Top This! DMC Toddler Giraffe Hat

I bought this kit the other day at Hancock Fabric, and it turned out to be a very quick project (a couple of hours) and very cute.

You knit the hat and the topper is tied on with the attached ribbons, through a rubbery "washer" on the inside of the hat.

I had enough yarn to do almost 2 toddler-size hats, and I finished the second one with a cabled cotton yarn I had on  hand from a Prada style handbag I made several years ago.  I use a pompon on the top of it, and will donate it.

BSJ Hat is Done & Button Update

Photo Link

Well, I like this hat better now that it's done. It's a birthday present for my brother so I hope he likes it too. I was pretty sure there would be plenty of winter left for him to wear it, but today it was 69 degrees! Considering it's only been a week since it was barely above zero for a high, that's quite an achievement. I'm sure the cold will return and in fact, there's a chance of snow tomorrow, so he will probably be able to wear it if he wants to.

It's quite asymmetric, and after trying it on, I really like it. I'm not sure that I want to make another one, although it's a very interesting pattern, and I used several techniques I've not done before, so it was also a learning experience.

Those of you who read the Sharing, Inspiration thread on Stitcher's Guild know that I've been whining gently about the buttons on my coat. I love the buttons, and I am really loving the coat as it's so comfortable to wear, even though it's fairly fitted for a coat. However, the buttons are determined to remain separate from the coat. The holes in the buttons are sharp enough that they were cutting through thread like butter. I had to resew at least one button every time I wore it. I tried different threads, more thread, a fabric strip through the holes (which are too small for a fabric tube) and nothing made any difference. I was thinking of looking for new buttons, but I found a spool of the old-style nylon mono-filament thread and tried that. It seems to be working! Hooray! I've wondered why I hung onto this spool, as it's more like fishing line than thread, but I was pretty sure if I threw it out I'd instantly need it. Thank goodness my inner pack-rat prevailed.

I'm working on a silk tank from the same Marfy pattern that I used for the twisted-binding tanks I made last summer. They were in knit fabric, but says in the catalog that the pattern is suitable for jersey or crepe. I always wondered about that, but a friend told me that crepe generally has about as much stretch as jersey and that the dual rating is not unusual. I'm not using crepe, but a crepe de chine which does not seem stretchy to me, so after trying the pattern on my dressform, I added 1" at the side seams and did a muslin first. This is just about right. I'm doing the binding, but not twisted binding. I had thought about it, but I think the plain is fine for this. It's some fabric that's left from a tweed Marfy suit that had lapels and cuffs of crepe de chine. I decided I wanted a simple top to wear under it, and had enough of the silk left to do this.

BSJ Hat

 

I found a hat pattern on Knitty called the Bloody Stupid Johnson hat. This is apparently a reference from the Discworld novels, which I have not read, but the hat intrigued me, and I assumed it would be a quick, fun knit. It's been fun and it's going pretty quickly, although I had one heck of a time figuring out the instructions. I had printed them out and on the "unravelled" part of the cable pattern, I didn't realize that my print-out had left off a critical red box around a number of rows which had to be repeated several times before finishing the chart totally. So, there was ripping and gnashing of teeth, and it all worked out, but really, even with the box, the written directions are not clear as a bell. Here's the pattern photo.


I'm ready to graft the ends of the horizontal cable section together and then pick up stitches to begin the cap, so I thought this seemed like a good spot for a break. I always have to read my grafting directions while grafting if I want a really good job. I will soon go find my Hiatt book and do it. I think the hat will be for either my brother or a nephew depending on who it fits. Very cavalier attitude, but it feels good once in a while.

I've also begun on a muslin of a Marfy tank top that I've made a couple times. So why a muslin? I've done it in knits before and this is for a woven, which is supposed to work, but I've added very large seam allowances because I'm just sure I'm going to need more ease in the woven.

I want to thank you all for your very kind comments and wonderful encouragement on my coat! Once I finished it, I decided to really do a spring cleaning on my sewing area, and in fact got to work on some of the rest of the basement as well. It's mainly just storage area and some of it has been sort of a dumping ground for whatever didn't find a home somewhere else. It's much nicer now, and I only need a couple more bins or something for yarn. The fabric is pretty much under control, or at least it all has a home. I'm afraid control may be beyond my abilities.