Saturday, December 26, 2009

Hat Crazy ...

This is my sister modeling her "Meret" -- a pattern I've had in my queue for awhile, only to discover that since I made it, everyone and their dog is also currently knitting it ... so much for originality! BTW, she loves it! I used almost 3/4's of 1 - 100g ball of Sirdar's Denim Aran from my stash, which is a combo wool/cotton/acrylic blend and is apparently machine washable. I made the large size and after researching further reviews, decided NOT to block it as it tends to grow. I did one extra repeat of the pattern to get the desired "slouchiness"

Honestly, this woman never takes a bad picture! And, to her credit, immediately stuffed it on her head upon opening -- hairdo be darned!

Next up, the "Armando" pattern. Both of our daughters have men who work outside: one as a roofer and the other in his family's granite business. Needless to say, when it's cold and wet, they really appreciate having 100% wool hats that cover their ears and foreheads. The roofer found that while using the torch, his current hats were melting. I did some research online and discovered that 100% wool is less flammable -- in fact, if you're doing any helmut liner knitting for our troops, they specify that it must be 100 % wool, to avoid any fire hazard/melting. Also, as you likely know from EZ's books, wool is practially waterproof and keeps them much drier, longer, in the rainy Pacific Northwest. I used Malabrigo Worsted in a burnt orange colour, for the Harley Davidson lover in the family :)

There was enough to make two hats from one ball, so our 13 year old grandson got one as well, with a slight variation that included a scrap of "Vaa" Malabrigo to make it his own (and also so he and dad could tell theirs apart).

S-I-L modeling his hat in the "Fading Cables" pattern, using Jaeger Matchmaker yarn in a glossy brown, from stash. I find this pattern a little 'short', so I added an extra good 1/2" to the rib at the beginning.

The rear view -- I had to stand on my tippy-toes to get this shot -- he's 6'4"!

Mike modeling his hat ...

And one more that used up my scraps of Vaa and Lettuce Malabrigo and turned out quite well, I think!

It was comical ... I always have my camera at the ready for family get-togethers. The instant the recipients discovered a hand knitted item in their gift, it was on their head in a flash and a pose was struck, without me even asking! I overheard our daughter telling a girlfriend, "she'll make you anything you want ... you just have to let her take a picture for her blog!!!"

4 comments:

yoel said...

All the hats and their recipients look gorgeous!

mames said...

Great hats and handsome family! Happy holiday to you and yours. Hope it is awesome and not too cold. :)

Rachel said...

Ooo, those are really nice!

Tara said...

The hats look great! I especially like the striped Armando, very nice. And your sister is just drop-dead gorgeous. She could be a part-time model! lol