Rotini Hat Pattern

This cute little hat was very easy to make. I had seen other hats based on a rectangle and I sat down to design something fun and different. I wasn't in the mood for pompoms or tassels, and these crocheted pigtails were a perfect solution. They remind me of rotini pasta, hence the name. The pattern is listed below and is available for free. This is not for commercial distribution or profit.

Ravelry link: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/rotini-hat

The example below was knit with Dream in Color Classy "Happy Forest" and Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted "Rainbow" (both Aran weight superwash wool) on US6's. Finished dimensions are 16" circumference and 6.5" height. Using the calculations below, this hat can be sized for anyone from newborn to adult.







Materials:

Worsted, sport or baby weight yarn in main and contrasting colors - this is easily adaptable to any yarn
Appropriate knitting needle for yarn weight
Crochet hook one to two sizes smaller than needles

Knit a stockinette gauge swatch. When you know your stitches per inch, multiply that by the number next to the desired size to determine how many stitches to cast on.

Example: for a newborn, if your gauge is 5 stitches per inch, 5*6 = 30 stitches to cast on

1/2 of hat circumference (inches):
Newborn: 6
3-6 months: 7
6-12 months: 8
12 months - 3 years: 9
3-10 years: 9.5
Young adult: 10
Adult woman: 10
Adult man: 11

Using main color, cast on the required number of stitches using long tail cast on.

Knit in stockinette:
All odd rows: knit
All even rows: purl

Continue knitting until the rectangle is the appropriate length in inches. (Fig 1)

Newborn: 11-12
3-6 months: 13-14
6-12 months: 15
12 months - 3 years: 16
3-10 years: 17
Young adult: 18-20
Adult woman: 22
Adult man: 22-23

Fold the hat in half to locate the midpoint of each side. Use a crochet hook and the contrasting color in the selvedge edge at the midpoint. Each side gets two pigtails. (see Fig 2)

Step 1: 3 single crochet (sc) in one stitch to create the foundation for the pigtails
Step 2: chain 12
Step 3: 5 double crochet (dc) in each chain stitch, beginning with second chain from end (50 stitches)
Step 5: sc in next stitch from step 1
Step 6: repeat steps 2 to 5 to make the second pigtail
Step 7: Bind off and cut yarn

Repeat on other side. (see Fig 3)

Note: If you don't know how to crochet, you can knit the pigtails, but crochet is MUCH easier and gives a better result.

To knit pigtails:

Cast on 50 using long tail cast on.
Row 1: Purl all stitches
Row 2: Knit all stitches
Row 3: Purl 5 together (purl 4 together at minimum)
Row 4: bind off knitwise, break yarn leaving a long piece for sewing to hat.

Repeat three times to make two pigtails per side.

Fold the hat in half and sew the side seams together. To seam, I used the main color yarn and a crochet hook. I seamed using crochet slip stitch with wrong sides together to create a decorative seam down each side. (see Fig 4)

Note: If you would prefer to knit in the round, cast on double the stitches and only knit half the length. The seam will be along the top of the hat and will require a three-needle bind off.

The stockinette creates a cute little rolled brim and is simple enough to let the pigtails stand out.

Fig 1:



Fig 2:



Fig 3:



Fig 4:



Copyright 2008

Purple Bliss Baby Surprise Jacket in Progress

I'm cruising along on the Purple Bliss BSJ and I only have five or so knit rows to go before I have to pause. I have a contrasting color for the buttonband, but I don't want to add it until I know if the baby is a boy or a girl. The body is fairly unisex - primarily purple - but the pink yarn for the button band is very feminine. If I'm told it's a boy, I'll have to find a different yarn.

I did something different this time around. Previously, I happily did my decreases and increases until the point where the pattern says put the stitches for the front button bands on holders while you knit more length. On both of the previous BSJ's, my metal holders weighed down the knitting and stretched the stitches between the held stitches and the active stitches.

This time, I got to the point where I had to put stitches on holders, 34 stitches from the end. I simply turned my work and knitted back the other way, leaving those stitches on my cable needle, but ignoring them. I did the same thing on the other side and worked my way back. I've been adding the length and the point where the stitches diverged is crisp and tidy. I'm really loving this! I got the idea after reading about short-row heels in socks and thought it might work here. My mom is knitting a BSJ at the same time and we're near the same point. I only have three stitch holders, so something was going to have to be done. Now neither of us need them!

