sidekick hat + drop dead easy knits at vklive nyc

Join me and Kirsten Kapur with Drop Dead Easy Knits at Vogue Knitting Live  NYC this Sunday January 15, 2017 at the Dragonfly Fibers booth, NOON-3 PM  

If you already have our book,  come say hi and show us what you've been knitting from it.

 We will squeal with delight. I promise. 

I should be showing off my Sidekick Hat that I'm so so so close to finishing, knit in two colors of Dragonfly Fibers Djinni Sock . This design by Mary Lou Egan might be the most addictive colorwork pattern ever. It just flies. There's something very gratifying about seeing the squares build up, I keep wanting to knit just another couple of rounds.....
This all over pattern makes it look harder than it is, or you could say, makes me look more skilled than I am!  I (understatement alert) do not have the best memory. Yet, I haven't had to look at the chart since the eighth row. That means truly it is simple-- something you can knit while chatting, or watching, say, multiple episodes of Lilyhammer late at night.
 It is easy to track as you go, two colors, no float longer than four stitches(meaning the color not being used that is carried along the back), so you don't get all twisted up in catching long strands.  It's a good beginner colorwork project.  BTW? Colorwork with big graphics seems like it should be easy, but often isn't. Reference my stalled Passerine, to be continued at a calmer time when I can concentrate on the chart and long floats.

As far as choosing the yarn ....tough decisions!  Looking over the colors had me spinning. Kate's dyeing and colors are varied and beautiful. Contrast between the two yarns is important, and I worried about the variegated yarn detracting from the graphics. 
I settled on one almost solid neutral (Silver Fox, top), and a super bright (Oriental Poppy, bottom).  Although the pattern is written for sport weight, this fingering weight yarn works perfectly.  The range of contrast and color withing the Oriental Poppy is no  problem.  I absolutely LOVE how it looks knit in the repeats.

Lastly:
How thrilling is it to see PussyHats taking off? How're yours coming along? I've scavenged up the last couple of pink skeins here and am awaiting acquisition to knit more bulky last minute hats. Hot tip: Dragonfly Fiber  is offering their pinks at 15% off. through Sunday 1/15. I think I know what I may bring home from the weekend.

november post 13: more hats- Sidekick and Headford

Back at you with a hat post. Pretty sure this won't be the last, hats are a real THING with me this week.

Sidekick Hat by Mary Lou Egan, from Drop Dead Easy Knits is top of my list. I'm loving color work at the moment, this is the 4 color version. It's a month before the gift giving kicks in, so plenty of time to knit these, right?  Mary Lou designed it for our Drinking Buddies chapter-the idea is you buy yarn together with a few friends and knit along, sharing the contrast colors. Buy the good stuff, you only need about 20 yards per hat of contrast color.And you can swap hats for added entertainment.

Here's Sidekick Hat  in 2 colors. This pattern is the one in Drop Dead Easy Knits most likely to find us on the receiving end of the query "Easy? You call this.... easy?". The answer is, yes, truly. You are only ever working in two colors per round, and the repeat is short and easy to memorize.  Short floats are less likely to get pucker-y. It's only a hat's worth of knitting.... you can do it!
The secret is use contrasty colors--I am thinking this may be an opportunity to finally nab a couple of the Unicorn Tails I've been eyeing at my LYS for ages. I am thinking Edison Bulb could maybe get a repeat in there, just for fun. 
Fun fact: we originally named this hat a Sidecar (a cocktail I am very fond of in the winter...in case you have me over, now you know). All the patterns in this chapter were drinks (get it? Drinking Buddies? we are so subtle, yes?) but an editor pointed out that maaaaaybe we were a little too boozy--and so the Sidecar Hat became a Sidekick Hat.

I had the annual hat gift convo with bro-in-law Lamar (of Lamar Scarf fame). He said this year, he wants a beanie, close fitting, any weight and go wild with the color/design. He confessed his fave hat ever from me was this one-of-a-kind from a decade ago. He still wears it. So, I have a plan!

I'm starting with  Headford Hat from Drop Dead Easy Knits, by Theresa Gaffey. It is a great basic beanie. She designed it to be knit in multiples, as you travel, give away as you go. Of course you can color block it, or add stripes --but  I'm going to make it into something one-of-a-kind with  use of this book I acquired at Rhinebeck, from Mary Jane Mucklestone, I can't wait to start it.

Best of all part of this plan: in size S adult, the Headford Hat is 96 stitches around--that means I can make use of motifs that are 2,3,4,6,8,12 or 16 stitches across and have them fit in neatly. Restraint, gone. FYI the motifs are pretty mixed, from traditional to modern to geometric--so I can have a lot of fun with it. Maybe the Edison Bulb will show up here, as well.....