Chapeau Marnier Pics

Like I mentioned in my previous post, my Chapeau Marnier is finished! It was very small and tight before I blocked it and I was truly afraid it wasn't going to fit. But, of course, blocking is magical and worked wonders. I think if I were to make it again, I would go up a needle size or 2 so it would be a better fit for me, even fresh off the needles. I lost a little bit of the length when I blocked it, but it seems to cover my ears well enough. It's really a very cute pattern and generally easy to follow. I did make a small mistake in the brim, but again, that's what we refer to as a "design feature". That's the only way to know that it was hand-made, or something like that. :)

• Pattern: Chapeau Marnier from knitty.com
• Yarn: Louet Gems, 1 skein
• Needles: Size 2 Addi Turbos and size 2 Brittany DPNs
• Size made: Large

FO - Chapeau Marnier

I took my Chapeau Marnier off the needles tonight. I was very upset at first because it was so very tight on my head. It needed blocking, so I went to it. I'm very glad that I did. It seems like it will be okay after all. The hat required one helluva blocking job, but I guess you have to do what you have to do. :) It is currently drying on my head so pics will have to wait until tomorrow.

Concept Hat Complete

I just realized that I never did post pics of my finished project known as the Concept Hat. I was waiting to post pics until I was certain it would fit and whatnot. Well, I'm most pleased to announce that it fit and it worked! Yea! It looks so cute in person. I did chuckle when I tried it on because it looked a bit Rastafarian on me. Oh well. It looks great over my mom's hair rollers. She said it felt great too. It wasn't too loose or too snug and it stayed in place overnight without issue. Holla!

Pattern: Mine (aka "Made it up as I went along")
Yarn: Crystal Palace Panda Cotton, 1 skein, Colorway 0415, Roses
Needles: Size 7 16" circs
Size 9 16" circs

2 Projects at once

I've been making progress on both of my most recent projects. I'm just a little shy of the half-way mark for my Chapeau Marnier. The flash washed the color out a bit, but I think it still shows how far I've come with it. I just discovered that I may have been a stitch off on part of the pattern, but I'm not going to fix it. It's really not a big deal and when I run the ribbon through it, I'm almost certain it won't be noticeable. Plus, it's a design feature. Yeah, that's it. :)


I've also made progress on the Everlasting Bag. The picture doesn't show too much at first glance. But if you were to look closely, and really use your imagination, you might be able to see that I've finished the base of it and have picked up the stitches to complete the base. After another inch or 2, I'll be switching to size 11 needles and moving on to the body of the bag. Once I do that, it will be a lot quicker and easier. I feel like I'm struggling to keep all these stitches on size 7 16" circs, and well, I am! It's a lot of stitches for those needles, trust me. I didn't have any 24" length circs in a good size, so I made do with what I had. That means stuffing a lot of stitches on a smaller needle. Oh well. They are my Addi Turbos so I imagine they are up for the challenge.

So far, I'm quite pleased with my progress on both projects. I wonder which one I'll finish first. Normally, I'd say the hat would win, but there are a lot of rows when you're making a hat on size 2s. It's a tough call for sure!

Marnier Update

I'm on the super tricksy row 11 of this pattern and I'm doing okay. I had to take a moment to figure out where I was and what I needed to do, but after only 1 small mistake that was easy to fix, I've not had too many problems with it. It looks like it's going to be a big hat! This is a good thing for me because I have a big head. :) I'd love to just bust the rest of this hat out in a day, but I have to pay attention during the beginning and I just haven't had the attention span yet. Honestly, once I'm finished with the super cute brim, the hat will be a breeze.

In the meantime, however, don't be surprised if I cast on for an Everlasting Bag for a friend. She's been hinting, not too subtly, that she wants a bag she can take to the farmer's market. I pointed out this new pattern and said I could be convinced to make it for her. She seemed to really like it, so it's now in my queue. I need to print it out so that I can have it on hand when I'm ready to start.

Marnier hat for me!

I decided to do something drastically out of character today (yeah, right!) and cast on for a new project! My latest project is Knitty's Chapeau Marnier. I'm very excited by this pattern and I'm not sure why. I don't have much of a personal style but I fell in love the moment I saw this hat. The designer has directions for 2 different styles and I haven't totally decided which one to do. I think I'm going to go with the one on her website. I'll make my final decision in about 12 more rows. Hooray for casting on for a new project! :)

So far the only change I would make to the pattern is a very minor thing. She called for using size 6 needles to cast on, but then switching to size 2 needles to work the actual pattern. That ended up being quite the fiddly thing for me to conquer and so I would omit it. I generally don't have a problem with casting on tightly, so I really don't think it was necessary. But, seriously, how minor of a change is that?

And just in case you forgot, I'm using the Louet Gems yarn I balled the other day. I really like this yarn. The red is fabulous and I like the feel of it. I hope this hat turns out as great as I'm thinking it will. :)

Concept Hat is Finished!

Yea! Another finished object! I think the hat will work well for my mom and she really seemed to like it. I have a few pics, but I want to wait before posting them. I want to see it in action before I get too happy!

Concept Hat and sock update

I have a project I've been calling Concept Hat. My mom likes to set her hair with rollers before going to bed on occasion because she hasn't heard that it isn't 1964. Anyway, she usually wears some kind of cap over them at night to hold them in place and possibly for comfort. She's tried all kinds of caps and most won't get the job done. Her current one has lots of holes in it and is getting ready to retire. So she asked me if I could knit her something appropriate.

Well, to be honest, I'm not sure if I can or not. I thought it over a bit, talked it over with knowledgeable people, and decided to at least give it a shot. I wanted yarn with some elastic content and the LYS didn't have much that would fit the bill. In the end, I decided to try this Panda Cotton yarn. I pulled out my size 7 Addi Turbos and cast on. I didn't know how many stitches I wanted and didn't feel like doing a real swatch when I have no idea if my idea is even going to get off the ground. So I knit about an inch of 2X2 ribbing and switched to size 9 needles and a k2tog, yo type of open stitch. I did that for a few inches just to get a look at it. Then I put it on a longer cable to really investigate.

It appeared to be a bit too big but I felt like I was on the right track. So, today I ripped it all out, rewound the yarn, and cast on with fewer stitches. I've only done about 3 rounds of ribbing but I'm feeling like this project just might work out right. I'm quite excited about it actually. :)

In sock news, the gusset decreases are done! I tried the sock on and it seemed to fit okay. It's a little snug for sliding on, but once it's on, it feels just about perfect. Just a few inches of foot and then a toe and it's done! Yea!