The last haul

Hello All -
Well, tomorrow's the day we drop everything off at the Philadelphia Afiliate of the Komen Foundations!
We had a few more donations:
Leah's very first hat! aka her very first completed knitting project ever:

Melanie's beautiful two scarves and two hats:

And our final count! Hats: 84
Scarves: 11
gauntlets: 2

What a haul! Thank you everyone!

We will post about the drop off tomorrow.

xxooTara

Getting Close to Done

Hello All -
Here is one more update. I hope it is the last - but of course if I get more before I drop everything off I will be sure to post. If you are still planning to send something - please drop us an email - Thanks!

This haul we have two more beautiful scarves from Michael and Sarah: A gorgeous braided cloche from Debbie:
Three lovely hats which came in a package with a return sender of Cohen.
And our Canadian... D'Arcy! This was her first major knitting experience and I think it's safe to say she his hooked! Four beautiful hats and a yarn exchange scarf. There is also a lovely story to go with D'Arcy's 7/8 hat (right side of image). D'Arcy absolutely fell in love with this yarn and started knitting the 7/8 hat. She was a little bit more than half way through it when... disaster! ... she ran out of yarn. The local shop did not have anymore - she search far and wide offering bribes left and right. Thanks to ravelry.com - she found Pam who had the same yarn same dye lot D'Arcy needed! But that's not even the best part of the story; D'Arcy explained the pinkknit-a-thon project and Pam, a breast cancer survivor, donated the yarn that D'Arcy could finish the hat.

Thanks again to all who've participated! Stay tuned for the final count and delivery.

Second Haul

This impressive haul is from Raija in New Jersey! 25, fabulous hats! All with beautiful little additions on the sides, and laminated labels with a beautiful message. Apparently, Raija really liked that second pattern. Here is an example of an individual of the hats Raija knitted. Thank you Raija for your stellar work and for making so many lovely hats.

Cary's stash arrived as well. You've seen some of her posts and here is the group shot of all the pieces. Stevie, despite having a wedding (her own) this summer, managed to knit these two for us! Thank you Stevie - for also getting the right link on Ravelry!

Lisa Kugel sent in this gorgeous crocheted scarf from the yarn exchange. Thank again to Lisa for designing this wonderful pattern!
And finally for this post, Anna sent in these four beauties! Check out the color change action for the second hat pattern!
Thanks to everyone who's sent things in so far... I know there are more out there! Can't wait to see your work!

And things are rolling in....

With our deadline looming this Thursday (September 15th), the donations are starting to come in. But before I get to donations already received - we just need to do some Pinkknit-a-thon business. Please try to post things as close to the 15th as possible. If you need the weekend to finish things up - that's fine. We'd like to give the donations to the Komen Foundation the first week of October.

And now without further ado....

These first two donations from Jennifer and Wendy are the Just Enough Ruffles scarf, available on Ravelry. This scarf pattern is gorgeous! Very flattering so if you need something to knit as you are having withdrawals from Pinkknit-a-thon, try this one out!
Jennifer and Wendy also made some fabulous fingerless gloves! Hmmm... ideas for next year?

Caitlin did not have time to do the lace scarf for the exchange. She took her yarn allotment, added things from her own stash and sent in this beautiful stripy scarf.

Jess, intrepid student, made this gorgeous little number:
And finally, for this post, Carol sent five hats. Two of the turquoise:
One of the purple:
and two of these green/blue beauties.
Carol sent a note - I hope she doesn't mind my transcribing it here:

Dear Pinkknit-a-thonners -
I'm so glad I found out about your site from the Lancaster Yarn Shop. My mom is in treatment for ovarian cancer and so I decided to knit some hats for her. Then I found out about your project and knitted the yarn I had left over for additional hats.
The phrase* I put on the tags is one my mom found and taped to her kitchen cupboard. She's so optimistic and helps us to have hope. So far, all her results have been good and the chemotherapy is working. She still has 6 months of chemotherapy.
* "In facing the unknown, hope is as reasonable as despair." (Guideposts)

AND! thanks to Carol for remembering the tags! Yikes! I completely forgot. So if you haven't already sent your donations, please take a moment to add the kind of yarn you used (wool, silk, cotton, acrylic), washing instructions, and anything else. Thanks!

