12/31/15 Done!

12/28/15 It’s currently blocking and I’m working on a pompom. Here’s some of my observations:

-I really don’t know how to tension yarn with stranded knitting yet. This is not shocking as it was my first attempt. If/when I do it again, I think I need to bite the bullet and try holding one color in each hand. I did them both with the right hand for this and it has some drawbacks.

-I was determined not to have puckering. I don’t. I have the opposite problem, though! I should probably have used feltable wool. I left long enough floats for most of it, but sometimes they’re so long that the stitches between them are pretty slack. I think wool would felt up a little so that the float yarn would stay in the floats and the rest would stay in the stitches. As it is, the piece’s gauge is all over the place and the pattern is sometimes a little distorted.

-Since my gauge was so much bigger than I predicted, the hat is a little on the wide side. Also, it somehow came out kind of short, too. I’m not sure how that happened, but it looked like it was heading that way so I added one or two k rows between decrease rows at the crown. I would add more if I did this pattern again. Also, I cast on fewer sts than called for and increased on the row after the ribbing, so it cinches in at the bottom a lot. Okay, probably a little too much. I’m not going to lie--it looks a little like a Mario Bros. mushroom cap.

-I only trapped a few floats--the ones that hit 7 sts long. I have no idea if I did it “right” or not, but they seem trapped, don’t show from the RS, and weren’t hard.

-For all its drawbacks, I am very happy with my first stranded colorwork project. I will gift it to my bil and let him know that someday, when I get better at it, I’ll knit him another one and make it look sleeker. I’m pretty sure he will like it as-is.

Yardage for hat: 12 yds red, 72 yds white, 78 yds blue (total 162 yds). Additional yardage is for pompom.

12/25/15 Duplicate stitching is all done, so now just needs blocking and a pompom. It came out a little shorter and fatter than I was going for but I think it will do.

12/24/15 Done the knitting!! I just need to add some details in duplicate stitch (to avoid doing three colors in a row), weave in the ends, block and add a pompom. It’s not perfect, but I’m completely happy with it for a first stranded colorwork project. It was challenging to knit loosely, to say the least!

12/22/15 I got a request for a Capitals hat for a Christmas present. I don’t think I’ll finish it by Christmas, but I should be able to get it done not too long after. I looked long and hard for a pattern but couldn’t find anything that seemed just right. So, I’m using the hat pattern as a base and wrote up my own charts from the logo. I used the stars from the headband chart so have included it on my project page.

The catch? This will be my first attempt at stranded colorwork. I don’t think it will be too hard but I’m hoping I get past the learning curve quickly.

I found a site that allows you to print customized graph paper. Using it, I was able to print graph paper with rectangles instead of squares, and in a ratio that mimics knit stitches. Pretty cool!