IOU a cap


Thursday we drove to Leavenworth (not Kansas) to do a little cross-country skiing. The camera stayed in the car while we skiied (not intentionally) so I only have this twilight shot to share. Not only was it a day of clear, cold, sunshine -- it also was a day with a long car ride and another driver. So, I finished the cap for my father-in-law.

Presenting the "cap that matches the Endpaper Mitts". I am chagrinned to notice (only as I post these pictures) that rather than reversing all the colors, I only changed the color of the ribbing. Still, I'm happy with how it turned out. As the wearer has a relatively small head for an adult, and I intend it for indoor wear, I made it smallish (21") and not very deep.

I'm quite proud of the spiral at the top -- I didn't chart this out, but meditated on it as I knit toward the decreases. It's not perfect, but I find it attractive.

Like the mitts, this is made with Blue Sky Alpaca and Silk - about 150 stitches around on US 2 needles (US 0 for the ribbing). It used less than a skein of each color. I bought 4 skeins of yarn altogether for this project, and have a fair amount leftover, but not a full skein of either color.

Comments

  1. Anonymous12:49 PM

    What a beautiful photo! The town looks so pretty all lit up for Christmas!

    Your hat is amazing. I really admire the way you worked out the pattern to spiral at the top. I hope the wearer enjoys it!!! It looks like a work of art. I was telling my husband about your wristwarmers the other day too!

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  2. Do you remember how you did the spiral crown? I'd like to make an Endpaper Hat but I am not near experienced enough to attempt the decreases myself.

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  3. pok, I don't remember exactly - You ARE experienced enough -- I'd do two things, if I were you. Get another pattern for a beanie type cap that fits the way you hope your endpaper hat does. Then, measure the recipients head - and get gauge for your yarn. You should cast on enough or just very slightly less stitches than the inches around the head, multiplied by stitches per inch. You'll need an even repeat of the endpaper pattern stitch. Then (after knitting ribbing on smaller needles) knit for as many inches as your (other) pattern indicates, or as deep as you want the hat to be before it narrows to the crown. Then you'll need to begin decreasing. I decreased evenly around the hat so that the pattern repeats looked ok. This really is where you have to use your best judgement. Decrease at 4, or 6, or even 5 spots around the hat. Knit a few rows. Decrease again, using your best judgement, but now, sticking to whatever number of decreases in the round you used the first time. Continue, as my old math teacher used to say "by guess, by golly", until you have a small number of stitches and have finished the hat. If something isn't working out, take it out, and try again. You can do it.
    Good luck!

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    Replies
    1. PS It looks like I may have decreased 15 times around the hat - maybe in every repeat of the pattern. Feel free to knit by the top picture of my hat.

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