OakenKing ([info]oakenking) wrote in [info]knitting,
@ 2003-12-18 00:30:00
Previous Entry  Add to memories!  Tell a Friend!  Next Entry
What the Well-Dressed Kringle is wearing this season...
My Dad doesn't wear much that I can make. He doesn't wear stocking caps, sweaters, "funny" socks... but he gets a kick out of wearing a Santa hat. He wears one to work for a week or so each year, and has fun with it. I decided, "Shouldn't be too hard, to knit a

I made the pattern up, based on a number of different hat patterns. It's Lion Brand's "Thick & Quick" chenille. I cast on 60 stitches in white, worked K2P2 ribbing until it's long enough (I did 4 inches) then switched to red, K stockinette until tall enough (I did 3"), then begin reducing size with evenly spaced decreases. I started out with 4 stitches every 3rd round until it got shaped down a ways, then went to 1 stitch every round (distributed around so that they didn't line up or make a seam).



and for the close-up:

(Post a new comment)


[info]altorogue
2003-12-17 10:36 pm UTC (link)
wow! that is incredibly beautiful! and it looks really high-class, not anything like those cheap ones they sell in stores. i think santa would wear it:)

and i may have to make one for myself!

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]oakenking
2003-12-17 10:39 pm UTC (link)
Thanks! It's the first thing that I've really just made up (not following some online pattern I found, or something from a book), and it was exceptionally satisfying. I was pleased and amazed at how fast that stuff works up, too! It took some getting used to, because it's easy for me to make the stitches too tight with the fuzz on them... but once I figured that out, it was cake. Probably less than five hours total.

I think the next one (and I can tell it'll happen) will be in some funky non-Santa color, and may have a more straight-angled side instead of the two-staged decrease. I like the way this one falls, but I think straighter sides might be better.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]mely
2003-12-17 10:37 pm UTC (link)
That's awesome!

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]oakenking
2003-12-17 10:41 pm UTC (link)
Thanks!

I guess you can tell I'm pleased with it, or I'd be sleeping instead of posting pictures at one in the morning. :grin:

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

[info]mely
2003-12-18 12:07 am UTC (link)
That's always a good thing though and I have a feeling your dad will really like it.

I understand the being pleased thing : ) I've been knitting for 5 years and crocheting for about 3 and I just made my first scarf this past week (it was kinda useless to own a scarf earlier in my life as I come from Texas...) and well.. I was sitting around in room naked except for the scarf a couple of hours ago trying to figure out the proper/best way to wear this scarf.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

[info]oakenking
2003-12-18 05:18 am UTC (link)
Hee hee... I *totally* understand. I live in Dallas, Dad lives in Houston - part of the reason he doesn't enjoy warm woolen goodies more than he does.

I do occasionally get some good scarf-needin' weather up here, though - granted, not as much as up north, but there are definitely mornings where I'm glad I've got one. Besides being able to fashionably flip the end over my shoulder.

Isn't it fun, though?

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

[info]mariora
2003-12-18 06:50 am UTC (link)
*waves from Longview* (east of you about 2 hours) LOL

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

[info]oakenking
2003-12-18 07:11 am UTC (link)
:: waves back ::

This year has been so *mild* - I've only had frost on the car like four mornings! I just hope we don't get one of those killer February ice storms...

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

[info]mariora
2003-12-18 07:13 am UTC (link)
Yeah...I know. Last one we had some people didn't have power for like a week because of trees falling on the power lines. I'm scared we're in for some bad weather soon.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]nolly
2003-12-18 12:38 pm UTC (link)
My parents are in the Houston area, too. So hard to think of things for them.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

[info]oakenking
2003-12-18 12:43 pm UTC (link)
I have been trying to think around it in a different way, too - I wear a lot of lighter-weight cotton sweaters, and although I haven't spent enough time looking for it yet to find *just* the right yarn, I know that it's out there... I just have to look to find it. Cotton, linen, hemp... knitted on larger needles so that it's airy, makes some really great lighter weight clothes.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]colorwhirl
2003-12-17 10:51 pm UTC (link)
your dad will be the best dressed clause in town, at least in the headgear department!

i think your hat looks great.
good job.

(Reply to this)


[info]stmaybe
2003-12-17 11:39 pm UTC (link)
oh, i just love that! thanks for sharing how you made it :)

(Reply to this)


[info]vintageoveralls
2003-12-18 12:05 am UTC (link)
That is GORGEOUS!

(Reply to this)


[info]ladypixel
2003-12-18 12:41 am UTC (link)
Absolutely beautiful! Now I want one - and if only I had some bigger DPNs around, I probably would start it tonight... :)

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]ladypixel
2003-12-18 12:51 am UTC (link)
Which reminds me - what size needle did you use for that? I'm tempted to go pick up the right size circular for it. (The joy of a 24-hour Walmart nearby, eh?)

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]oakenking
2003-12-18 05:19 am UTC (link)
Yup, it needs some biguns... I forgot to put that in the description - I used 10's, but the listed guage on the skein is 11's.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]verminefasciste
2003-12-18 02:07 am UTC (link)
That's very luxurious. I am glad that you are proud of your efforts, because you surely should be!