The yarn exchange scarf in crochet

Hi all! I'm finally getting round to posting a few pictures of my completed yarn exchange scarf. I opted to use the crochet pattern -- it's so fantastic! The design is really lovely and I already have plans to make another as a Christmas gift.


I started the scarf using a repeat of 7 rows and it turned out a little shorter than I thought it would. So I added (1) a section of pink yarn I had left over from last year's scarf and (2) smaller sections using the rest of the exchange yarn. Now it's the perfect length and ready to keep someone very warm during the winter.

As D'Arcy mentioned in her scarf post, the best thing about this project was getting to use a wide variety of yarns. They all worked up so differently. I chose to use a smaller needle (size J) than what was called for in the project (size N) because I wanted a smaller, tighter weave.

Of all the yarns, the lavender variegated yarn (it looks a little blue in the image above) was by far my favorite. It's soft and wooly and really holds its shape. To whoever chose this yarn, I'd love to know what it is and where I can get it (or something similar).

Meanwhile, the hats are coming along. The warrior hat is on my needles as I type, and I've caught up on all the others. I've even crocheted a couple more just because. More pictures to follow!

Feather and Fan (Old Shell) Hat

Hello All,
Here is the second to last hat pattern. Isn't it great! Thanks so much to Lisa who designed the pattern!
Feather and Fan (Old Shell) Hat Pattern
Getting Started:
Size: Adult
Finished Measurements: The circumference of the hat measures ~ 18 inches with enough stretch to accommodate most head sizes (19-21 inches). Length ~ 6 ½ inches.
Yarn: Worsted weight yarn. I used Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in “Barn Red” for one hat and the other hat was knit with Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Worsted in “Fuchsia”. 1 skein
Needles: 16 inch circular needle, size 7 (4.5mm)
1 set of 5 double pointed needles, size 7 (4.5mm)
Gauge: 5 sts = 1 inch in stockinette stitch
Notions: Yarn needle, stitch markers

Pattern Notes:
A little stitch pattern fact: Many knitters use the name Feather and Fan interchangeably with Old Shale, when in actuality they are two different patterns. Not only that, but the name Old Shale is really Old Shell (Shale is how the Shetlanders pronounce shell). If you’re interested to find out more on the history and differences of these lace patterns, see what Elizabeth Lovick writes at http://northernlace.wordpress.com and then search for Feather and Fan versus Old Shale.
The stitch pattern is written for working in the round.
The traditional pattern calls for a garter ridge, but if you prefer not to have this ridge on your hat then knit Row 4 instead of purling.
The decrease rounds are on the pattern row (Row 3).
K2 tog= knit 2 stitches together
Sts= stitches
YO = yarn over

Stitch Pattern:
Feather and Fan (Old Shell) pattern:
Row 1: (right side) Knit
Row 2: Knit
Row 3: Pattern row: * (K2 tog) 2 times, (YO, K1) 4 times, (K2 tog) 2 times, repeat from *
Row 4: Purl

