Monday, October 31, 2011

A new hat for JB / Advances on the lopapeysa

Again, I will start by going a little back in time... I have already knitted a few hats for JB, so let's see:

This fair isle hat was actually the first hat I ever knitted. It is dead simple. I made it using Álafoss lopi (which is one of the bulky forms of lopi but not the bulkiest one). Of course he loved it... it has skulls, hehe.  I think he used it a lot and the coolest thing about it is that afterwards JB knitted himself two of this! One for his little cousin and another as a birthday present for his best friend. Cool isn't it?

Hat

Then I made a hat designed by Stephen West, which is I think the only West pattern that I have used. The result was really nice and what he liked the most about it was the fact that it is reversible. Besides it was extremely soft. I made using a double thread of Drops Alpaca which is a really nice yarn and I totally recommend it :)

Reversible/Alpaca


The, I made a Leethal's Wavy hat. This was a very interesting knit. This was the first hat (and only this far) that I have knitted flat. As every design of Leethal the result is always brilliant! The only thing I regret about this hat is the yarn that I used. I was made with Aslan Trends Bariloche. When I bought it it was amazing to touch... soft and light and the colors were very intersting (a mix of viotet, green and some beige) but after wearing it for a while it became really (and I mean REALLY) ugly. So, I don't think I will use this blend again.

Short rows wavy

So, now the time to knit a new hat for JB had arrived!

Quite a while ago I added to my favorites on Ravelry a super cool hat. As soon as I saw it I thought it would be perfect for JB. I even thought about the perfect colors for it: the colors of his football team (black and white).

So, here it is:


Details:

* Pattern: Mesi by Suvi Simola (Free Ravelry download).

* Yarn: Falk Dalegarn (2 skeins, one of each color).

* Needles: 3.0mm for the ribbing and 3.75mm for the rest.


Notes:

* This is a brilliant pattern. It perfectly written and what I liked the most was the fact that it looks MUCH MORE complicated than it really is. The charts are very easy to memorize.

* I wanted to try the German cast on to see how it was made and how it worked. It was very simple to make and according to what I read it is supposed to be a stronger and more elastic cast on. I am not sure if it is either of those... but it looks good :)

* It is a really quick knit... and that is always a plus!

* This was my first time using Falk (Dalegarn). It is a really nice yarn to work with. It is soft and smooth, the colors are fantastic as well as the price. According to the label it is superwash but I didn't dare to put it  in the washing machine. So I just soaked it in water with soap, rinsed it and blocked it.


Honeycomb hat
This is my favorite part of the hat. I live the geometry in it. It reminds me of Icelandic runes or even some Mapuche symbols. There is something kind of tribal about it. (This is not JB in the picture, by the way.)
What I like the most about knitting hats for JB is that he always wears them A LOT! And that is just enough to make me really happy.

Now, I am planning to make another one like this. A friend that lives in Germany mentioned that he really liked this hat... so there will be a hat flying to Berlin soon!

I already bought the yarn. It will be Falk again in these colors:



About the lopapeysa I am designing...  I am already done with the sleeves. Actually I am now working on the yoke pattern. It has turned out totally different from what I had in mind at the beginning. I am not 100% sure if I like it.

For now, this is the design I made for the sleeves:

Sleeve
I didn't use the same pattern as in the body because I thought it was too big to be used in the sleeves. 


Now, to finish... some pictures of the little trip we took with WonderMike, Franklin Habit and HisKNITS to Reykjanes where we went up to the cliff where this video of Sigur Rós was made:

Reykjanesviti

Reykjanesviti

Reykjanesviti

Reykjanesviti

12 comments:

  1. Beautiful hats, all of them (those skulls really rock!) and it makes me want to knit hats now :)

    Can't wait to see your design: I'm a big fun of fair isle knitting and your design looks promising :)

    Oh, and beautiful photos too...

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  2. ohh que hermoso gorro, en fin todos, pero el ultimo me gusto el punto, debo probarlo, y no es por nada, pero los colores que vas a usar para tejerle uno a una maiga , mmm usaria los mismos, que hermosos :)
    ohh las fotos, y el video me encantaron que lindo eso, los peques, oye alla creen en elfos y esas cosas? quemagico todo , parece un cuento Islandia
    besitos ,

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  3. Love the hats! And am excited to see how the lopapeysa turns out :)

    Beautiful pictures from Reykjanes! It's so cool that I've actually been there.. Now, I'm off to watch the Sigur Rós video :)

    Have a nice week!

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  4. como siempre todo precioso!
    me encanta leer tus historias tejeriles....

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  5. voila de jolie bonnet
    jolie debut de pull
    jolie photos d 'islande

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  6. No podemos esperar como va la lopapeysa, el diseño es tan bonito.............
    Muchas gracias por el faro y los acantilados.
    hasta pronto
    asun

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  7. Hello, Mr. Hat Knitter:-) You manage to find the most interesting hat patterns. JB is one lucky guy to be the recipient of your efforts. I like that he follows your example and knits for friends. I really like the hat by Stephen West and the colors you chose. Definitely my favorite, though, is the most recent one. What a neat design, especially from the top. I agree, it does look kind of tribal. JB looks so serious. Now I have to look up and see what the "German cast on" is and see if I've used it before or not. Sometimes I do things but don't know the official name of them. I'll be looking forward to seeing how different the hat looks in the green and orange.

    I really like the sleeve design - looks like flowers to me. Now I want to see what the rest of the design is. Hope you're not too disappointed. Sometimes what's in our head and what we're able to do turn out to be two different things. I'm sure everyone (except you, maybe) will think it's great.

    As usual, your photos are wonderful. Fascinating video. The children in it are beautiful! I was a bit envious of them jumping off the cliff and flying - I've always wanted to hang-glide to experience that feeling of floating and flying like the birds.

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  8. Hola Rodrigo! Hermosos los gorros, y tu diseño, pero quedé encandilada con las fotos, en especial la del faro.La guardé para compartirla con mi esposo que es amante del mar y sobre todo de los faros. Un saludo cariñoso desde Montevideo!

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  9. Eres un artista!!! Te han quedado geniales

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  10. I love reading all about your knitting adventures. You are a fabulous knitter & designer (now!).

    What an amazing day that was. Thank you for being the host with the most and for showing us your beautiful country!

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  11. Cool hats! I really like the wavy one. The pattern and the colours... It´s a pitty it turned out ugly (but somehow I don´t believe it is THAT ugly :-) ). I often have this problem with 1 ply yarns. I love them to touch, I love how they look but you wash the garment two times or you just wear it a while and it is ruined.

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