it's taking a while to get pictures of the opera costumes, but i've been SO eager to get back to regular posting that i'm just going to move on and post pictures as i get them.
the fallout from the opera--all 72 costumes of it--is that i can't bear the thought of sewing right now, so with the cold weather coming, i've been KNITTING! and not just any knitting either, i picked up a set of knifty knitter looms and just as usual, i've been trying to figure out ways to do things on my own. actually, i've been forced to do so--there is a pitiful dearth of patterns or techniques available for these neat little gadgets, so naturally i had to come up with something. my first completed project was this little bumblebee hat for ella (click to see enlargement):
so far, i have not seen any pattern that uses the method i developed to make these ear flaps--they are not on the edge of the hat, they are under the brim. it was so simple, i am almost embarrassed to explain it............i knitted the brim first, then i knitted the earflaps, then i continued the hat as usual.
there--i hope you are duly impressed with my ingenuity. :) whether or not the techniques i used to make this hat are "legal", i don't know, but they worked, and here is the pattern as best as i can explain it:
you need: 1 ball of yellow yarn, 1 ball of black yarn, the red knifty knitter loom, loom tool, tapestry needle
time: this one took about 4 hours, the next one took only 3--an easy evening's work
use two strands of yarn held together for each color.
BRIM: with the black yarn, e-wrap and knit 8 rounds. drop black yarn but do not cut.
FIRST EAR FLAP: count 6 pegs to the left of the holding peg, then using the yellow yarn *make a 3-peg I-cord (see below for instructions). i made this cord 30 rows long, about 9", this is long enough to tie under the chin. then e-wrap and knit one row (3 stitches). increase one stitch at the beginning and end of the next 3 rows (see below for instructions), giving you 9 stitches. e-wrap and knit 5 rows even, then cut yarn leaving a 4" tail.*
SECOND EAR FLAP: count 9 pegs to the right of the holding peg, then repeat above between *'s.
this picture shows the ear flaps being made on another hat, thus different colors (click to view enlargement):
BODY OF HAT: starting back at the beginning peg and using the yellow yarn, e-wrap one row, then knit. when you get to the ear flaps, knit 1 over 2 (black loop over both yellow loops). e-wrap another row, knit, this time when you get to the ear flaps, knit 2 over 1 (ear flap loops will now be knit into the hat).
e-wrap and knit a total of 4 rows yellow, then pick up the black yarn and e-wrap and knit two rows black. repeat two more times, for a total of three bands of yellow/black. end with 4 more rows of yellow.
HINT #1--as i am wrapping the pegs, i wrap around the loose ends of yarn that i cut when i made the flaps. i do this for several rows then i snip the remainder of the yarn tail--the weaving in is now all done!
HINT #2--i don't cut the yarn when i change colors--i carry it inside the hat and pick it up when needed. i do twist the colors together when changing so that there is not gap.
REMOVING FROM LOOM: take hat off the loom with the gathering bind off.
FINISHING: with two strands of black yarn, make an I-cord 12" long. fold it into two loops for wings and sew to top of hat.
if these instructions are not clear, please feel free to ask questions--this is the first knitting pattern i've ever written, so i'm pretty sure i'm not good at it yet. :)
oh, the other hat--the one on the green loom--that one was going to be for me, but ella likes it and it actually fits her pretty well--probably better than the first one, because it has room to grow for the winter--so she'll get this one too. the body of the hat is a different stitch pattern but the method of applying the ear flaps is the same:
3 peg I-cord: wrap three pegs, then take the yarn back to the first peg SKIPPING THE SECOND PEG, rather than knitting back over it to get to the first peg. e-wrap the three pegs again. knit. repeat until cord is as long as needed.
increasing: wrap the empty peg next to the beginning or end of the row TWICE, and knit this additional stitch with the rest of the row.
