More Adventures in Knitting

The knitting lessons are going swimmingly.  I am having a blast.  DD1 is chugging right along,  thrilled that she can "actually make something wearable" (and that's a quote).  DD2, well, she's not so wild about it.  She does like to knit, but she's not nearly as addicted to it as I am.  She's pretty happy sticking with large straight needles, knit stitches, and small projects.

DD1 and I, however, have branched out.  Last weekend, we began our first projects on circular needles.  She chose to do a slouchy hat, while I chose to do a watch cap style hat.  I was thinking along the lines of the practical keep-my-head-warm-while-doing-outdoor-chores, whereas DD1 was thinking ooh-I'd-look-cute-in-that.  Must be the difference between being 18 and being 41, LOL.

Her hat began with two inches of ribbing, then a slight increase, and was followed by 8 inches of knit stitches before being decreased in the last 10 rows.

Mine was ribbed for 10 inches, then a dramatic decrease in 8 rows.

Cool.  Nice, easy, rhythmic.  Knit two, purl two, knit two, purl two, for ten inches.  I wonder how long it will take me to finish?  Around and around I go, knitting in the round, knit two, purl two, and when I get to my row marker, move it to the right needle and keep going knit two, purl two.

two days after starting my hat

DH went out of town for business at the end of the week.  Since he was gone and I'd be home alone (both girls had things going on that night) I decided to go to the Friday night knitting club that meets at the yarn shop where I take lessons.  Oh boy, did I have fun!  I met more knitters, saw the projects they were working on, won a door prize (a book of neat wearables to knit), and knitted for two and a half hours straight!

At the end of the night, my hat was 9" done!

The next day was our lesson.  I worked on my hat some more, and when I got the decrease rows down to such a small number of stitches that it was hard to work on the circular needles, where I needed to switch to double pointed needles, the instructor had me join the class on dpns that she was giving in just a few minutes.

So, my hat got finished, and I got a class on using double pointed needles, which is a prerequisite for a class on making socks that will be held next month.  Socks are my goal.  They are the true reason I wanted to learn to knit:  so I can make my own socks.  Warm socks, soft socks, comfy socks, quirky socks.

It was a great day.  And my question got answered:  How long will it take to make a hat?  Apparently, about  eight hours.

DD1 also finished her hat that day, also sitting in on the dpn class and using them to finish her hat.  She's not sure if she ever wants to make socks, but did find the double pointed needles interesting to use.


My finished hat:

lying flat on the table, it looks kind of small

stretched over the end of a jumbo roll of paper towel

you can see it does fit an adult-sized head.

I do have a picture of me wearing it, but to post that would violate my "no identifiable picture of people" policy.  So the paper towel will have to do.  Just add brown hair, brown eyes, and a big proud smile.