Welcome to Project Knitway or should I say Project Renottaway? It's my cyberspace place to post my favorite things...thoughts about family and creativity and design. One of my favorite things is making stuff, specifically clothing and accessories from fiber and metal. So you'll see a lot about that here. I also love spending time with my family, so there will be a bit about that too. When I'm not with my family or in my studio, I am most likely at nextdoor, my store. I have always had a store ever since I was a young woman. I started with a weaving store called the niddy noddy in Waukesha eons ago. I ended with nextdoor in Brookfield. It's my dream store filled with great clothing, especially denim. Really nice women work and shop there, it's a fun place to be. You can find us there every day and online at www.shopatnextdoor.com So come for a visit here and there.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Pi R Squared or Back Hat You

 The cold weather continues and I have lots of requests for hats, so it's back hat you. I love making these hats. Each one turns out differently and enjoys a place in my studio for a day or two before heading to my store. Once again, I am using Lionbrand Homespun yarn, the same yarn that I knit the shelter scarves from. My plan is to make these hats as well as the scarves for area shelters. The hats are not only warm but fun and funky and lift your spirits when you wear one. I like to combine the knit band and brim of the hat with a crown of tapestry fabric. You can purchase odds and ends of fabric at your local store and will be sure to find a coordinating yarn  as there are so many wonderful colors available. I started by making a circle pattern for the top of the hat which I knew I wanted to be 25" in circumference. By plugging in those old formulas we all learned in school I came up with a diameter of 8" and was able to easily make my pattern. Then I knit the band on my bulky machine, 50 stitches every other needle, tension 7, 64 rows. Here again, you can easily handknit this piece. Next I applied heat and steam to the piece to block or felt it into a nice firm fabric for the hat. You have to proceed with caution as too much heat can ruin the
texture. I just lightly hover the iron over the fabric and apply the steam till I get the size I want. In this case about 21" wide by 12" high. Next I pin the band evenly to the crown of the hat and sew the two pieces together by machine. Although not essential, I like to serge the edge I just sewed for a clean finish on the inside of the hat. That done I sew the hat up by hand, starting at the top right side of the hat. Half way down I reverse the hat and finish off the seam from the other side. This gives me a invisible seam when the band is turned up on the hat. For a finishing touch I sew around the crown of the hat by machine to create the fun roll at the top of the hat.
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