again.

    I vote for no tassel. I love it just the way it is...

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  3. I'm not one for tassels, so I say leave it as-is. I love the colors you chose, though! Does it stand up on its own? =o)

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  4. Wow, it looks great!! I don't see any tension problems, and I really like the flat top on it. I vote for a tassel, like a fez.

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  5. i like tassels, so i vote for one. also, keep knitting hats, i am loving this warm weather. :) yesterday was just gorgeous.

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  6. Nice hat! Also, thanks for the nice weather. Can you knit a raincoat so it'll stop raining today in Madison?

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  7. Your hat looks beautiful. I really like the colors! And I bet it feels as nice as it looks since it is Malabrigo. I vote for no tassel.

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  8. Awesome hat! I'm with Dave - go for the fez.

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