Directions for Hat:
Cast on 96 sts on circular needle (careful not to twist when joining). Place stitch marker to identify beginning of rounds.
Knit stitch pattern, Rows 1-4, 6 times.
Knit Rows 1 & 2 (length of hat at this point is ~ 4 ½ inches)
Start decreasing on Row 3 as follows:
1st decrease round: * (K2 tog) 2 times, (YO, K1) 2 times, YO, (K2 tog) 3 times, repeat from *. You will now have 80 sts.
Purl Row 4, Knit Rows 1 & 2
2nd decrease round: * (K2 tog) 2 times, (YO, K1) 2 times, (K2 tog) 2 times, repeat from *. You will now have 64 sts. Change to double pointed needles, placing 16 sts on each of the 4 needles.
Purl Row 4, Knit Rows 1 & 2
3rd decrease round: * K2 tog, (YO, K2 tog) 2 times, K2 tog, repeat from *. You will now have 48 sts.
Purl Row 4, Knit Rows 1 & 2
4th decrease round: * K2 tog, YO, (K2 tog) 2 times, repeat from *. You will now have 32 sts.
Purl Row 4, Knit Row 1
5th decrease round: K2 tog all around. You will now have 16 sts
Knit 1 row around
6th decrease round: K2 tog all around. You will now have 8 sts.

Break yarn, leaving ~ a 10 inch tail. Thread tail on needle and draw thru the remaining 8 sts on your knitting needles. Pull tight and weave in all ends.

Designed by Lisa K.

Scarf exchange - update

Well it sounds like several of you are on their way. I found this scarf SUPER easy and fun. It was exciting to switch colors and see how the yarn would behave. I did the straight forward big block of color - but I really like D'Arcy's with the narrower stripes. However you decide to do your scarf it will be fabulous! So I mentioned another hat I tried after having some ends left after the scarf.
This is a very easy pattern- it's just the prep that requires some thought or planning.
About a year ago I couldn't bear to throw out the tiny extra yard or two of thread. It's terrible - but I feel so guilty. So I sorted the yarns I have into stuff I could knit with size 8 - 10 needles and stuff I would knit with 4 - 6 needles. I just knitted all the strands together and kept adding over the year. I had a hunch that with the scraps from this scarf I might be able to eek out a hat and I was right. It's not quite what I expected. I expected to have more of the little tufts. But if you don't want tufts you can adjust for that - and if you have a ball of ONLY wool - you can do the splice and spit.
The take-home message is: start your ball of scraps! This will be the last hat pattern. Before we get to that though, we have another guest pattern writer - wait 'till you see this hat! It's gorgeous!
Happy Knitting!

Scarf in progress

Well, somehow I haven't managed to post a single thing here yet, even though I have finished knitting the first two hats (will post those later). I think I'm blog-phobic.

But since I was home sick all weekend I had plenty of time to dive into the yarn exchange scarf project, and am pretty happy with how things are going!

I am a beginner, self-taught knitter who has learned most everything I need to know from two books or the Internet, and who has knit nothing before the knit-a-thon but rectangles (a poncho and some scarves). Since joining the knit-a-thon I've learned to knit in the round, to increase and decrease, to purl, and for the yarn exchange scarf finally figured out how to do a Yarn Over!

I was pleasantly surprised by how easy this pattern is, even for a beginner like myself, and yet how great the results look! And it's definitely fun to be knitting with such obviously (for my price range) exotic yarns. Great fun!

I was lucky enough to score a few additional colours from another yarn-exchange participant who was cleaning out her stash (thanks Caitlin), so some of the colours in my scarf may not be in anyone else's. I know that might be considered cheating by some, but hey, I'm very particular about colours (purple and I just can't be friends)!

Unfortunately I did not read Tara's tip that we could get 7 repeats out of each colour until after I'd already knit through the first six colours. Since my first ball of yarn only gave me enough for 3 repeats, that's what I stuck with for all the others. That being said, I have enough yarn left over for most of the colours to go through them all again a second time if I want to make the scarf extra long, and I just may do that once I see how long it is once I've finished knitting the last two colours.

And yes, I spell it c-o-l-o-u-r because I'm Canadian.

Hope you like my scarf as much as I do!


Only two more colours to go!

Crochet Pattern for the Scarf

Greetings All -
Lisa, one of our fabulous participants, wrote up the scarf pattern for crocheters. Thanks Lisa!

