"Hatapalooza" hats from Great Yarns - Day 6

Cables complete!

I’ve finished the Knotty But Nice hat! The soft wooly texture is just begging to keep a head warm, and the rich color could brighten the dreariest of Chicago winters.  Those clever cables weave themselves around the hat and keep the shape snug.  

Above them, the ribbing narrows smartly in toward the crown as you can see in this photo.  The shape is simple, but the combination of cables and ribbing takes that simple shape and crafts a smart, stylish cap indeed knotty and nice.  The very best qualities of the craft.

I’ve been on a long driving trip this week, and my knitting has been great company.  For as much as my husband enjoys driving, I am happiest knitting in the passenger seat.  I am terrible at both sitting still and waiting—life is very much better for having knitting in it.

"Hatapalooza" hats from Great Yarns - Day 5

A tale of three tails…

KnitCol cap duly finished, it was time to top the thing off with its trademark curly-cues. Oddly enough, I thought these little squiggles only doable by crochet, but this hat taught me they can be achieved through continual knit-it-front-and-back stitches.  It makes perfect sense now that I think of it, and makes me happy because despite many attempts, I just can’t take to crochet. (Don’t post mean comments, okay? It’s just the way I’m wired.)

I decided I wanted my hat to have a bouquet of unique curlies, so I planned three different variations of the pattern.  I did one according to pattern instructions—a bit thin for my taste, and not quite curly enough.  

Craving something a little thicker, I added a second row of knit-in-front-and-back stitches to achieve a bigger, more tightly wound spiral on the next version.  

For the third I went for something in-between, adding a second row but only increasing every other stitch—almost as thick, but not as tightly wound.  And in all cases, lots of colors showing up everywhere.  I like the variety I achieved.  I also varied the length by casting on different numbers of stitches.

With all the parts complete, it’s time to block my hat. The headband refuses to stay down right now, insisting on flipping defiantly up, and I’m hoping blocking solves that.  Then I’ll attach my curlies and turn my attention to the final stretches of cable on the Knotty but Nice.

"Hatapalooza" hats from Great Yarns - Day 2

Two at once...

I’m definitely happy with my dual choice.  I rarely let myself flip back and forth between knitting projects—even though I’m often working on as many as four books at a time—so this feels adventurous.  I take a particular pleasure in the fact that they look so nice next to each other, complementary colors and all. I didn’t plan it that way, but happy accidents are one of the blessings of knitting.

Now, at the headbands, the hats feel similar.  One is ribbed, the other seed stitch.  The distinction will show up soon, when the Knitty hat veers off into challenging cables while the curly cue hat settles into a band of stockinette.  

Hats are pint-sized and portable projects, showing off their progress with a satisfying speed.  As I grind toward a difficult book deadline, the promise of accomplished knitting holds high value indeed. I think every writer should knit—it’s the perfect counterbalance to what we do!

"Hatapalooza" hats from Great Yarns - Day 1

I’ll see your Hatapalooza and raise you a pair….

This is a fun new dynamic—a pair of projects for a DestiKNITions feature!  That short attention span of mine likes the duality, and I’m intrigued as to how I’ll plot this pair of projects out.  After all, there are so many options:

1)  Hardest first

Knock the tough one out so you can play with the easier one.  It’s a tried and true productivity tactic (“Eat That Frog!”).  But this isn't productivity, it’s creativity.  Still, I like the idea of tackling the cable challenge before I have all that easy stockinette fun.

2)   Easiest first

Especially when writing episodes, I often find it’s helpful to do the easiest or fastest project first so I can get ahead of myself work-wise.  You never know what will go wrong—in life or in knitting—so stacking the breathing room in your favor is always smart.

3)  Both at the same time

This works particularly well when one project is easy and the other requires concentration.  I’m not sure I could do cables in a committee meeting.  On the other hand, I could probably stockinette my way through oral surgery.  Do I make the easy project my travel knitting while saving the harder one for at home where I can concentrate?

After much deliberation and a cup of very good coffee, I chose option 3.  The curly-cue hat will travel around in my handbag while the Knotty But Nice will live on my coffee table.

DestiKNITters, which tactic would you have chosen?