Hat 4 & Boston's Museum of Science

We headed out as a family to Boston's Museum of Science. (We're members.) As a passenger, I had time to finish Hat 4 which I had started yesterday. We drove this time instead of taking the train. We got all the way to Boston, braved the traffic, and found our way to M.O.S. Then --- the dreaded sign --- "PARKING LOT FULL". Ugh. The suggested alternate parking was blocks away in some Mall. We tried but never found the Mall and finally gave up. I won't even mention the big Tundra extended cab pick-up truck that did TWO U-TURNS in front of us. Nope, won't even mention those nuts from NH. Well, we gave up and turned home. The Museum would have been a crowded shoulder-to-shoulder nightmare, which is just too hard for me to endure. (Enjoying would have been out of the question.)

Had lunch at P.F. Chang's in Dedham. LOVE that place! Dropped by the biggest sundial I've ever seen (Foxboro, MA) while there was still some actual sunlight. Home again, home again, jiggety jig.

Hat 4 is the purple pixie hat with the long braid that appears in the slide show. Lion Brand Wool-Ease. I may have enough of the purple left for a standard simple cap. Or maybe the remainder will have to be contrast for some other hat.

... E2's hat 4....

Yesterday was a very busy day and it left little time for knitting or crochet. But I did get a good start on a hat with the remainder of my (STASH!) Lion Brand Wool-Ease eggplant purple yarn. I can't find a pattern on the web like it, but it will be a pixie hat most reminiscent of this pixie hat. I will (eventually, of course) write up what I did. Instead of having a pointy peak, however, it will have a braid and tassel to pull the peak down. I'm nearly done.

I will probably have enough of the Wool-Ease for one more hat if I follow a very basic pattern. I had two skeins of the purple to start.

I think the family is headed to Boston today for a museum trip (by train or car, TBD). Either way (train or car), I'll get some stitching time. By train means I have to carry the stitching with me all day through museums and streets. By car means I can leave the stitching in the car while we go to museums. I'll still be laden with all the hats and mittens, I'm sure. So what's one more hat plus a ball of yarn plus a crochet hook? Not much. :-) 

Will keep you posted.

- E2

E1 clarifies...

E1 writes back to allay my fears:

No, 5 since Christmas. 15 since I got the letter saying "310" when I expected it so say "100 or so."

Phew!  Now I don't have to lose sleep worrying that E1 has slipped over the edge to become a "Mad Hatter".

E1 reports in about hats again

E1 sends a message:

Fifteen hats now done. I'm using the new knitting calendar.... It is fun to mark them down, and I imagine some day I'll look back and say "15 - I remember when 15 seemed like a lot!" I'm enjoying watching yours add up, too. Sorry, no camera phone in my social circle...

She's done FIFTEEN HATS since Christmas?! I don't live near her but I fear she's failing to eat, sleep, or walk her dogs!

E2's Hat Three

I finished Hat #3. It is a purple cap, based upon the classic Knit-a-Cap basic pattern. Cast on 56 stitches with knotted cast on; rib for 20 rounds; stockinette for 30 rounds; double-decreases at top based on 8-stitch "pizza slices". Two rounds of stockinette between decrease rounds. When there were only 14 stitches remaining, I drew the yarn through. I used a needle size 8 and stitched very loosely.

It appears in a photo with a blue head-band. Both are Wool-Ease yarn. The headband just uses the remainder of a ball of yarn left over from some other project. It's not counted as a cap but it WILL keep ears toasty warm, especially if worn folded in half.

I think Hat 4 will be the same yarn as the crochet cap in #2. I have another whole skein of that, plus the remainder of the first skein.  I think the yarn was originally intended for mittens, but I've made many mittens lately and I think all the hands at this house are well protected for this winter... assuming my little kittens don't LOSE their mittens!

-E2

E1 reports

E1 sends a message: "I did two yesterday in a Fair Isle technique."
I hope to get pictures.

Hat 2 done, hat 3 started

E2 made Hat 2 yesterday with one skein of Plymouth Encore (stash!). It's a crocheted tam. I'll jot down the pattern later. Basically: crochet ribbing long enough to go around my first grader's head, then rounds to make it deep enough to cover ears, then decreases to close the top. Came out cute. My first grader wants it! Picture in slide-show.

Hat 3 is purple Wool-Ease by Lion Brand. I've casted on with the "knotted cast-on", slightly decorative and just as stretchy as regular long-tail cast on. Ack - can't easily find an online description of it. Cast on two with long-tail method, then drop back stitch over front stitch (as if casting off). The remaining stitch is your first real stitch. Then cast on two more with long-tail, and drop the first of those two over the latter of those two. Now you have two real stitches on the needle. Repeat until you have enough stitches. WARNING - you must leave TWICE as long a long-tail as you normally would because you're popping off half of the stitches you put on the needle!

I've done 10 rows of ribbing on 56 stitches and haven't decided what I'll do next.

More hats are coming to me in the mail! HOORAY! Thank you to Angela, Denise, Desiree, Kim and any others who are pitching in to the cause!

As my high school sophomore says, "Three hundred ten hats is a LOT of hats." Yes, it is. But many hands make the task possible!

With deepest gratitude, E2

One hat.

E2 finished one hat this AM. (Started yesterday afternoon.) One skein of Cascade 220 Superwash. From Stash. (YEAH! I haven't any idea what project the yarn was originally supposed to become.) Easy Rolled Brim Basic Crochet Hat. (Pattern at bottom of blog page.) Fits E2's 8-year old third grader, and the first grader too, of course. So it'll fit a Kindergarten student just fine. Size "I" hook.

The goal

The goal is to create 310 hats by August 2010 for these Head Start kids.

The story behind this goal is a long one. Maybe some day I'll tell it. For now, all you need to know is that this lofty goal is a worthwhile one.

So far there are four people engaged in this task:

1. E1
2. E2 (her sister)
3. W (their step-mother), and
   
4. P (E1's friend).
   

E1 knits and doesn't crochet much.
E2 knits and crochets.
W knits and crochets.
P knits.

I'm glad you're here to root for us.

- E2