Hat Wars still

Chapter 3 - Wherein I watch and wait.

I can scarcely believe it myself. The mailman came and went, and no hat. Nothing by regular post, nothing by XpressPost; I'm still in the game. But no telling what tomorrow will bring. My target, Pointyknitja, is still in the game too, but I know she's on borrowed time. Because her hat was sent Xpress Post and should be delivered no later than Wednesday presuming that Canada Post delivers on schedule. Or thereabouts, as you can't depend on Canada Post.

In the meantime I had a chance to finish the first of my truffle brown bamboo socks. Not the best photo - the indoor light and the flash have exaggerated the lighter streaks of colours. The yarn is really much chocolatier than the photo suggests. Gavin was kind enough to model the sock - although maybe I didn't exactly ask so much as put it on his foot as he sat with his laptop in front of the hockey game. His review? It's fine. Nice. Quite comfortable, for a sock. Which is about as effusive as I could hope. Gavin lives in barefeet and flip-flops, year round. Socks really aren't his thing. Nor are sweaters, or mitts or anything hand knitted at all.

Hat Wars continue

Chapter 2

Wherein I get more practice at ripping back, experience first-hand the difficulty of picking up more than a hundred loose stitches in pattern when working with a very dark yarn, doggedly knit for several hours and retire from the field having finally produced a hat.

When I woke Saturday morning my first thought was that I'd better get myself in gear and get going on this hat. Not that I was fooling myself about the likelihood that I could knit and finish a hat in time to post Saturday. And even if I did, would it go anywhere any sooner than if I mailed it Sunday or Monday? Probably not.

First, establish the pattern. And true to my usual form that took a couple of tries. After working 8 rounds I sat back to examine my knitting. Good grief, I thought, the pattern is completely lost in this dark colourway. Or maybe, upon closer examination, it was because I'd worked the C3Fs incorrectly. The rules are clear - any mistakes in the pattern stitch constitutes not following the pattern and is grounds for disqualification. Start again.

Happily, things went well after that. This second pattern was fiddly, though, especially when worked on dpns. Too much juggling of needles. The hat's ready to mail now. And I've acquitted myself honourably - knit diligently and correctly, to the best of my ability. Now the wait begins - somewhere, someone has knit a hat, aiming to eliminate me.

Hat Wars begin

Chapter 1

Wherein I stumble out of the gate, willfully disregard my own misgivings, doggedly pursue dead ends and retire from the field having failed to produce a hat at all.

It was with a start that I read on Friday morning on Ravelry about how far other competitors had already knit. And realized I'd mistaken the start time - not midnight Friday night, but 12:01 Friday morning. Before casting on a stitch I was already behind several hours. No sense beating myself up over it; better to focus on the task at hand.

Four patterns were posted to choose from. The first pattern wouldn't suit - the Skull Hat by Gina Doherty involved stranding 2C knitting - that won't work with the yarn I've got. And I ruled out the second pattern, too - the Boy Hat by Elizabeth Heath-Heckman - too simple, too masculine, not at all suitable for this yarn. The third pattern was a maybe - the Transsiberian Hat by Madtown Mama - but the pattern looked a bit fiddly. The fourth pattern looked just right - the Isotope Hat by Tonya Wagner.

By the time I left for work, the pattern was well established. And by early evening, now home from work, I was nearing the decreases. By 9pm, I had to admit that I was going to be short about 10 yards of yarn. I briefly flirted with the idea of modifying the pattern to rip back and shorten the body to save the hat I'd spent all day knitting. Nope. That's a clear violation of the rule that absolutely forbids modification of the pattern. Why did I choose the pattern for the slouchy hat? The one that required the most yarn yardage? Aagh! With a deep breath I slid the stitches off the needles and unravelled the nearly finished hat. And cast on my second choice pattern. Tired and frustrated, I decided to retire after working the brim - best to leave the complicated stitch pattern for fresher eyes tomorrow.

ready, set ...

Less than 39 hours remain until the Hat Wars pattern is posted online, and counting down. I've tried to rest up so that I'm wide awake and ready to cast on Friday at midnight. And I've checked - there lots of coffee in the house. Everything seems to be ready, now the wait begins ....

Yarn: Wellington Fibres 3 ply
Colourway: Charcoal Arctic Sky
Fibre Content: 50% Mohair and 50% Wool
gauge: 18 stitches per 4 inches on 4.5 mm dpns, verified by swatch

rhapsodizing

When I bought this bamboo yarn I had high hopes of how it would knit up. I hoped it wouldn't be slippery and splitty like the BeSweet Bamboo I used for my Chicabean Scarf. I hoped it wouldn't be scratchy like the Stretch Sock yarn from which I made Fingerless Gloves last year. As well I had my fingers crossed that the colours wouldn't pool like my Regia sock yarn experience earlier this year. But really, after buying six skeins in a fit of enthusiasm at the Knitter's Fair, I just hoped I didn't regret the expense.

Now that I've knit more than 5 inches of the leg of my Mr. Pitt's Sock, regret is the furthest thing from my mind. The colours are great, the yarn is easy to work with, and the knitted fabric is unbelievably soft and comfortable. The only regret I have is that I didn't buy more, but that's easily rectified once I knit through what I have.

More good news - Buffy and Don of Shelridge Farm promptly emailed the missing charts for my Funky Mittens, as well as their effusive apologies. Which is great, but I ran into trouble at the set up rounds for the thumb gusset and have frogged the mitts for now. Maybe after Hat Wars I'll get back to them? Buffy did say I could call and she'd talk me through!

a false start

Shortly after knitting the cuff of my first Funky Mitt, I realized that the chart for the stranded colourwork for the main part of the hand was missing from the pattern I purchased. Maybe I can reverse engineer it from the picture? Nope, the colourwork at the thumb gusset is not clearly shown and the written instructions rely heavily on chart markings. So, yesterday morning instead of knitting, I dug out my receipts to send copies to the designer and distributor with the hope that they'll email me a PDF of the chart. And then I put this project aside.

My inclination was to start another hat for the Burera Hospital in Rwanda, but the necessary needles have mitten stitches on them, and I'm too lazy to string a life line to get them out. Well, after the Knitter's Fair there's no shortage of other projects to start. So this morning I'm casting on a new pair of socks - Mr. Pitt's socks by Kaitlyn Falk Wong. On Saturday I purchased stretch Bamboo sock yarn in truffle brown from Dye-Version ... 93% Bamboo + 7% Lycra for snug fitting socks that stay up! The sample socks looked and felt fantastic - can't wait to try it myself.

K-W Knitters Fair

Yesterday's Kitchener Waterloo Knitters Fair was tremendous. Many thanks to all those who organized and worked the event. There were dozens of booths showing yarn, fiber, patterns, knitting books and DVDs and knitted goods from LYS all over Southern Ontario, as well as booths from local fiber producers, spinners and dyers. And, for an event this size, there was easy access to parking, refreshments, bathrooms and rest seating. A bank machine too, although I'm not sure I'm grateful for that!

Jenny from Passionknit did a very interesting demonstration of Entrelac. Shirley, Christine and I have agreed that we'll have to try this technique - as Jenny did it, it looked like it may be quite easy once you get the hang of it. And it's certainly very effective with the dramatic colour shifts of Noro. "How long would a blanket like that take?" someone asked. "Well," replied Jenny, "I usually knit one ball a day, so about 22 days from start to finish." One ball a day. Can't quite wrap my head around that!

In the week that remains before Hat Wars, I've decided to knit a pair of mittens. Funky Mittens by Anne Williamson in Soft Touch Heather from Shelridge Farms. Pictures of the first mitten in progress tomorrow, I hope.