First of all, thank you for the outpouring of kind comments on my Cathedral sweater and on my beautiful daughter. No, she didn’t want to keep the sweater. As cute as it looked on her, it’s not her taste. At all. When I finally get a chance to wear it myself, I’ll try to pretend it looks as nice on me as it does on her.
Before she left to go back to the wilds of Colorado, I was able to persuade her to do one more modeling job for me. I knit a Shedir hat for a dear friend.
The pattern calls for Rowan’s Calmer yarn, which I actually used — so unusual for me. I purchased the yarn at Personal Threads Boutique in Omaha (which Susan and I wrote about recently). Shedir is meant to be a one-skein project, but I needed part of a second ball. From perusing Ravelry, that’s a fairly common occurrence. So, if this hat interests you, pick up a second skein. (I was glad I did.) Another solution would be to knit four instead of five repeats of the main pattern, but that could result in a hat that is too small.
I liked the pattern, but knitting with cotton is always hard on my hands. Fortunately, Calmer has much more stretch than most cottons and cotton blends. I did the cabling without a cable needle. If I make it again, I think I’ll switch the right and left twists. There are far more left twists, and I find them less fun to do.
Next up for me: lace weight and beads.
Stay tuned.
Really like the hat, but something else caught my eye in the first photo. The expression on the Goldie’s face is priceless! They always seems to be so tolerant of whatever their people want them to do. “OK, so now you want to take my picture. I’ll try to look interested, yet adorable.”
Comment by Denise — June 6, 2009 @ 9:14 am
Oh, I knit that hat out of Calmer a few years back and also needed a hair from another skein. But what a great cap, isn’t it? I loved the flow of the design, from how the cables flow out of the ribs to the way the decreases from the nice flower on the top. Yours is lovely.
Comment by twinsetellen — June 6, 2009 @ 9:23 am
From Susan to Sally: Shedir turned out great! And Thor looks regally bored with the whole thing! I agree that a chemo cap needs to be long enough to cover the person’s head, so making it too short would defeat the purpose. I’m a tight knitter, so maybe one skein would do, but they wouldn’t be able to get it on their head!
Comment by lv2knit — June 6, 2009 @ 9:34 am
I’m moaning over the colors in that laceweight. I am obsessed with lace and beads right now, but lack the fortitude to knit it myself. I will be stalking you to watch this project unfold!!!
Comment by marissa — June 6, 2009 @ 11:07 am
I’m guessing the laceweight is for the Aeolian shawl (http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEspring09/KSPATTaeolian.php) — but that’s because I’m just finishing mine up (without the beads, tho’).
Comment by Lissa — June 6, 2009 @ 6:25 pm
That hat is great! But of course the first thing I noticed was how cute the dog is!
Comment by Eryka Jackson — June 7, 2009 @ 1:21 am
That is an awsome hat! I was wondering, would it be possible to knit it in two different colors (knit the cables in one color and the background in another color)? Also, what do you think the difficulty level is on this hat?
Thanks, Olivia
Comment by Olivia — June 7, 2009 @ 11:03 am
I am knitting a chemo hat right now from that exact same color of Calmer. Hoping that the hat takes less than a full skein because I have another; then I can knit a Shedir, too.
Comment by kmkat — June 7, 2009 @ 11:53 am
Shedir, is absolutely stunning. I love the photos?
Happy knitting?
Comment by cici — June 7, 2009 @ 12:21 pm
Love the hat. love the laceweight and the beads are perfect. Can’t wait to see the progress and the finished product.
Comment by Sigrun — June 7, 2009 @ 7:42 pm
Oooo — nice combo of the beads with the yarn!
Comment by Deborah (aka Mt. Mom) — June 8, 2009 @ 3:31 am
i would guess aeolian for the laceweight and beads as well. what a fun (and fast) knit.
Comment by dana — June 8, 2009 @ 2:45 pm
You guys are an inspiration to me lately. Wonder what the lace will turn into. The hat is very cute and my kids love the dog and want to know his/her name. 🙂
Comment by Angelika — June 9, 2009 @ 9:16 am
great hat and great pictures – your choice of colors for your yarn is so yummy!!!!
Comment by trish — June 13, 2009 @ 2:47 am
Where can I buy the pattern? I LOVE the hat, and the dog is beautiful – love those ‘woolies’.
Comment by Alexandra — February 13, 2010 @ 7:08 pm