Joppa Flats Hat 40

Day 122: This marks the 40th hat I have created for Mass Audubon's Joppa Flats Education Center. I haven't posted many of the rest because...well, because my readers have seen the basic styles (stocking cap, ladybug and bee), but this one is something special. It is the first full piece I've made in the "woven knitting" style where no float longer than two stitches is carried on the reverse of the work. I practiced with a swatch until I could manage fairly even tension with two strands held in my left hand, Continental-style. Being Fair Isle, the work needed minor blocking, something you don't really worry about when you're knitting k2, p2 rib. I could still use more practice in managing the strands, but overall, I'm pleased with the way it turned out. I completed the Fair Isle section on a second hat this morning. Joppa box number 3 will be on its way as soon as hats 41 and 42 are in it, and then I can get to a pair of socks to fill a paying order. Gotta sell something every now and then so I can feed my yarn habit!

The Old Dog

Day 121: Here's living proof that old dogs can learn new tricks if they have the proper motivation. Several days ago, I was browsing YouTube for something knitting-related and stumbled across several tutorials for "woven knitting," a system of preventing the floats common in working Fair Isle. Fair Isle has never been a favourite with me because of the constant need to untangle strands of yarn from skeins or bobbins, and I've always worked it two-handed in a combination of Continental/English (American) styles. I wasn't sure if "woven knitting" would prevent that, so I watched several of the videos until I chanced upon one which was pure Continental. I took a break from making hats for Joppa Flats in order to practice the technique, and when I was finally comfortable with manipulating two strands at the same time on two fingers of my left hand, I drafted a pattern and settled into making a Fair Isle hat. This method permits you to catch every other stitch without creating a yarn nightmare of the strands, and it works up almost as quickly as straight Continental. I think this old dog deserves a treat!

Knittive Species

Day 107: My "Bee-Wear" hat design brought lots of favourable comments from friends, along with a number of requests for a ladybug version. I was somewhat reluctant. After all, the little red critter with black spots we call "ladybug" is an introduced species, brought here from Europe to control aphids. Our native species do not have the red and black colouration. My immediate reaction was that it would be inappropriate for a nature center, but who doesn't love ladybugs? I decided to give the idea a whirl. However, I was faced with the problem of being able to produce the hats quickly and easily as knitwear, and dismissed the options of using felt patches or big black buttons for the spots.

Although it's been many moons since I took up bobbins/butterflies to do multiple colours, I decided that the best way to attack ladybugs was with intarsia coupled with Fair Isle. Here, I carried the red yarn around the row, performing a wrap-and-turn at the end of the round so that I could work on circular needles in a back-and-forth manner, knitting one row and purling back, a technique which allowed me to pick up the black butterflies where I had dropped them at the left edge of each spot. This worked very well, although my execution of the carryovers was a little too snug on this prototype. Developing the head and antennae required a bit more thought. I finally decided to knit the piece in the round on only seven stitches. Cute? Yes, and although this "knittive species" of ladybug may require a bit more time to produce, I suspect they'll be popular in Joppa Flats' gift shop.

Alpine Topper

Day 72: With Christmas crafting behind me, I took advantage of the last two days to knit myself a "head cozy" to keep myself warm while I'm out snowshoeing this winter. The Fair Isle construction of the "Alpine Topper" creates its own lining. In this instance, I've used wool/mohair roving (single ply) in shaded greens for the body of the hat and a softer, loftier rust-orange Merino "chain" yarn for the contrasting color. The Merino is carried on the back of the work, and is oh-so-soft against the ears! Even when wet, wool retains its insulating capability, so it's the perfect fiber for Pacific Northwest outdoor wear.