Crochet Pattern for Pinkknit-a-thon
Yarn Exchange Scarf

Getting started:
YARN: 12 bundles/each bundle= 30yds of various weights and colors
HOOK: Size N/13 (9mm)
GAUGE: 24sts= 8 ½ “and 3 rows = approx.3” in alternating shells pattern with worsted weight yarn, before blocking
NOTIONS: Yarn needle

Stitch Pattern:
Alternating Shells (multiple of 8 chain + 4)
Row 1: 1 dc in 4th ch from hook, * skip 2 ch, 5 dc in next ch for a shell, ch 2, skip 3 ch, 1 dc in each of next 2 ch, repeat from * across, ch 3, turn.
Row 2: 1 dc in next dc, * 1 shell in first dc of next shell, ch2, skip 4 dc, 1 dc in each of next 2 dc, repeat from * across, end last dc at end of last repeat in top of turning-ch, ch 3, turn.
Repeat Row 2 for pattern.

Notes:
The pattern will create a wavy edge at the finished end of the scarf. So that both edges of the scarf have wavy edges you can add a crocheted scallop edge to the beginning chain row (how-to instructions are below in the scarf pattern). Sample is shown with and without the scallop edge.
The 30yds of yarn will give you various options for arranging the color layout for the scarf:
-The scallop row can be crocheted with the same color or different color from the first rows (as in sample).
- You can crochet 6 rows of the same color before changing colors or 3 rows of the same color in two separate sections of the scarf. Sample is shown with 3 rows of two different colors and 2 rows of another weight/color yarn.
If you want, the scarf can be made narrower and add a scalloped edge all around the scarf. To do this it may be helpful to know that 1 row in pattern stitch uses approx 4 ¾ yds of yarn with worsted weight yarn.

Scarf:
Lay out yarns in desired color sequence. Consider the weight of the yarn and how they will work with each other.
Ch 28.Work in alternating shells patt. If you have chosen to add on the scallop edge on the beginning chain row you will need to do 2 things: put aside approx. 5 yds of yarn in the color that you want for the scallop edge and crochet 1 less row at the start of the scarf (ex: if you plan to do 6 rows, then only do 5 rows; if 3 then only do 2 rows).
Change colors in the sequence you decided upon (ex: every 6 rows or every 3 rows).
Work until all your yarn is used up.
Work scallop edge (with the yarn you set aside): Holding scarf upside down and starting at the right corner of the chain row begin scallop: Ch 3 into top of turning-ch, 1 dc in next dc, 5 dc in ch 3 sp, * ch 1, sl st in sp between 2 dc, ch 1, 5 dc in ch 3 sp, repeat from * across, end with ch 1, sl st into sp between last 2 dcs.
Weave in ends and block.

Designed by Lisa K.

Yarn on it's way!

Hello All!
I finally have twelve batches of yarn!Last night I divied it all out. So today it's in the mail!
I couldn't wait to try out the pattern.By my estimate you can get 7 repeats of the pattern out of the 30 yards. This is going to be beautiful.
I will post the crochet pattern tomorrow.
Happy Knitting!!!

A few more hats in the bag

My knitting has been slow of late -- thanks to the heat, mostly -- but I'm still chugging along! I finally finished the braided hat:

It turned out well, but it's a little big and floppy. I think I made a gauge error -- the non-braided sections turned out much wider than I thought, and I probably should have stopped short on the top. Still, the hat fits and is very soft and comfortable.

I swear that I next made several attempts at the warrior hat, which is just beautiful, but I just couldn't wrap my head around the pattern. Instead, I brushed up on cables with this simple hat:


This one, which we nicknamed "Pinky" because of its resemblance to one of the Pac-Man ghosts (ha!), turned out great. It also reminded me that cables are not as hard as they appear. I'm going to do my best to tackle the warrior hat before the end of this project.

Finally, I combined a few of my yarns into one of my favorite crochet hat patterns, the cupcake hat!

Ok, so that's not really what it's called, but it does look like a dessert, no? In my enthusiasm, however, I forgot that this hat turns out rather small. So it's cute, but definitely for a smaller head.

