Well... I'd never knit a hat (so that was new), and since I'd never knit in the round before, and I'd never used DPNs, I looked for a video to walk me through these things.
I found the Benefaction Hat (from Knit Picks):
I was actually surprised at how easy it was to knit on 16-inch, size 6 circular needles. And then I got to the DPNs at the top. My yarn (Red Heart Soft) was very splitty, so that was problem #1 when trying to decrease, and then my stitches started slipping off my DPNs. Ugh.
It became a royal mess, but somehow I pulled it all together, and closed her up and I can at least say I finally knit a hat.
Now... If the front was all there was, I'd be happy enough. I could cover the messy crown with a pom pom.
Problem #2, though, is something I can't fix or disguise. I simply can't stand the jogs that my color joins created, and I don't know what happened with the top stripe. I tried to use a jogless joining technique there, but clearly I didn't understand something. I know y'all will be encouraging, but I'm disappointed with the back:
That said, I'm super pleased that I finished it, and I immediately jumped into making another one:
I'm using a self-striping yarn (which is giving me really wide bands of different shades of gray so color jogs are not an issue), and most importantly, the yarn doesn't split! This second yarn is Premier Sweet Roll yarn in the colorway Black Pepper Swirl.
This will be a toasty hat! And Ooh, how I wish I had other colors of this yarn, but I will not go shopping for more. I can content myself making more gray striped hats until I tire of the pattern. Or combine colors on my own to make large bands if that's what really floats my boat.
The truly important thing for me to remember here is... I knit a hat!!!
~~~~~
Other things I worked on this week included a teeny doily, which is #10 in the book 99 Little Doilies:
I also started Doily #11 in the same book:
And more hats. 'Tis the month to make hats. Knit hats, crochet hats. I want to make hats.
And that's all she wrote! To see what other YOPpers are up to, visit our group on Ravelry.
DPNs can ve tricky. So happy you persevered. Your hats are great even if there are jogs on the red one.
ReplyDeleteYour doilies are gorgeous as always.
You knit a hat!
ReplyDeleteThen you knit another hat!
Fantastic. Really like the grey one! I hope you figure out jogless stripes... i’ve never found a technique that i’m entirely happy with. LOL... spellcheck wants jogless to be “joyless”. I suppose if the shoe fits...
Hi Becki i love your hat but i know what you mean if you arent happy with it it bugs you,but honestly i think it looks fantastic,love the colours that you have used for both hats. And boy your doileys are awesome,you are so clever my friend and you do such beautiful work xx
ReplyDeleteoh I like that hat! well done!
ReplyDeleteWell done Becki on your hat, it's gorgeous truly it is. I do understand where you are coming from with the stripe jogs though, in all my years I've not come up with a way of not having a jog , certainly not to my liking. I love how the grey one is working out also though, that's going to be really pretty!
ReplyDeleteI much prefer your idea of giving those doillies names, #10 and #11 just don't seem quite right for something so pretty.
I swear....you are so talented....your first knitted hat? It turned out beautiful. My things don't look that good! You have a 'yarn thumb'...related to a green thumb but with fiber. I have hats on my mind for Christmas this year as the grands are getting some toys this year but I thought a nice hat would be a simple addition and not too expensive to make. I'll have to look for that yarn as what a great combo for 'the guys'! You doilies are lovely...everything you make is so perfect...how do you do it? Or do you photoshop? LOL! Just teasing! Good job!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on knitting a hat! I agree that working with DPN's can be tricky but once you get the hang of it you'll be fine. You just have to watch that stitches don't fall off the non-working needle when you're not looking. I'm always (mostly!) careful to move them to the very center of the needles and try to bunch them together so there's less chance of them escaping.
ReplyDeleteAwww, what a cute hat, well done! And I honestly think the little flaws are all that visible at all, nobody is going to notice them if you don't point them out to anyone. :)
ReplyDeleteYour second hat looks great too, love the colours.
What a brilliant hat, love the colours. And the doilies are gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteGood job on the hat. There are some good Youtube tutorials on the jogless jog out there if you need a refresher. I like the contrast of the red with the white. The red is very warm.
ReplyDeleteI always try to tell people how much better it is to knit seamless hats. Once you get the hang of circular needles, it becomes quite therapeutic just going around in circles. Don't worry about the last few rows. They are definitely trickier on double-pointed needles. The splitty yarn probably didn't help. I think it helps to pull the stitches really tight when knitting them.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great hat, the red is perfect for apple picking season! I love the yellow ochre doily you started, too.
ReplyDeleteYou are progressing much more on your knitting than I am on my crocheting. Congrats on the knit hat and all the new things you learned doing it.
ReplyDelete