Friday, February 21, 2014

Double the Hats, Double the Fun

Due to circumstances beyond my control, I am going to write about 2 hats in this post.

Hat # 5 – Going for the Gold
On Ravelry, we like to celebrate the Olympic games with a little contest we call the Ravellenic games. Basically, you pick a category and cast on during the opening ceremonies and have to be finished by the closing ceremonies and you knit while watching all the different sports. The object is to choose a project which will challenge you.  I have had this Knit Picks kit for a Andean Chullo for several years. The reason I have never knit it is because I HATE purling in two colors. I cannot purl with my left hand (I have no problem knitting with it). I have to just pick it up with my left hand and wrap the purl around the needle. It takes me forever. So this was a good project for me to challenge myself.

There is a ton of yarn in this kit. I am pretty sure I could make 4 hats just like this with the kit and still have yarn left over.  I am really happy with the way it turned out and I have been wearing it. It is warm and cozy and cute as a button (if I do say so myself).

I would like to talk a little bit about Andean hats… The Andes are in Peru and Bolivia. There men and women (depending on the village) knit brightly colored men’s hats called Chullos. They have detailed patterns, some are geometric and some have animals, but they are all very lovely. The hats are not stranded knitting (which this kit is), but rather they are knit in a type of intarsia in the round. The knitters will also add embellishments like buttons and tassels. I have not added any of those things to my hat, but I think if I do another one, I will make the earflaps in stripes and then add buttons because, well I like buttons!
If you would like to learn more about Andean Knitting, here is a website. http://btsadventures.com/for-knitters/
They also have trips for those who are interested. I would very much like to go and see how they do the intarsia in the round. When I have tried to do it, I have not been successful.

Hat # 6 – So cute
This hat is a child size hat made for the shop. We were having a Yarn Tasting and needed a sample knit up in one of the yarns. The pattern is called Lineside Beanie. It is a well written pattern and can be made for newborns to adults. I actually think it is a great pattern for the whole family and think that is a great deal as you can knit it in dk or worsted weight and it would look good on almost everyone. It is a little fiddly at first, but once you get to the body of the hat, it goes really fast.


I think I might be slightly behind in my hat making so I am going to have to make some hats with a little bigger yarn to catch up. 

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