Second Scandanavian Hat

Here is my second attempt at a lopi hat. I'm pretty pleased with it. I designed the colour pattern myself. The inspiration was Sweden's national symbol, the Dala Horse. Tim says they look like Bouviers (our dogs) but I say they look like horses.

And this time I blocked the hat. It was really curling up around the edges. And low and behold - it looks like the picture in the pattern!

On to my next project. I'm dying to do cables. In my Stitch and Bitch Nation Book they have a project for "mini' cables. You don't need to use a cable stitch holder. It's a great intro to cables. You can get used to the concept pretty quickly. This yarn doesn't show the cable really well but I like the overall effect. I'm making a scarf. Pretty basic but I do like how this pattern is working with this wool

The colour is off in both of these pictures. It's a nice sage green.

One Scandinavian Hat - Done!

Okay, does this hat -
close up view, same hat -
look anthing like either of these hats?
No?! I did use the yarn and needles the pattern called for so it shouldn't look this different. But it doesn't matter, Tim likes it and that's what counts. I'm trying another version with Dala horses in place of the birds in the one to the right. I also have to make a slight adjustment to fit Tim's head better. And the ear flaps are going to be a bit smaller. But otherwise it should look just the same! Yeah right!

Scandanavian Hat?

So I started the hat. I followed the pattern and did the ear flaps first. They were way too small. So I re-did them double what the pattern asked for. It's been so cold that all I could think of was how it would be necessary to have a hat that gives good ear coverage. They may be a little big now but Tim has a big head.

The pattern called for 3 different colours. But since I was using a stripped yarn, I only used 2 colours. I'm happy with how the colour pattern is turning out but it may be too girly. If so they I'll make another one for Tim with the dark grey and white wool and keep this one for myself. I love how lopi knits up! But it may be too big for me. I had to accomidate for the larger ear flaps in the pattern. I suspect that had I followed the pattern that it would have been too small for Tim. I added 12 stitches around. It was in keeping with the colour chart and allowed for the larger ear flaps. If I do have to do another one for Tim, I may try to re work the colour chart to make Dala Horses (Swedish horse figure). So much for sticking strictly to the pattern...

Socks - Done! Now on to Hats!

My brother's gift is finally ready to hit the mail. I found I quite enough the grafting/weaving of the toe when doing socks. I think it's my favourite part.. and not just because it means I am done. Speaking of done - I think I'm done doing socks for a while. I just didn't enjoy it. I say this now but when I'm in a yarn store and see all the great sock yarn, especially the self-patterning stuff.... well, I guess we'll see.

Now I'm finally going to start the hat for Tim. It has to be Scandinavian looking. And it must have the ear flaps. I spent a lot of time searching for a pattern that looked Scandinavian and that I could understand being a newbie and all... I'm making the hat out of the Icelandic wool I had bought for Tim for Christmas. I was going to try and combine a couple of different patterns but Tim would like the hat for this winter. And since this is only the second hat I've ever done I decided on this pattern which actually calls for the Lopi wool that I had given him.
I'm going to do the one on the left for him. I read through the pattern last night and it almost made sense! So I'm reasonably optimistic that this won't take too long.
Although today is Super Bowl Sunday and I'll be cheering on my beloved Peyton and the boys. So I'll probably work on something simple during the game like some wash clothes. I don't like to keep multiple projects on the go. I don't know why. I think part of what keeps me knitting is the sense of accomplishment. I think this is what made the socks seem so tedious. 2 weeks and all I got done was 1 pair of socks! After 2 weeks I should have something bigger done, like a wrap or shawl. I do have a scarf on the go but I started that before I had any other projects on my list. Now I have a long list of projects to be done. This is my own design.
The other end will also have the basket weave knit and then I think I will sew black buttons on some of the squares on each end for a decorative touch. Whimsical!