(Reply to this)


[info]f1ymetothemoon
2003-12-18 02:43 am UTC (link)
Oh muh gosh... it looks so pettable! Nice work :-)

(Reply to this)


[info]aylara
2003-12-18 04:58 am UTC (link)
Wonderful!

Can you share how you made the pom pom and how you attached it? Because I have some trouble with the attaching part.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]oakenking
2003-12-18 05:24 am UTC (link)
The pompon is the most problematic part of this hat - because I'm afraid it's going to shed.

I took a piece of plastic about three and a half inches wide (didn't have any cardboard to hand, so I used a weaving tablet) and wrapped the yarn around and around it until it was a big thick wad. I have no idea how many wraps, but probably more than fifty but less than a hundred. I slipped the plastic out of the wraps, tied a very tight "waist" with another piece of thread, then snipped and fluffed and trimmed until it was round and nice. The attaching, I just took a piece of the same string, hid the tail inside the cone of the hat, tied a knot at the top, went through the pompon, tied again, and did that once more, and then buried the end and snipped it off. I don't know if that was the right technique or not, but it seems sturdy. I don't have a lot of traditional teaching on this kind of thing, so I make a lot up as I go.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

[info]aylara
2003-12-18 04:16 pm UTC (link)
I was mostly asking because I had just done something similar, except that I attached the pompom with a longish cord.

So you used *thread*...hmm. Worth consideration. I just used the same yarn I had been using and it was difficult for me to get it tight enough (although I think I did...I'll post a pic at some point). Buttonhole thread might be worth a shot too, because it's sturdy.

Cool. Thanks for sharing. :)

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

[info]oakenking
2003-12-18 09:56 pm UTC (link)
I apologize - that was YARN, the same as what I made the hat out of, that I tied and attached the pompon with. Not thread. It's what I had on hand. In hindsight, an extra-duty thread like buttonhole (I just typed that twice without the "on" in the middle... I"m tired!) would probably be better, because the chenille yarn breaks easy.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]phaedrine
2003-12-18 06:17 am UTC (link)
Wow! That's lovely! Excellent work. :)

(Reply to this)


[info]chernobylred
2003-12-18 07:09 am UTC (link)
Wow, that is just gorgeous! Looks so rich and decadent!

(Reply to this)


[info]cyn
2003-12-18 07:44 am UTC (link)
mmmmm plushy lush!!!!

(Reply to this)


[info]kurki15
2003-12-18 08:09 am UTC (link)
That is an awesome hat! I had a dream that I made one last night too! How funny. Thanks for sharing the photos with us!

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]oakenking
2003-12-18 08:13 am UTC (link)
Ooh... dream knitting! I've done some dream weaving, and had lots of yarn and woven stuff show up in dreams... but no dream knitting, yet. You'd think, as often as I sit up late at night knitting on a project, I'd see some.

Did you dream about the actual process of making it, or just that you had made it?

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

[info]kurki15
2003-12-18 08:24 am UTC (link)
Well, I don't remember much of my dreams. Mostly I remember carefully selecting the yarns at my LYS and then the finished project.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

(Anonymous)
2003-12-18 08:27 am UTC (link)
That rocks! It's inspiring me to make one for my baby son & baby niece (6 1/2 mos & 7 1/2 mos, respectively). Your dad will love it!

Annie

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]oakenking
2003-12-18 08:29 am UTC (link)
Ooh, babies in Santa hats are the cutest! I don't think I'll have time enough to knit my niece one, but I may have to try... probably switch to a small (ordinary size) chenille instead of the Thick-n-Quick, tho - I think the yarn would be a little chunky for a baby.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]waterlilly
2003-12-18 09:05 am UTC (link)
Thank you so much for sharing how you made that! I've wanted to make something like this, but there aren't any patterns out there that I can find and I'm not good enough to wing something like this on my own yet. :)

What a great hat!

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]oakenking
2003-12-18 09:22 am UTC (link)
You're welcome! It was a kind of grow-as-you-go type thing; the nice thing about the Chenille is that you can't see the stitches very well (nice, that is, until you drop one!)I forgot to mention on the first post... those 60 stitches were on #10 DPN's. I did a swatch first, figured I was getting just over 3 stitches to the inch, and multiplied to fit 21 inches around (a fairly standard head).

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]ladydiana
2003-12-18 09:13 am UTC (link)
Oh honey, that is BEAUTIFUL!

I'm (crocheting) Luli's blanket out of LionBrand Chenille Thick & Quick, so I'm fully familiar with how decadent it is.

GORGEOUS!

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]oakenking
2003-12-18 09:29 am UTC (link)
Thanks! It sure is FAST, too! Is it hard to see the stitches when you crochet? It seems like it blends in and becomes such a moosh when you're knitting with it, it'd be hard to tell where to stick the hook for the next stitch.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]zengardeneyebrw
2003-12-18 09:27 am UTC (link)
oooh!

aaaah!

great job!

(Reply to this)


[info]at_the_stars
2003-12-18 09:54 am UTC (link)
that's freaking awesome. very nice work.

(Reply to this)


[info]rawbery79
2003-12-18 10:15 am UTC (link)
that puts the holiday spirit in ANYONE! Nice job!

(Reply to this)

Create an Account
Forgot your login or password?
Login w/ OpenID
English • Español • Deutsch • Русский…