Saturday, February 11, 2012

BU Hats


My in-laws have affiliations with Boston University, so I decided to make them both BU themed hats for Christmas. Both hats were knit with KnitPicks Wool of the Andes worsted weight yarn in red and white.


Hat 1: Zsportz


This hat consumed 32 g of the red wool and 30 g of the white wool.

This was the first project that I knit with my KnitPicks options sampler kit, using one of the metal tips (size 7) on a 24" circular set (except for the cast-on and edging which were knit with the size 6 harmony wood needles.) I LOVE how flexible the cable is! 24" circulars are a little long for this project... I wish they had a shorter cable available for purchase. hurrah for the magic loop method.


The decreases weren't shown in the chart the way they were written, but the adjustment was simple. K8, K2tog (where the first K2tog is at the indicated position.) k 1 row, then K7, K2tog. (you want the second st of K2tog to be the same each time).


I wish that I had used smaller needles and more stitches... It is a cute hat, but the floats distort it a bit when it is on a head.


Hat 2: Opus Spicatum


This hat consumed 30 g of the red and 26 g of the white wool.

From the zsportz hat my gauge is 22 sts/4"... too tight for this pattern. I felt like that was a pretty loose gauge, and don't want to go up to bigger needles. I don't really mind if it comes out more of a beanie than a beret. Since there is a big increase in stitches after the brim, I used size 7 knitting needles for the whole project.


The rhythm of the pattern really easy to get into. Since there are no long floats, I like it MUCH more than the other hat. I think making it a beanie, I would shorten the brim more next time. I like the thicker brim for a beret. I was concerned that the hat would be too short, so I knit 4 extra rows of the zig zag pattern before starting the decreases.
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I am really happy with the way these hats came out!