I've got the 7-8 hat started, and here's hoping for cooler temps in the coming weeks so even more knitting can commence!

5th Hat pattern The 7-8 Hat

Whew! Have you all survived the heat!? Sure hope so. Brace yourselves though, there's supposed to be another wave this weekend. But lets look on the bright side...its the perfect excuse to crank that air conditioner and knit a hat!

A note on the yarn exchange scarf: It's coming! I'm still waiting on a few participants get their yarn to me. wink wink - nudge nudge. Wait until you see some of these yarns we get to knit (or crochet) with!!! Gorgeous. Should be fun!

The 7-8 Hat is based on the 2^nd pattern, this one is more cloche-like in appearance, and a bit more challenging. I titled it the 7-8 hat because it has 7 sections and 8 ridges. The numbers 7 and 8 are are considered lucky numbers; 7 is more a western cultural favorite - 8 is the lucky number in the east. So I thought we could knit some luck into a hat for these ladies.
This pattern is knitted for a specific gauge. So you will want to be sure to knit a swatch and make sure your gauge matches mine – or you might wind up with a skirt instead of a hat.

Materials:

• Yarn: gauge - I used #6 needles and got 4.5 sts. to 1 inch. (9 stitches to 2inches)
• #6 circular needles (16”) and set of 5 double pointed needles same size
• 3 markers ( it is helpful to have two that are the same)
• tapestry needles

Useful information to understanding the pattern: There are three markers. I recommend making two the same and the third different. The third/different marker should be the center marker. It will always be referred to as the center marker. The other two will be referred to as the first and second markers.

Section one:

Cast on 85 sts. join. – be sure not to twist.

Place marker. (this should be the odd marker)

Knit 8 rows

Knit 10 st. Place Marker. Continue knitting until 10 before first marker. Place marker. Lift two stitches back onto the left hand needle. You will now turn the work as follows: bring the working yarn to the front of the work between the needles. Lift one stitch from left needle to right needle. Bring yarn to the back of the work. Replace the lifted stitch. Turn the work. This entire procedure is called wrap and turn.

Purl back to two stitches before the marker. You will do another wrap and turn, except that since you are purling this time, take the thread from the front to the back – slip stitch – then bring the thread back to the front, and put the slipped stitch back.

Knit to one stitch before marker. Wrap and Turn.

Purl to one stitch before marker. Wrap and Turn.

Knit 2 rounds. (don’t stop at the first marker. Continue past it slipping it as you go. When you hit the center marker this is the first round, knit one more round back to the center marker)

Purl 3 rounds.

Section two:

• **Knit to three stitches before the second marker. Wrap and Turn.
• Purl to three stitches before the first marker. Wrap and Turn.
• Knit to two stitches before the second marker. Wrap and Turn.
• Purl to two stitches before the first marker. Wrap and Turn.
• Knit to one stitch before the second marker. Wrap and Turn.
• Purl to one stitch before the first marker. Wrap and Turn.
• Knit past the second marker to the center marker.
• Knit one round
• Purl three rounds. **

Repeat the pattern between ** 5 more times. Decreasing as follows:

Section three: No decreases

Section four: Purl one row. Begin second purl row. Knit to first marker. Decrease 7 stitches evenly spaced between the two markers. I purled seven stitches and then one decrease. To decrease purl two stitches together. 78 stitches total. Purl 3^rd row.

Section five: Purl one row. Begin second purl row. Between markers decrease 6 stitches as above. 72 stitches. Purl 3^rd row.

Section six: Purl one row. Begin second purl row. Between markers decrease 7 stitches. Purl five, purl to together. 65 stitches. Purl 3^rd row.

Section seven: Purl one row. Begin second purl row. Between markers decrease 5 stitches. Purl five, purl to together. 60 stitches. You must get 60 stitches on this round so adjust as necessary.

Crown: If you haven’t already, switch to double pointed needles. I put 15 stitches on each. You can also remove the first and second markers. Leave the center one as reference until you don’t need it anymore.

