Thorpe V 2.0

I decided since I was snow bound this weekend I wanted an instant gratification project. You know, for sanity's sake and all. I wanted a hat, and I had some yummy purple Malabrigo to use so I spent late Friday evening browsing through hat patterns trying to settle on one. I almost made an Amanda hat. And I was tempted by the Star Crossed Beret but I didn't have the right needles for it. I kind of wanted a Koolhaas but that totally doesn't seem like an instant gratification project at all. After all that I just settled on making myself a Thrope. I wanted a warm hat (my Odessa doesn't cover my ears and my Divine hat is kind of drafty) and I wanted something that I knew I could finish fast enough to wear while the snow was still around and Thrope just totally fit the bill. I started it late yesterday morning and finished the second ear flap late last night (I would've had it done by 7ish but we had plans for dinner at a friend's place). I did the trim and braids this morning just to finish it off.

My dear friend Chris modeling my hat for me.

The colors are a bit twee and more suitable for a 12 year old girl, but I don't really care. It's adorable and warm and that makes me happy.

I love the purple. The striping is subtle but interesting.

You can see the spot where I joined the new yarn in garter stitch and doubled it a bit is a hot mess. I made the large size since the yarn I used was thinner than what was called for in the pattern. That worked out nicely. It's pretty much the perfect size and my ears are no longer cold.

General consensus is that it needs a ball on top. Maybe I'll get around to adding one to it this week just to finish the look.

Finally finished a project!

Alright, I finally finished a project despite my winter blahs. I worked on the Thorpe yesterday afternoon so I could finally give it to my friend Mike after promising him an ear flap hat, oh, say 3 months ago? I was worried as I was making that it was going to be way too big. And the problem with knitting top down is you can't try the hat on as you go if you're using 16" circs.

It is a very easy and quick knit. I got a little confused towards the end when switching from working in a circle to going back and forth but I just worked through the pattern and it turned out ok. It took most of a ball of Knit Pick's Wool of the Andes bulky weight.

And of course there are pictures.





It was a wee bit too big on me so I was worried at first.



But no worries. It fits Mike just fine!



My only problem is now Kevin wants an earflap hat. He was totes jealous of Mike's hat. Arg!

Thrope!

So I finally managed to slough through the 28inches of seed stitch for Manda's scarf and have made it to the hood increases. It's amazing how a simple little change in a pattern like increasing every other row just suddenly makes a pattern interesting again. It definitely reminded me why I haven't bothered to knit myself any scarves yet. They. Just. Take. So. Damn. Long. AGGG! But it does look nice and it feels nice and I think it will turn out just swell once it's finished!

So in the meantime, to keep myself knitting and sane I started working on a Thorpe hat for my friend Mike since I promised him an ear flat hat ages ago and never got around to it thanks to Christmas knitting. A few thoughts 1.) WTF? Cast on 4 stitches and put them on 4 different needles?! IT'S IMPOSSIBLE! I couldn't keep them straight and needles kept slipping out all willy nilly. I had to just knit the first two rounds on one needle then divide and start knitting in the round. 2.) I definitely prefer working from the bottom up instead of top down for that very reason. I've got a stupid looking hole at the top of my hat that I'll have to sew up now. 3.) At least it's working up quickly.

I wound up two more balls of yarn on my swift from Kevin. Still no ball winder though. It's not bad as long as I'm doing worsted weight or heavier, but the fingering weight hank I wound took FOR-EV-ER. Stupid Joann's needs to get their website working already.

Sorry no pictures this time around! Maybe after I get some more progress made on the scarf or the Thorpe! I at least wanted to start the new year off with a blog before I got too lazy.