Saturday, February 16, 2013

Smocked Slouch from Genuine Purl - Day 2


Smock Value...

The smock stitch, besides looking more complicated than it is (big value in my book), crafts an ideal hat band.  It’s just hearty enough to give this hat some shape without being too stiff.  It really is the perfect touch, and a clever piece of design.  

Part of me wishes I had a lighter color to show off the "criss-cross" motif better, but light hats--like light mittens--are just asking to get dirty.  I bought a white houndstooth scarf and gloves once, and they looked smashing...for a week.  Within ten days they’d gone grey in more places than your grandmother and looked sad instead of smashing.  This dark green--sort of a heathery British racing green--will do just fine.

From just the little bit I’ve seen, the texture of the stockinette portion of this hat is going to be amazing.  Some yarns just fade into the basic of stockinette, while others make it a showplace of texture and color.   This is definitely the latter.  Is it the multi-layered color?  Is it the particular nature of the chain-construction?  I don’t know, nor do I think I care.  It’s best not to overanalyze knitting beauty--better to simply enjoy how it runs through your fingers.

Next up, I’ll start the increases that will shape the crown of this hat and really see how the stockinette stacks up to the smock band.  “How the Stockinette Stacks”--that’s either a soap opera or a great book title...

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