The crown decrease pattern is as follows:

• Knit 10, knit two together, a total of 5 times.
• Knit 9, knit two together, a total of 5 times.
• Knit 8, knit two together, a total of 5 times.
• Knit 7, knit two together, a total of 5 times.
• The pattern should be visible at this point. Continue until you have 10 stitches left.
• Knit two together 5 times. Break yarn with a tail, using tapestry needle, sew tail through last five stitches and pull snug.

Weave ends in.

Now, of course. This hat isn’t without it’s problems. If anyone has a brilliant ideas how to do the wrap and turn better on the purl side that would be great. I wound up with nice gaping holes (see picture below). The only way I can think of to fix that is to make a new stitch there on the final full knitted round and then purl two together on the first purl round. But that is a lot of remembering. There must be a better way to do this. All thoughts are welcome!

And lastly - if you would like a pdf version of this pattern so you can print it out - email me at pinkknit@mail.com. In fact if you want a pdf of any of the patterns let me know.

Catching up with hats!

We've had some new submissions!

This beautiful submission comes from Rod. Rod works at Nangellini one of our sponsoring knitting shops. It is an absolutely beautiful hat.
Thanks Rod!

Raija sent me this image a few days ago - she's got four hats of the second pattern! Aren't they fabulous? Thank you Raija!

And this gorgeous hat is from Terry. The story behind this one is special. Terry's niece requested that Terry make one for us in honor of her mother who passed from kidney cancer. This beautiful hat is an orange based yarn with lots of pink in it. The orange ribbon is for kidney cancer.
Thank you Terry - this is truly a special hat.

Reminder... Yarn Exchange scarf

Hello All -
Hope you've started Michael's beautiful Warrior Hat! I'm in Western Massachusetts and am going to Webb's today to pick out yarn. Very excited about that.

We still need a few more participants in the yarn exchange scarf... so we've decided to extend the deadline. If you can pick up yarn this weekend, and mail the yarn in on Monday, July 18th, (or get it to me sometime next week - if you know where to find me) that would be fabulous. Please drop us a line to be expecting it. There will soon be a crochet pattern for the scarf as well.

Hope your summer is going well!

Best - Tara

Pattern 4 Warrior Hat

Warrior Hat
Size 6 needles
Gauge: 5 sts per inch
CO: 96 sts
Connect in the round and place st. marker. Establish 2X2 rib, continue until you have a 1” brim.
Purl for 1 round.
Begin Chart A:
• Always follow chart from right to left
• Repeat 12 st center 7X per round
• At the end of row 16 P to last 2 sts, place them onto CN to back of work, remove st marker, K2, replace st marker, K2 sts from CN, continue Chart A
Purl 1 round.
Begin decrease rounds: (all even numbered rounds are purled)
• (P6, P2tog) 84 sts remain
3. (P5, P2tog) 72 sts remain
5. (P4, P2tog) 60 sts remain
7. (P3, P2tog) 48 sts remain
9. (P2, P2tog) 36 sts remain
11. (P1, P2tog) 24 sts remain
13. (P2tog) 12 sts remain
Cut a 6” to 8” tail, thread through needle and pass through remaining sts, pull tight and weave in ends.
Block as needed.

Chart A:



key


















The cable pattern for this hat is adapted from Elsbeth Lavold from her book: Viking Patterns for Knitting.

Yarn Exchange Scarf

Hello All!

This is something we've been looking forward to and it's not a hat! Melanie designed the pattern for us so that we could do a yarn exchange scarf. All of the instructions are below - let us know if you have questions. Please let us know if you want to participate. That way I know who to wait for in case something doesn't arrive.

