Coronet Two, or The Hat So Nice She Made It Twice

At the request of my mom, I made another coronet hat. Again, I used the fattened up cable, just adding a stitch to every component of the original cable pattern. The yarn she had was a lovely wool variegated from turquoise to brown to green to khaki or something like that. It really is lovely and sturdy and will be very warm no doubt, especially the doubled up brim and cables which create air pockets of warmth around the ears.

This time, the grafting worked out much more neatly and nicely. I found it helpful to repeat to myself, "knit slip offf, purl leave on, purl slip off, knit leave on." This kept me focused enough that I didn't make mistakes, like I did with my own hat where I ended up with too many stitches on one needle at the end of the grafting. This time it worked out perfectly, and the result is an almost invisible join - it really is quite magical, whoever thought it up was a genius.... For great instructions on how to do the kitchener stitch go to this article in Knitty.

The Photos don't really do the hat justice - they make the colour variations seem hash and obvious. In the real world the are much more subtle and muted. Still I don't know about using such a colourful variegated yarn with a cable - the cable kind of gets lost in the colour, if you know what I mean. I think cables are best in solid colours, although a very very subtle variegated yarn might be ok, especially if it was in the same colour family. Anyway, a finished hat and well done without too many mistakes. I am getting a ton of knitting done what with all the hospital room sitting and waiting with Pierre in recovery from his hip replacement surgery. I did mom's hat, I ripped out my hat and re-did it (it was too short, so the brim didn't cover my ears enough), did about an inch and half on Pierre's sweater, including some very tricky correction of mistakes by purposefully dropping stitches and picking them up with a crochet hook - thereby eliminating the need to frog about 4 entire rounds - not inconsiderable when you are talking about 700 stitches, (I had accidentaly knit when I should have purled, having been distracted by the patient liason nurse's update on Pierre's condition), and untangllng the snarly mess of my unfinished Noro Silk Garden Multidirectional triangle scarf from last winter.

I had fun on the bus this morning, staring at everyone's knitted garments, assessing which were homemade, and analyzing how they were made. This is what I love about learning new crafts, it opens up a whole new, richer, more information packed world to you. Before knitting I would probably go "There is a girl wearing a hat" - Now I look at the same girl and I see "there is a girl wearing a hat - I think that is a cable with a small number of rows in the repeat, braided. I like the ribbing that does not fold over to make a brim, just acts as an edging of knit 4 purl 4. Looks like it is made of a chunky weight natural wool yarn. " And so on... I swear some people give me funny looks, thinking I am staring at them too much, when really I am staring at their garment too much...Crazy Knitting Girl strikes again.

I do notice a reluctance of people to sit with me when I am knitting on the bus. I am not sure why. I don't take up much space and I don't have big pokey needles made of wood or bamboo that look like they could double as vampire stakes (or at least I don't since my lovely sister bought me my lovley Denise needle kit!), and certainly might poke a seatmate in the ribs.... Maybe it is because I look like I'm busy? Or maybe they think I am some kind of crazy knitting freak lady. Which, of course, I am...