Simply Crafted Knitting

Progress on the Baby Hat Patterns...

The website is up, and I'm back to finalizing the sideways-knit garter stitch hat patterns. This is much more interesting than plodding through the site looking for missing links and other minutia! I've been making versions of these hats for a while, but am only now getting around to finishing up the patterns.

Finding a New Yarn
Actually, my progress on the patterns was moving along very nicely until I found out that one of my all-time favorite yarns -- Mission Falls 1824 Cotton -- is apparently being discontinued. Argh! So I started searching for a replacement cotton yarn that met my list of requirements: soft, machine washable (these are baby hats, after all), a wide range of colors, and preferably a somewhat interesting texture.

After much swatching, I settled on two possibilities: Blue Sky Organic Cotton and Dyed Cotton (love them!) and a combination of Knitpicks Crayon and Shine. Both are machine washable, have a bit of texture, and feel even softer than 1824 Cotton! My final selection really came down to color choices; for this set of hats, the Knitpicks colors seemed like the better match.

My only quibble with Knitpicks is the limited color palette for Crayon -- clearly more of a tiny crayon box than the full-fledged Crayola boxes I remember. At a minimum, I'd love to see them add cream (or white -  I'm not that picky) and a lighter green; a nice, chocolaty brown and a lighter orange and yellow would also be useful. To add a bit more variety, I decided to try swatching some color combinations:

Some combinations obviously work better than others! My favorites are: Pink Crayon with Cream, Blush (Pink), or Orchid; Orange Crayon with Apricot Shine; Yellow Crayon with Apricot Shine; Red Crayon with Cherry Shine; Purple Crayon with Orchid or Violet Shine; Green Crayon with Grass Shine; Blue Crayon with Violet or River Shine, and Light Blue Crayon with Sky or Cream Shine. 

12 Variations, 2 Patterns

I am splitting the 12 variations into two patterns, but am not sure what I will name them. One has all of the hats with earflaps and visors, while the other has all of the hats with pointed hems...but also some without.  Please let me know if you have any suggestions for names!

Now on to revising directions for the different gauge and reknitting all of the hats in the new yarns. With a dozen hats to test, it's a good thing these hats knit up quickly!

Twisted Loop Stitch Illustrated

I've gotten a couple of questions for clarification on the Twisted Loop stitch in my Flora neck warmer pattern on Knitty.com, so I figured I'd provide a longer explanation and photos of the steps. The stitch is definitely one of those that is easier to do than to explain!

Twisted Loop Stitch:

1. Knit 1 stitch.

2. Bring the yarn to the front as if to purl. Using whichever hand is easier for you, pinch the yarn about 3 inches (8cm) from the knitting, and bring the yarn to the back of the work as if to knit. You now have a 3-inch loop hanging in front of your knitting.

3. Now you need to keep the loop stable while you twist it. Using whichever hand is easier, hold the base of the loop (where the yarn is closest to the needles) against the right needle. (In the photo, I am using my left thumb.) Use a finger on your other hand to pull the loop away from the knitting (see Photo 1).

4. Use finger in the loop to twist the loop (see Photo 2) around and around in one direction until the loop is so twisted that it starts to twist back on itself.

5. Slip the twisted loop from the tip of your finger onto the right-hand needle (see Photo 3). I use the other fingers on my right hand to tug at the center of the doubled loop at the same time (see Photo 4), but you can also do this as a separate step. The goal is to get the doubled loop to form a short, straight twisted cord (see Photo 5).

Variation:
Each twist creates a new loop, or "stitch," on the knitting needles. In the Flora pattern, you don't need to worry about securing the loops because the next row is a decrease row in which the loops are knit together with the other stitches.

In cases where you don't plan to have a decrease row immediately following a row of twisted loops, add the following step after Step 5 above:

6. K1, Slip the twisted loop over the knit stitch to lock the twist and eliminate the extra "stitch." Continue with step 2 above.