Yarn Exchange Scarf

The Yarn exchange scarf Project is an experiment that we are pretty excited about. The basic idea is that at least 12 knitters purchase all the same kind (but any color) of yarn. Then divide it up into a set length (30yrd bundles). Send all the bundles to the Pinkknit-a-thon PO Box with a self addressed stamped envelope for a return package. We will divide the bundles up between the participants so that each person receives one bundle of their original yarn - and 11 new bundles. This will give you the opportunity to knit with yarn you might not have a chance to knit with otherwise. And even though everyone will be getting the same yarn, each scarf will be unique based on how you decide to put the colors together. We recommend following the pattern - the scarf is beautiful! However - if you can only manage to knit the whole thing (in garter stitch) it will still be a very beautiful scarf.

Here are more precise instructions:
Exchange

Recommended Yarns:

Mixed weight sport and chunky weight yarns and anything in between. Choose a natural fiber that has stretch and memory. Wool and wool blends are best. Cottons, silks, feel really lovely against the skin and drape in a lovely way, but don’t work so well when mixed with other yarns.

Choose a yarn that you might normally choose for a scarf. Buy 400 yards of it. Make 12 bundles of 30 yards each. Send the yarn with a self-addressed stamped envelope to:

Pinkknit-a-thon

PO Box 8352

Philadelphia, PA 19101

All yarn must be received by July 15th. I will do a quick turn around so that you will have almost two months to knit the scarves.

*Note about mailing stuff: If you've never done something like this before - here's what you do. Go to the Post Office. Pick up two Flat Rate Priority envelopes - these are made out of something that feels like paper but is much stronger. These are provided free of charge by the USPS. Yarn isn't fragile or heavy so you will waste money if you get a box. Put the yarn in the envelope - but don't close it yet! When you are with the clerk - explain that you need to include an envelope with postage for return mail on it. Make sure to address the second envelope with your address! Once the postage has been paid, put that envelope in with the yarn, seal it up, and send it to us. This should cost $5 to $10 (each way) depending on how you send it.

Materials:

Knitting needles: 9mm (size 13 U.S.)

Tapestry needle to weave in ends

Pattern

Row 1: (RS) Knit

Row 2: Purl

Row 3: K1, [(K2 tog) 2 times], [(YO, K1) 4 times], [(K2 tog) 4 times], [(YO, K1) 4 times], [(K2 tog) 2 times], K1

Row 4: Knit

SCARF INSTRUCTIONS

Layout exchange yarn in desired order. Consider weight of yarn as you arrange your order. Try to have weights flow gently into each other.

CO 26 stitches

Rows 1-4 Work in pattern

Rows 5-8 Rep rows 1-4

Rows 9-12 Rep rows 1-4

ALWAYS change yarn after a row 4. Any other time results in an uneven look and is much harder to do.

Change colors

Continue pattern, changing yarns after every 8 rows until all exchange yarns are used.

If pattern is overwhelming—just knit instead!

Weave in ends. Block.

Two hats down

Life and other things have gotten in the way of my knitting of late, but I do have the first two hats in the bag. I really like the second pattern (even more so when it's turned inside out), so I think I might do another depending on my yarn supply. My yarn's ready for the next hat, which looks pretty challenging; but I'm looking forward to the challenge and hope to get it started this weekend!

The Third Pattern

Greetings! Here is the third pattern - the one on the logo. My great aunt helped me design this hat so I named it after her. She was 99 at the time. I've made this hat four times now and I change it every time, intuitively. So please let me know if you find there are problems with this pattern. It all makes perfect sense in my head... but that isn't very helpful when it doesn't make sense on paper!

Happy knitting!

Tante Ursel’s Hat (Aunt Ursula’s Hat)

Materials:

Yarn

Needles, circular and double points

Stitch holders

Tapestry needle

Stitch markers

Choose yarn of your choice and knit a sample swatch to establish gauge. Break off yarn and block.

Start knitting the braided rim.

Multiply your gauge (stitches per inch) by three. Cast on this amount. Knit the brim in a rib pattern as follows: knit all stitches in the gauge inch except for last stitch, purl this one. So if your gauge is 6st/inch. Knit 5, purl1, three times. Turn work, and on the back knit 1 purl 5, three times. Knit one inch of the rib.

