Friday, October 21, 2022

Fiber Arts Friday: Black Hat, part 1

There is Knit Worthy and then there is Knit with Black Yarn Worthy...


A dear friend of ours has recently completed the first hurdle of cancer treatment.  With winter approaching, they put out a call for a soft/warm hat, and I said I could make it happen.

It took me some effort to find the right yarn+pattern match, but I did get there.

This yarn is a lovely, soft merino+cashmere blend  However it is very difficult to read while knitting.  The color is a deep, saturated black and the yarn itself has little stitch definition.  So the pattern needed to be able to work with this as a given.

After attempting another stitch pattern, I settled on this Heel-Stitch plan... a simple two-row repeat: (1) sl1, K1 then (2) Knit all.

Things were going well, until I felt a ridge on the back side a couple of weeks ago.  I knit a few more rounds, thinking it would work itself out during blocking... but everything from that point on looks different... both the front and the back.


I believe I've been mindful of the pattern, so I think I must be knitting more tightly.... but I'm not certain that accounts for the difference.


In contemplating what to do next (rip it back, or completely start over), I showed it to another friend...

It looks like the ridge is caused by (1) two Knit-only rows, (2) I am possibly knitting tighter, and (3) I started a second ball around the same time.

Therefore, my plan at this time is to add a lifeline below the ridge.  I've not done an after-the-fact Life Line before, and I will need to make sure I'm picking up a Knit-only row.  Which means I will need to have a fresh mind and very good lighting.  ;-)

Then I will rip it back and re-knit the last inch or so.

Hopefully this works.  I'm running out of time before the snow flies.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!


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