Look at how pretty this fabric is!





Now, doesn't this look good with it, albeit very girlie?

399 knitting terms on the wall..

I'm glad I finally got the terminology online. After all the work I did putting it together, I would have wept bitterly if something happened to the spreadsheet. I don't have a lot of formatting options for a chart and it would have been nice to have gridlines, but at least it's saved somewhere besides just my hard drive. Now I can translate German patterns to my little heart's content. I have three books and a lovely pamphlet waiting for me and they're full of stitches I haven't done before.

It's funny, because I first taught myself to knit way back in high school. I mucked around with it for a little while and never really made anything. I blame the ancient needlework book I was using - there weren't any inspiring patterns listed so I never saw the potential. Now I've learned to knit again and it bears no resemblance to my high school attempt. It's full of math and repeated motifs and texture and fibers and my nerdy little heart has so much to keep it entertained. Gardening is the same way for me. I love balancing different textures, blending colors and plotting how to arrange plants so they bloom evenly all over the garden and all season long. I'm so fond of lists and journals and I have notebooks full of plants I've bought, garden maps and photos to prove it.

Now I'm torn between lace and Baby Surprise Jackets. I just don't get it. Lace is painting pictures with yarn and it's so much fun to see how a new combination of stitches gives surprising results. How do I knit a diamond? How is mesh made? How can I make the central motif swirl instead of expanding like the spokes of a wheel? It's mathematical and magic and every new pattern is a challenge that I want to knit once and never repeat.

Baby Surprise Jackets are lowly garter stitch. Nothing but knit stitches for days, with the periodic increase or decrease thrown in to create the shape. I'm working on my third and already have the yarn for a fourth. I don't even know that many babies, but these rotten things are like potato chips. I'm using variegated yarn right now and each stitch is a different color. I'm endlessly entertained by the different colors slipping over my needles. My brain keeps up a running commentary as I knit. "Ooh, here's some orange! It's lining up over deep purple on the previous row. Look at the contrast! Oops, here's a little patch of pink on two consecutive rows. Wow the dye is so dark here it's almost black." Ever see the episode of Seinfeld where Elaine is clapping as the tires go around? That's me with this yarn. I am so easily amused..

I think I'm addicted to BSJ's

I just bought two skeins of Araucania Pomaire for another Baby Surprise Jacket. It's 100% pima cotton and so soft, it's hard to believe it's cotton. This is definitely not the old dishcloth cotton I am used to. I think these BSJ's are my way of enjoying variegated yarns without having to knit socks. I can't use these colorways in a lace blanket because it would be too much. In garter stitch, they're perfect.

Can you imagine these colors on a little girl? I love it!

Baby Surprise Jacket #2!

This is my second Baby Surprise Jacket. I knit it with Plymouth Encore Worsted in color #7333. The buttonbands are done with leftover yellow Cascade 220 Superwash from the first BSJ. It's the same yellow that's in the Plymouth, but since it's not marled with white, it looks darker. I like the solid accent and it really shows off the flower buttons I found.

Because the buttons are larger, I made my buttonholes with a ssk, 2yo, k2tog instead of k2tog, yo. With six stitches between them, they're spaced nicely in the upper half of the sweater. I like that it has room to flare over diapers without binding and it's a fun look. I used embroidery floss to stabilize the edges of my buttonholes because the petals on the buttons tended to snag any loose loops.

Knitted on US5's at 18sts/4", it has a chest circumference of 22". This should fit an 18-24 month old child. I'm knitting another one in sport-weight yarn so I can compare it to the size I get with worsted. I think sock yarn will be too small. I would rather make it large and let them grow into it than be too small from the beginning.

A few finished projects

Finally, the Araucania scarf is finished. The colors are even more beautiful in person. Although this took two months to finish, I think this was my favorite yarn to work with because every stitch is a new and interesting color. This was knitted on US2's and it's really long. Draped around my neck, it comes almost to my knees! I had a wad of yarn the size of a peach pit left over when I finished.







