New York Minknit

In an attempt to show off my gloves, I have chosen possibly the twee-est pose of all time.

Pattern: Three-spiral hat or the Dairy Queen hat, by Elizabeth Zimmerman, from The Opinionated Knitter

Yarn: Less than 1 skein of Morehouse Merino Bulky, in Silver, $16.50 from Brooklyn General. (There was a lot of straw in this yarn!)

Needles: Clover bamboo size 13 16″ circulars and Brittany wooden size 13 DPNs.

Project began/ended: Day after Thanksgiving to this Monday. So, about a week.

Notes and Modifications: I was frustrated with all of my never-ending knitting projects, so I bought some bulky wool to knit a hat. I was planning on knitting Yarn Harlot’s Unoriginal Hat, but then I saw versions of this hat on Ravelry, and decided this just might be the thing, especially because I already had The Opinionated Knitter.

I was worried that my gauge was off, but it turns out that size 13 needles led to the exactly the right gauge. I did, however, misunderstand one part of the pattern. Elizabeth Zimmerman tells you to make a backwards loop over your needle, and I just thought this meant a yarn over, but actually, it’s a little different. I don’t think it’s a huge change, except that it made some holes along the brim that probably weren’t meant to be there.

I was going to take photos in front of Shake Shack, the closest thing New York has to a Dairy Queen, but it was so cold that I ended up making Adam take photos in the Met Life building across the street instead. I’m sure lots of office workers thought I was nuts. Especially once I started dancing:

I don’t know if you can tell, but my (store-bought) skirt is made of knitted spirals too–I wore it to match the hat. I know, lame.

I like to wear all my knitted items at once. I’m here, I’m a knitter, I’m proud. (Here’s my post about the gloves, in case you’re interested.)

Yarn: sportweight Blue Sky alpaca in Toasted Almond and Licorice, 1 skein each. Total cost (before tax) $20

Needles: No. 6 Clover bamboo circular (these are knit flat and then sewn up)

Pattern: My own.

The color and pattern were inspired by andknitting.com’s scarf. After I started them (waaay back in Oct/Nov or so), I noticed Knitlit Kate made these opera gloves, which are also very similar. Knitlit Kate was smarter because she made them in self-striping sock yarn.

I am glad I knit them flat because (a) it was easier to deal with than DPNs and (b) the beginning and end of each row has two garter stitches which made a pretty garter stitch channel along the side of each one.

This yarn is amazingly lovely. It feels like butter (buttah!) when it is knit up. I think I might be sensitive to alpaca though, so I find it slightly itchy. Which is crazy, because it is so so so soft. Lickety Knit wrote a funny post about how she knit this luscious alpaca scarf that made her itch. Damn you alpaca, with your bait and switch properties.

Here they are in action today. They’re a little big, but warm.