I've been working on a couple of fairly lengthy knitting projects. One is a striped throw (or maybe a very large wrap - that's how it's shown in the pattern pictures).
The other is a sweater made from the Icelandic wool that I bought last fall. The sweater wouldn't necessarily have been a super-long project, EXCEPT when I was about 3/4 done and tried it on, it was HUGE. I was knitting a size XL and it actually fit perfectly around my hips when I knitted the lower portion of the sweater, but then by the time I got to the top it was way too big. My theory is that the pattern is designed to fit a man. It should have been a hint that the model in the pattern is a man! 🤣 But Ravelry (the major knitter's web site) shows many many projects of this sweater knitted for women. Perhaps I should have dug into their notes on their projects to see if they had to adjust. 🤷ðŸ»â€â™€ï¸. At any rate, I ended up ripping it out almost to the bottom, and re-knitting it incorporating periodic decreases so that by the time I got to the yoke I was knitting a size small. Obviously that added a lot of time.
Anyway, because I was getting kind of sick of those projects I ended up knitting several hats to take a break from them.
Helix Brioche hat
This was my second time with this pattern. A friend admired my first one so fervently that I decided to knit one for her. I used some left-over gradient yarn because I thought it would be fun if the contrast color changed. Unfortunately it didn't turn out as I thought it might, and there is a weird little lime green yarmulke on the top! 😅 I sent her a pic and she claims that she likes it, so I'll be giving it to her the next time I see her.
Pressed Flowers Hat
This was the designated project for the knitting retreat that I went to in late January. I had the blue yarn in my stash, and visited the neighborhood yarn store to find a color changing yarn for the "flowers". I'm happy with how it turned out.
Another project option at the retreat was the Melt the Ice hat. The story behind this one is that a Twin Cities yarn shop picked up on the story of Norwegian resistance wearing red hats as sort of a secret code during WWII.
The yarn shop came up with their own pattern and started selling it for a modest amount and donating the proceeds to immigrant support resources in the Twin Cities. So far they have donated about $750,000! Believe it or not, in late January it was almost impossible to find red yarn around here. The only yarn left for sale at the knitting retreat was a variegated "reddish" tone - I thought it might work ,but it turned out more of a rust color. Still a cute hat, though.
In addition, a couple of other designers came up with "tribute" hats based on the Minnesota State flag.
One had the "V" shape on the bottom and a white pompom to represent the white star. The other one didn't have the "V" but had an eight pointed star knitted into the top of the hat. I combined the two patterns and was quite pleased with myself. 🤓
I'm in the final stages of the Iceland sweater. Now comes the scary part - I decided to make it into a cardigan so I'll need to cut down the center of the front (there are various methods of reinforcing the stitches so they don't unravel when you do that). I kind of want to put in a zipper, but not sure I will be able to find something suitable. If I don't I'll knit button bands. You can be sure I'll post a picture if it turns out.
14
17 comments
Love the pattern on the first one ðŸ˜
It’s pretty neat. I’m sure I’ll end up making it again.
Those are all great! I'm envious of your talent and hard work!
Thank you! But it's not work (most of the time) - it's fun!
Your hats are all marvelous!! You seem so casual about creating useful pieces of beauty. The last hat is my favorite. Though the flower hat also calls to me. I love the story of the resistance
Thank you for sharing. I look forward to seeing your sweater.
Hugs!!
Well, you're sort of casual about your quilts that way?
I think once you get the basics down of a craft, it kind of demystifies it.
I love all those hats!
I am so impressed! Your work is amazing. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you!
These are so impressive, Smarty. The hats are simply adorable, and you should be pleased with yourself. My two faves are the pressed flower and state flag hats, with the state flag hat edging in front because I like blue. I forget...you learned how to knit after you retired, right? I can't wait to see the sweater.
Yes, I started to learn to knit in 2018. I credit my progress to the pandemic when I had nothing to do but sit around and knit. 😊
You are damn good and creative awesome
Many thanks 😊
I love the Minnesota state flag idea given its recent resistance.
PS. You did promise to knit some cock warmers!
Yup, both designs were a tribute to our Minnesota resisters 😊
Kudos to you for re-doing the sweater. Any red-blooded hetro male can tell you, ain't no point in a lady wearing a sweater if it's not body hugging at the top! 🤣
Cool idea about the red hats.
THAT is your state flag?? 😮 Looks like it belongs to a Baltic or Balkan country. (Though I do recall a discussion, perhaps here, of the new flag for MN a few years back.)
I don’t think the Icelandic sweater will be form fitting (which is good, as the wool is quite itchy- I’m planning on it as a cool weather outer layer).
Yes, I think I did do a post at one point about our redesigned state flag. The old one had an image of an Indian riding away from a settler with a gun! 😳 I wasn’t a big fan of the new one at first, but I recently read a post explaining the symbolism and I’m on board with it now.
You are very talented and love the use of colors and how the relate to each other to give a particular sense and feel.
Aw, thanks! One of my fellow knitters said that she thought I was good at combining colors and I felt quite complimented!
WOW gorgeous colors!
Thank you! I’m not much for knitting in neutral tones. 😊
@smartasswoman I definitely would enjoy wearing!