Start knitting the braid. You will separate the band into three sections and knit I-chords. Place the stitches you are not working with on stitch holder or double pointed needle. Working with the first “rib” (including purled stitches) knit 7-8 inches of an I-chord. You will increase once stitch in the second row of the i-chord and in your last row you will decrease on stitch. I found that the cords need to “plump-up” a bit or they look a little spindly in the braid.

How to knit an i-cord: using double pointed needles, knit off the first rib. Work only with the first rib hold needle with all stitches on it in left hand – push all of the stitches to the right side of the double pointed needle. Bring the yarn around the back and knit the same stitches again. Never turn the work around, only push the stitches over. This will seem counter intuitive at first, but take a look at it from all sides after an inch or two and you will see that it all falls together nicely.

As you finish each i-cord, place the stitches onto a stitch holder or double pointed needle. With new thread, repeat with the following two ribs so that you now have three separate I-cords.

Braid these. Be careful not to braid to tightly or too loosely. Once braided, transfer all stitches back onto one needle. With a new piece of yarn, begin knitting in the rib pattern again.

Knit the brim to fit one inch less than the circumfrence of your head. Measure your head – if it is 21 inches – continue knitting in the rib pattern until the entire brim measures 20 inches.

Finishing the brim. For the pink hat on the logo, here’s what I did:

Do not bind off. Leave the stitches on the needle. Block the rim very well. This will establish the shape.Once the rim is blocked, use the Kitchener stitch to sew the rim together.

For all of the other hats I made in this pattern I did not block – I just Kitchener stitched together, and it worked fine without blocking.

Once the rim is in a circular shape, pick up stitches, one for each row of the hat. Place a marker at the beginning of the round. Note: this is not the correct amount to the rest of the hat!

Figure out how many stitches you want to end up with. (The text in pink is my example)

1. What is your gauge:_______ (6 stitches)

2. Circumference of your head:_________ (21 inches)

3. Multiply these to get the initial amount to go around your head_______ (126 stitches)

4. Count how many stitches you already have on the needle. __________(84 stitches) Subtract this amount from the amount in #3. _______ (126 – 84 = 42)This is how many stitches you need to increase in round two.

Round two: Increase _______ (42) spaced evenly around the brim. You can either knit in the front and back of the stitch, or pick up a stitch. I find the second technique a nicer look. To increase evenly. I should now have 126 stitches on my needles.

Round three: Increase the amount one more time. This hat should be a little loose so I chose to increase 3 more inches. Using my gauge – 3inches x 6stitches = 18 stitches to increase. Current number of stitches 126 plus increase stitches 18 = final total 144. The final amount of stitches on YOUR hat must be divisible by 6. This has nothing to do with my example gauge – it has to do with the multiples when we bind off the hat. So let’s say you wind up with 154 stitches. Increase to 156 so that the number of stitches is evenly divisible by 6.

Once round three is established, knit 5 inches.

Finishing:

Divide the number of stitches you have by 6_______ So for me: 144 divided by 6 = 24.

Round 1Knit the number of stitches above (24) and place a marker. Repeat all the way around. You should have 6 markers.

Round 2: *knit to 2 stitches before the marker. Slip each stitch off of the left needle onto the right needle one at a time, put the left needle back through the stitches and knit the two stitches together. (Ssk) Slip the marker to the right needle knit two together. Repeat from *

Round 3: knit

Round 4: as round two

Repeat the decrease row followed by a knit row until 12 sts. Remain. Cut thread and pull through remaining stitches to bind off.

One of our participants decided she didn’t want to do the decreases for the second hat. She just did the same bindoff as the first hat and it looks fabulous. I don’t know how that would look with this hat – probably fabulous, but if you would like to do that, you will probably need to knit more like 7-8 inches of the hat before binding off.

Three more pictures of the hats:

This last hat is a fun variation of the original. I will post what I did soon.