HAT, Two, Three, Four.......

'Ten-SHUN! (oooo, knitting pun! 'tenshun, tension, geddit?)  Hats for the Alaska Mountain Hut auction are on the march! Here is my second one:

A Sixareen Kep, (almost) as designed by Kate Davies, and made in the specified yarn, Shetland Heritage. It uses all the current colors of this new yarn, made of 100% Shetland fiber, and spun in the worsted manner instead of the modern woolen, then dyed in traditional colors to recreate the material of historic knitted items in the Shetland Islands.

To explain the "almost" above: In the fair isle section, 3 rows too late, I discovered that I omitted a change from the brown to burgundy. Rather than rip that far back, I just carried on, repeating the error in the top half of the pattern in order to stay symmetrical. To me, this seems to look ok and not a big deal. 2 other changes were intentional. The lozenges at top and bottom of the fair isle were one stitch off of symmetry with the center design. I pondered and pondered the situation, and could see no purpose, aesthetic or structural, served by this offset, so I moved it over one. And then to balance my color blooper, I made the i-cord bindoff at the bottom in burgundy. (It was supposed to be brown.) All in all, I think it looks very much like the designer's original intention, but I hope Ms. Davies can find it in her heart to forgive me if it's not.

I learned some things in making my kep--never done Turkish Cast on before, but I really like it. It made it very easy to extend the lining when it proved too short, and seems like it would be good to use with toe-up socks, shawls, and in other situations. I had used attached i-cord before (see Viola), but never for the edge of a hat. Works great!

Best of all, making the hat was a sort of exaggerated swatch for what I really want to make for myself, a Sixareen Cape. And I not only have got gauge (or 'ten-SHUN!), but will be more wide awake with color changes.

But before I do that, there's at least one more hat to make for the auction:

Can you guess what it is?

P.S. What's a sixareen? Look it up and see one in action.

Viola is Done!!

 She's done! All knitted, all blocked, all sewn together, and all edged in attached Garnet Heather i-cord.

She's enormous--a blanket and not an afghan for sure. Suitable for wrapping up in when sitting in cold winter sunshine on a sunny deck.

And her abstract glories don't come together in the eye as a flower until you're quite a distance away. To get this full shot I had to spread her out on a tarp on the driveway and lean over the deck rail with the camera, about 15 feet above. But isn't she a beauty?

She will be, I fear, a rather tender flower for all her size and weight. I shudder to think of having to wash and re-block her if something should spill. And she's made of garter stitch, which can stretch too much and get saggy easily. The multi directions of the squares and all the seams add some stability, but still... Should I be seized with a similar madness again, or for the benefit of anyone contemplating such a project, I would knit in a tighter gauge than the one prescribed. Goodness knows, a smaller overall size would be ok, and more density would make it even warmer.

Meanwhile, I think it's time for a well-earned cup of tea on a sunny winter deck.