The Alita blanket outdoors in the sunshine. It's really a lovely solid blanket and the texture is fascinating. I'm really happy with how this one turned out.



My first Baby Surprise Jacket, complete with buttons. The pale green was a perfect match, especially against the cobalt blue button band.





Coming soon, the second Baby Surprise Jacket!

I love spring

Gardening is one of my favorite things and this time of year is wonderful. Something new is blooming almost every day. I wish I had this camera while I was studying Botany, but I'm making up for lost time with the macro function. I try to take pictures once per week or so, so I can keep track of what blooms when. We're a couple weeks behind this year, but I don't mind and the plants don't seem to either.

(Click each photo to see a larger version)

Korean Dwarf Lilac:

This is so fragrant right now, it's almost overpowering. One waist-high bush is enough to scent the entire front yard.



Soapwort:

I love the bright blue anthers. You have to be really close to notice, but it's such a fun surprise. The leaves and roots can actually be used as a soap when crushed.



Spirea "Walburna":

This is a stunner in the front garden. It's up against plants with burgundy foliage and the chartreuse leaves with red tipping stand out like a beacon. I have one on each side and the pink flowers are just getting ready to open.



My only peony bud:

The ants are very excited about this peony. They've been all over the bud since it was smaller than a pea. I moved this from a shadier spot last fall and it's rewarding me with a flower this spring. It never flowered before now so the color is going to be a surprise.



Meadowrue:

It has foliage like a columbine, but it has these wonderful pink puffs for flowers. Looking closely, the pink isn't petals - it's a large cluster of stamens with little anthers at the tips. The flowers only have simple green sepals and no petals. Right now it's hiding my white irises that are much the worse for wear after our storms. It's an underrated plant, but one of my favorites.



Prairie Smoke seedheads:

They're similar to Pasque flower seedheads, but more delicate. Pasque flowers look more like troll dolls when they go to seed. This is a delicate wisp that is so light, you almost miss it if you're not paying attention. The flowers are nothing much - little dusty rose bells - but these bits of "smoke" make it all worth it.

Interim Photo Op!

First, the Baby Surprise Jacket. It's still waiting for buttons, but it's been seamed. This was knit all in one piece of flat knitting on a long circular needle. It was knit with four colors of Cascade 220 Superwash, alternating on every row. The dark blue band is the bind off edge.



Start folding. The start of the dark blue band comes up to form the top edge of the button band. The actual corner on the flat knitting is the lower corner of the button band. The cast on edge is actually the cuffs, the back half of the tops of the sleeves and the back of the neck.



Fold the other side and it looks like a jacket! The only seams in this little miracle are along the tops of the sleeves.



I did my seams in crochet, using the green. I also did a slip stitch crochet edge around the neckline to neaten the edge, but I used the blue to tie in with the button band.



And voila!



My other big completed project was an Alita blanket. (http://www.yarnover.net/patterns/doilies/kunststrik/alita.html) I knit it on US10's in Cascade 220 held double and it used about six skeins to make a 48" blanket. I stopped on row 99, added three rows of plain knit and then used the crochet bind off. I was out of yarn and couldn't knit the entire 130 rows of the pattern. I think it would have covered a king-sized bed if I tried! This has a lot of stockinette in it so it didn't stretch very far with blocking. I really love this texture with the dark green heathered yarn. This was a very methodical pattern to knit and went quickly.







I have yarn for another two Baby Surprise Jackets and I'm starting another blanket. I just can't get enough of both of these projects!

Falling Leaves are still falling..

I can't believe I last wrote about the Falling Leaves scarf a month ago. The yarn is STILL looped over the corner of my recliner and it hasn't suffered a catastrophe. It almost did the other day when my German Shepherd somehow got her head under the strand going from the chair to the scarf and walked away with an ever-lengthening loop around her neck. She's obedient and came right back when I screamed in terror. I have never been so happy to own point protectors!

There's not much to say about the scarf itself. It's barely long enough to hang around my neck. I added another pattern repeat tonight and promise to faithfully work on it. When I'm not knitting dishcloths, that is. Seriously, I have an addiction to those little squares. Maybe it's because I feel like I'm getting somewhere other than miles of lacy little leaves that look like a wrinkled mess until they're blocked. Actually, they may still look like heck when they're blocked but I won't know until I finish.

