“On the Road” Reversible Headwear

Update: 
The “On the Road” pattern is now for sale on Ravelry!
https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/on-the-road-reversible-head-wear


My husband and I are planning a long cycle tour through Europe before Brexit kicks in.
What knitting project to take? I figured that 4-ply yarn will be the easiest and lightest to take. I am trying to design some easy and versatile patterns.

My first is an open hat, which doubles as a head band and a cowl. I have road tested it this week and it is warm, fits under a cycling helmet and has not lost its shape.

Hoping to write up the pattern for Ravelry soon.

FREE EU beanie pattern

Introducing the EU beanie!

This beanie was designed as a political statement following the Brexit vote in the EU Referendum. But you can knit it and wear it for any reason at all.

The pattern is written for DK/8 ply yarn and fits the average adolescent to medium adult head.
The pattern is written to knit in the round on double-pointed needles, but it can also be used knitting in the flat. (Just add two extra stitches for edge stitches to allow for the seam.
You need to be able to use the colour stranding technique (using two colours at the same time, running the second along the back). If you are not familiar with this technique, there are different tutorials on the Internet. It may take a little practice to get the tension right.
I am very happy to receive questions, comments or suggestion.

The FREE pattern is available as a download on my Ravelry page. I would really appreciate it is you could share the pattern far and wide. KNIT IT, WEAR IT, SHARE IT!

Happy knitting and KEEP THE EU FLAG FLYING!

#ToriesMustGo beanie

I cannot believe that I haven't blogged for nearly a year. I can assure you that I have done plenty of knitting though!

More importantly, I have become political!
I won't bore you with details here, but if you are interested, you can read a bit about my exploits in "madhat's musings" - my 'other' blog.

I have also become an avid Twitter user. 18,000 tweets in less than a year. Should I be worried??



Twitter got me thinking about knitting politically when a Twitter acquaintance suggested that I should knit a #ToriesMustGo beanie for him.



So I did ...
And wrote down the pattern ...
And put it up on Ravelry as a FREE pattern.

You can find the information and download the pattern as a PDF here.

As we enter this election year, I am quite excited at the thought of people walking around, wearing beanies with political slogans.

And of course, you could change the slogan
to whichever you choose.

STAY POLITICAL! x

Big Knit 2012 update

Today was the last day to hand in the little hats for the Big Knit.
Here is what our knitting group at work produced:

27 hats at 25 p each makes a grand total of £6.75 for Age UK.

Strawberry hat

Unusually, I haven't knitted at all for the last couple of months or so. I am glad to have started again. September usually heralds the first knitting preparations for Christmas.

Here is a little strawberry hat (first size), which I made for the grand-daughter of a friend. I wrote the pattern several years ago and it can easily be adapted for a variety of other fruit or veg (tomato, aubergine, apple, pumpkin etc).

My next project is already on the needles: hubby's Christmas socks (by now a firm tradition)

Pixie hat

This new pattern is now available in my Ravelry store.
The pixie hat is designed in two sizes - newborn and 3-6 months.

This pattern is easy and a great way of using up left-over sock yarn or any other 4 ply yarn.
It is pretty is two-row stripes, but plain or self-striping yarns will look equally good.
To complete this pattern you should be able to cast on, make and decrease stitches and work with dpns.

Voyager cap - the experiment

So I set out to knit a voyager cap for my husband, following Wicked Woollen's pattern.
I used Rowan's dk tweed, which is 100% pure new wool, colour scheme Askrigg.



The hat started to look worryingly large, but I was reassured by Wicked Woollen's comfirmation that that was just as it should be!
I even dared going a bit bigger, because my husband has a big head. Haha!
The final measurements of the finished hat before felting was 66cm/26" long and 52cm/20.5" circumference.

Then the felting fun began!

I used an old large boiling bucket and a stick of soap, filled it with hot water (as hot as I could bear to touch) and got rubbing.
I found a wire mesh in the garden, which I found useful for rubbing against; but just stirring, rubbing and wringing the fabric in the water worked pretty well too.

Just as I started to panic, because if anything the hat seemed to get bigger, it started to get smaller.
The fabric feels lovely and thick and soft.

It fits my husband perfectly. Handsome, eh?!

Voyager cap

I am hoping to try knitting a voyager cap (also called sailor's cap or Machault Cap), based on a traditional 18th century pattern. I purchased this pattern from Wicked Woollens on Ravelry. The cap is knitted in a long egg-shape, felted and then doubled in on itself. My husband quite fancies the cap for himself, so it will be a surprise for him.

Baby set pattern

My Baby Set pattern has been checked and proof-read and is now up for sale on my Ravelry page.

The pattern is for a hat/beanie, a pair of booties and a pair of mittens, designed to fit a 0-3 month old baby.

Newborn baby mittens

Here is a free pattern for mittens in a newborn size:

Material: DK yarn, remnants

Needles: 3 ½ mm/ US 4/UK 9

Abbreviations:

K = knit

P = purl

stst = stocking stitch

k2tog = knit 2 together

sl1k1 = slip 1 stitch, knit 1 stitch

psso = pass slipped stitch over the knitted stitch

Mittens (Make 2)

Cast on 28 sts. Rib K1, P1 for 14 rows.

Then knit in stst for 16 rows.

Reduce for top:

17^th row: K2, sl1k1, psso, K7, k2tog, K2, sl1k1, psso, K7, k2tog, K2 (= 24 sts)

All reverse rows: purl

19^th row: K2, sl1k1, psso, K5, k2tog, K2, sl1k1, psso, K5, k2tog, K2 (= 20 sts)

21^st row: K2, sl1k1, psso, K3, k2tog, K2, sl1k1, psso, K3, k2tog, K2 (= 16 sts)

Cast of and close seam. Darn in all remaining ends.

The pattern of a full set of hat, bootees and mittens is for sale on my Ravelry page. Check it out here!

Save the Children baby hat appeal

Save the Children have launched a new appeal for people to knit baby hats for children in developing countries.

Knitting a hat for a newborn baby can help save its life. Telling politicians to do their bit could save the lives of millions of newborns each year.

A newborn baby can't regulate its own body temperature. It loses lots of vital body heat through its head which make it more prone to pneumonia - a disease which still kills around 2 million children each year.

We want 10 million people to take action by 2010 for the 10 million children. Be one of them. Make sure the very poorest children aren't left to die.

You can download the knit kit and a sample pattern here.

Colours of the rainbow

I have just received an order for a crocheted floppy summer hat, made from DK cotton yarn.

What a fine opportunity to get out my colours and arrange them in the right order. The top of the hat will start with the cream, then work its way down to yellow, green, blue, purple, pink and red ...

I love to look at and feel yarn. Makes me wish I had my own wool shop!!