Wednesday, November 14, 2007

It's a Hat!

But not just any hat: it's a hat that looks like an acorn.


And just in the nick of time, too, as our daytime lows have plummeted to the 80's! *peals of maniacal laughter*



La Monita has been my model during the design process. Unfortunately, she wasn't handy, so I crammed the hat on my own head and took a stab at the venerable art of mirror photography. I'd never had occasion to try it before. I think it very ironic that the camera focused in on itself, but overall, this is something I do believe I could do again. Note to self: put on a long sleeved t-shirt or a sweater next time to give the picture veracity.

Here are the specs:
A small amount of worsted-ish wool yarn, handspun and dyed with marigolds by someone named Candy (body color)
5 sts/inch for the body in stockinette on size 5 needles
An even smaller amount of Classic Elite's Inca Alpaca in "Cowhide Helmut" (Isn't that an awful name for a color?)
6 sts/inch for the brim in blackberry (aka bramble) stitch on the same size 5 needles
The pattern is my own, but based on the Wizard Hat from Kids Knitting . I think this particular hat has a lot of potential for experimentation, for big people as well as kids. Just be prepared to fiddle endlessly to get it to fit the way the pattern says it should, and if you are ambitious/crazy enough to combine two yarns with different gauges using different stitch patterns, be forewarned: I frogged the brim so many times, I was afraid my yarn was going to frizzle away to nothing.
But that aside, it was quite enjoyable.

At this time of year, when teachers and students alike are counting class periods, not weeks, I find that I have a strange urge to obsess on random things. Analyzing this behavior, I have decided that it is a strange sort of coping mechanism. None of these are illegal or will cause bodily harm to myself or others (unless someone makes the mistake of getting between me and a sale rack), and they keep me from going further off the deep end. As such, these obsessions are things I believe I should indulge.

Recent obsessions include:

Jumpers of the sale variety

"We Looked Like Giants" --I think this is as angsty as Ben Gibbard gets.

The "Aleatorio Canciones" feature on my iPod. Most people know this as shuffle, but I have been listening to artistas and albumes ever since a certain little monkey got a hold of my iPod. She says it's a great way to learn a language. The sad thing is, she's right.

Here's to all our little fixations. May they keep the world functional.

1 comment:

Rebecca said...

That is so cute and clever! The perfect hat for November.