Dishcloths on the other hand are nice, well-behaved cotton and they only take a few hours. Squidge-cloths take a little longer because of the knit 4-purl 4 pattern. I made one with a garter stitch border, but the second was a basic pattern repeat. For the first row knit 4, purl 4 all the way across. On the second row, knit the knits and purl the purls. On the third row, switch the pattern for two rows. Repeat until you have a square. I think I used 40 stitches, but it's totally flexible if you want a bigger or smaller cloth. The end result is like basketweave, but only two rows high. I've found it's better with a smaller needle than you'd use for straight garter stitch and works well with solid colored yarn.



My other favorite is an anonymous pattern that seems to be everywhere online. It's so simple! Cast on 4. Knit 4 for the first row. Then, simply knit 2, yarn over and knit to the end of the row on every row until the sides are long enough. It's knit on the bias so you'll be making a triangle with a nice eyelet border all the way around the edges. Once you decide you've made half a dishcloth (45-55-ish stitches on the needle), then you start decreasing. Knit 1, knit 2 together, yarn over, knit two together and then keep knitting to the end of the row. Do this on every row until only four stitches are left on the needle. Bind off and go do some dishes. These things have amazing scrubbing abilities! The garter stitch is smooshy, yet abrasive because of the ridges. It looks beautiful with variegated yarns because the colors change on the diagonal.





Tonight I discovered that I can crochet dish-poufs in about an hour. Talk about instant gratification! I barely have to watch what I'm doing since they're made of chain stitch, single crochet and double crochet and nothing else. One ball of cotton and I have this magical little pouf. I sort of used the pattern from http://hometown.aol.com/lffunt/bath.htm but I didn't have the patience to count stitches in the first ring and I left off the third round entirely. Once I got the gist of it, I started crocheting and stopped when my yarn almost ran out. On a 4mm hook, this is a dense but perfect diameter little wad of cotton.

Sprechen Sie Deutsches?

I have a bunch of things in progress, but no good finished photos yet. My Egeblad blanket has been keeping me warm, but I need to get some good photos in sunlight to really show it off. It's very lightweight and full of lacy holes, but it's SO warm. I can feel it heating up on my legs like something alive.

I have nearly finished my first Baby Surprise Jacket (http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/baby-surprise-jacket on Ravelry) from Elizabeth Zimmerman's "Knitting Workshop". It's a crazy garter stitch jacket that has two seams, one on the top of each arm. It's only missing buttons because I am still hunting for the perfect set.

I'm busily knitting Alita http://www.yarnover.net/patterns/doilies/kunststrik/alita.html in dark green heather Cascade 220.



I am the happy owner of all three volumes of Christine Duchrow's Knitted Lace Patterns. Volume III contains the pattern for Egeblad, although it isn't called that in the book. I originally found the pattern I used on Ravelry and it linked to a free download online. That was a happy accident because her books are all in German. I just spent part of the evening printing German-English knitting vocabulary lists and using Babelfish to translate the pattern from her book. Let's just say Babelfish isn't really designed to translate knitting terminology. The term for scalloped border came out as "the serrated conclusion."

Once I could figure out her instructions, I converted her early 20th century charts into modern symbols. Then I compared my translated chart to the chart for my Egeblad blanket and noted only one error and one change. The modern version had single yarn overs instead of doubles, which is good for a blanket because the holes are smaller.

It was a great learning exercise and it helped to do a translation where I was able to check my work. I'm not used to working from charts and her books are reprints of pamphlets. The pamphlets show a handful of similar doilies that can be knitted from a single chart, or by mixing, matching or omitting parts of charts to make them smaller or larger. Each whole "pamphlet" is maybe five pages with minimal notes and no line-by-line instructions at all. It's good practice for when I try knitting a Niebling pattern, because those are all German and charted too.

Last but not least, I have new yarn! Mom and I went to my first Shepherd's Market yesterday. I was well behaved and managed to get out with one hank of hand-dyed sport weight and some soap. We watched a very educational felting demonstration and I plan to try that sometime soon. I need to be frugal for a little while, but I think I found a good source of colored merino roving samplers for future use.

