15.2.10

two birds + one stone = happy campers all around

no. 9 boy & girl
pattern: no. 9 Boy & Girl Hat from Scandinavian Jacquard Caps
designer: Kazekobo
yarn: Louet Riverstone in Aqua & Caribou
needles: Crystal Palace 16 inch circs is size 7
modifications: none

Since this is also my project for the Ravelympics:
cast on date: 02/13/10 some time shortly after midnight
finish date: 02/14/10 approximately 1 AM

After chugging away at the blanket for what feels like forever, it was such a refreshing change to blast through a project in one day. Granted, I'm no Sven Kramer. It's a worsted weight hat on size 7 needles. Some people are able to fart out a hat like this one in half an hour. I kept having to put down my knitting for errands, cat-ass-trophies, and a sudden flurry of long-distance phone calls from my family. Had it not been for all the distractions, I'd like to think I would have knocked this out much sooner than I did.

As it is, I love the pattern and was pleasantly surprised by the Riverstone. It is so soft and lovely. I bought it about a year ago with the intention of making something for Matt with it. And lo, I found the perfect project! For Christmas, Matt's dad gave us colorwork hats that he picked up at some local craft fair. Matt's hat, which he loved, had little people on it. It was a very similar motif to the one presented in Scandinavian Jacquard Caps. Unfortunately, Matt recently lost his hat at an installation. Good thing that one of the patterns in this awesome book is so similar to that hat. Coincidentally, that specific pattern was one of the reasons I bought this book.

scandinavian jacquard caps

In fact, it was kinda love at first sight with this book for me. The minute I looked through it, I wanted to knit (or crochet) every single pattern it offered. I may make it an ongoing project to knit every pattern in there. Although it is written in Japanese, the charts and diagrams are clear enough that they transcend any kind of language barrier and make the patterns extremely easy to follow. If you're more of a visual learner/follower to begin with (as I am), it's really a breeze.

Getting back to the hat, I am happy to say that Matt loved it. It was both the perfect Valentine's Day present and the satisfying knit that I needed to recharge my knitting mojo. The only problem is the pompom. I decided to make a huge pompom, just because I wanted to make a ginormo pompom. Matt wasn't so keen on it, however. At the moment, he is wearing the hat sans pompom, and I need to trim this one down to a more suitable size. I may not bother reattaching it, though. Matt seems pretty thrilled with it without the pompom. Meh. Should I ever make myself a matching hat (I know - vom), I will definitely make a humongous pompom for it because I am a huge fan of the ridiculously large pompom on a fairly simple, straightforward hat even if other people (ahem - Matt!) aren't.

Matt in the no.9 boy & girl hat

5 comments:

jennith said...

I love how the light blue yarn matches his eyes. I am a little concerned by the apparent lack of clothing besides the hat though. Perhaps you're taking yarn porn a little too far?

knithound brooklyn said...

That's one wicked cute grin on a wicked cute guy wearing a wicked cute hat!

Oiyi said...

I love the hat and the colors you used. The pom is awesome!

Melissa said...

When it comes to poms, I am firmly in the bigger is better camp (heh heh). Matt is so darn cute in his though, he can pull off either look!

Jodi said...

What a great hat! Thanks for the thoughts on Riverstone, too -- I've been curious about that yarn for a while. Now I need to find a copy of that booklet. :-)