photo by meriko borogove
I enjoy giving handmade gifts, especially when the recipient is a baby. I also enjoy knitting, but no longer seem to have time to make blankets for all the many babies on my list. I end up starting and not finishing a blanket, and/or just buying a present for the newborn.
Meriko posted some admirable baby hats to Flickr, and intrigued me further when she claimed they could be knit in a few hours time with no blocking necessary. Baby hats sounded magical and wonderful, and I wanted to learn more. Someday.
Derrick is in the midst of writing an article. He declared that he wanted to write all day this past Saturday. I felt he needed space, in addition to time, to pound out his thoughts. I asked Meriko if I could escape to her home, to hang out and knit, and if I could finally learn the secret of baby hats.
Not only was I invited over, but Meriko offered to make lunch. Time with my friend, yarn, and the promise of yummy food? Hooray! I sorted through my yarn stash for what I hoped would be appropriate yarn, some deep, dark forest green Ashford Tekapo wool from New Zealand. I’ve had a few balls of this yarn, plus one in deep purple for longer than I’d care to admit. I think that they were one of my last purchases from Berkeley’s late, great, sorely missed Straw Into Gold store. According to the label on my yarn, Crystal Palace Yarns (the still active wholesale division of Straw Into Gold) used to be Ashford Tekapo’s USA distributor. It looks as if the distribution is now in the hands of a company called Foxglove Fiber, and it has been since 2003. And the price per ball has gone up by a few dollars. Ahem.
With my yarn selected, I then began to hunt down the right needles. Meriko recommended a size 6-8, depending on my yarn. The Tekapo calls for US 6-9, and I am aware that I knit tight. I packed size 8 circular needles in varying lengths, but I realized that my double point needle collection is sorely lacking. Meriko assured me that I could use her dpns this time around.
I oohed and ahhed over the delightful baby hats, some with stripes, some with ribbons, that Meriko has not yet given away, and together we pored over her Alterknits book by Leigh Radford for general inspiration. Out of the needles I’d brought, she recommended that I use my circular 16” Perle US size 8s. I eventually settled on a cast-on number of 72 stitches. Meriko eyed my stitches carefully to make sure I did not twist the line at the join, and then she said, “okay, now knit!” That’s all? Yes, just keep knitting till you want to decrease. That’s it? Really? I could hardly believe it. Just knit stitch, no purls, on and on.
I like to knit, and I tend to seek it out for relaxation rather than a challenge. The motion of knitting is calming, and I relish the touch of soft fibers. Part of what I enjoy is that my knitting is just for my own fun, not for any business purpose or class. To have a small project where I can mindlessly knit, see the progress of rows immediately, and not have to count is a great discovery for me. I thought about adding in some of my dark purple yarn, but decided to keep my prototype baby hat monotone and basic. I did not do any yarn overs to provide holes for ribbon to lace through on this one.
So, we knit. Meriko started a little hat with multicolor cotton yarn, her husband Russell worked on his drawings, and it gently rained outside while we were all curled up on corners of couches. After my non-social Fall of being sick, this was heaven to just hang out. Derrick sent an instant message update that he, too, was having a great day of progress with his writing craft.
We kept knitting. Short break for cauliflower, hazelnut, pancetta soup, plus pressed panini sandwiches of fromage d’Affinois and hedgehog mushrooms, then back to the needles. Russell and I made sure Meriko got caught up on Battlestar Galactica, which we clicked and knitted all the way through. One more break for coffees with a scoop of homemade salted caramel ice cream, and then more knitting. I moved onto size 8 bamboo double pointed needles. My first round of decreases began by my knitting 2 together, then knit 10, k2 tog, k10, etc, and I added in stitch markers. Next row was knit only. Then another decrease row with k2 tog, k9, k2 tog, k9, and so on. Eventually, we eyeballed the cap and decided I did not need to knit rows in between the decrease rows. It was time to end the hat. Knitting 2 together, around and around, till I only had 1 stitch left. Faster, faster, faster, almost done! I snipped the yarn from the ball, drew the tail through the last stitch, and wove in my 2 ends.
Roughly four hours after I cast on, I birthed a little knobby baby hat into the world. Soon, I hope to give it some brothers and sisters, raise them right, and send them out into the world to warm wee newborn noggins. Meriko told me true: it is not a complicated project, though there are millions of variations in stitch and color to consider. And it got me knitting again, which is the very best part.