So this yarn.. it's destined to be another Baby Surprise Jacket. I wanted something unisex and slightly lighter than worsted, with enough colors to be interesting, but not overwhelming. Look how beautiful!

Blood, Sweat and Tears - Blocking Egeblad

I knitted another doily blanket - Egeblad by Christine Duchrow (http://www.yarnover.net/patterns/doilies/kunststrik/egeblad.html). It is a fantastic pattern with a swirling flower in the center and concentric, yet slightly offset, radiating leaves. I knit this one with Beaverslide McTaggart Tweeds in the color "Prairie Sandreed" on US10's.

This was interesting to block, so I decided to document my way of doing it, from start to finish.

Since I fell in love with knitting doily blankets, I wanted a good way to wash them. I went out and shopped in the home storage section of a local store. I found two plastic totes - one clear one and one white one with holes like you'd use to store kid's toys or cleaning supplies. The one with holes fits nicely inside the clear one. I chose clear so I could see if dye was leaching out of yarn as I washed it.

I filled the clear one half-full with tepid water and a squirt of Ivory soap. Then I put my blanket it the white one and submerged it. With a little swishing, I saturated the blanket and left it to soak for a little while. Beaverslide is great yarn, but it has the occasional piece of Montana prairie in it and it still has some lanolin. This yarn wasn't as greasy as the Prairie Aster Fisherman Weight, but it was still sheepy enough to want a good soak.



Next, the white tote lifted right out and let the blanket drain while I refilled the clear tote with fresh tepid water. This is where the totes pay for themselves because wet wool should never be lifted without supporting its weight. I can squeeze the fabric against one side to get excess water out, but mostly gravity does its thing. You also never want to run water directly on wool because that can contribute to felting.



I repeated this until the water was clear and the soap suds were gone. Prairie Aster made the water fairly purple, but this Prairie Sandreed really held the dye well through washing. The last soak was tepid water with Eucalan. Eucalan is great stuff because it smells really good and it protects the yarn from moths. There is no need to rinse and the wool comes out deliciously soft.

I block on my bed and wet, soggy wool would be an unmitigated disaster. My washing machine does not have an easily programmed spin cycle, so I use towels to get the wool mostly dry. I grabbed three or four thirsty towels in colors that wouldn't show any last dye residue. I spread one out flat on the bathroom floor, carefully spread the wet blanket in as near to a single layer as possible and rolled it up like a jelly roll.



Next, I stomped all over the roll in my bare feet. This really gets the water out of the blanket and into the towels. Your socks will get soaked if you don't take them off. This is the therapeutic part of blocking. Stomp. Stomp.



Now comes the blood, sweat and tears part of blocking. I laid the blanket out on my bed, using a spare comforter to protect the mattress.

1. Pin the center.
2. Pin the tips of all of the flower petals. Stretch the fabric out so they lay flat. I pin through the decreases because the stitches are thicker and hold the pins better. If the fabric is puckering or looking stressed, use more pins. Any stressed areas will show in your finished blanket, but you want to stretch this enough to make it lay flat and open the stitch patterns. The whole thing needs to spread out, but don't put all of that work on one poor little stitch.

See how the two petals look different before and after pinning?



3. Move out to the next layer and pin the tips of those points too.




4. Now work systematically around the blanket, stretching it and pinning the points of the leaves. Grab big handfuls of fabric and hold it down with the flat of your hand. Again, don't stress individual stitches here. Pull out and sideways to make the pattern open up. Use LOTS of pins.



5. When you get to the border, pin the stitches at the very tips of the leaves to anchor the edges.



6. Evenly spread out the scallops and pin through the stitches. Egeblad blocks into a perfect circle, without the ruffled edges of the Hemlock Ring. If you try to do this step first, it's really difficult to get the middle to open up. Point of note, I crocheted five chains on these scallops instead of eight per the pattern. They're still quite open so I possibly could have done three.



At this point, my back and neck are aching, I've poked myself with a multitude of pins and I think it's never going to end. Remember when I said use a lot of pins? I started with 500 and ended with..



After 45 minutes or so, I was done pinning. It was so worth it though. Look at this: