It has certainly been an eventful couple of weeks here at Knittist Towers. I clumsily tripped over an out-of-alignment cat igloo and having unthinkingly put my arm out to catch my fall, found that my wrist really hurt. To cut a long story short, I had sustained a hairline fracture in my scaphoid bone i.e. I had a broken wrist. After some x-rays and a military doctor poking my thumb about in a painful, yet businesslike manner, it was two weeks in a splint for me, before seeing whether it had healed or if I would need a plaster cast.
- Plastered by Wokka. Used under creative commons license.
As you might have guessed, the final diagnosis was positive: I am plaster cast-less* and back to some not-too-strenuous knitting. But the weeks inbetween! Oh boy, it was so strange not to knit. It’s something that I have done day in, day out for years. The lack of physical making left a great void which was eventually filled with reading about making, and compiling lists of things that I wanted to make or learn once healed. There was lots of thinking about the properties of yarn, a good deal of stash-assessing and some experimental playing with colours and textures.
An enforced break from knitting actually made me consider my making, and in particular my ongoing projects and how they might either evolve, or be resolved. I really feel that I have come back from the break stronger and with a better focus. As I mentioned, I read a lot whilst not knitting, and found myself surprised at how much I missed more scholarly research and study, which I haven’t been focussing on for a little while. Ina Zweiniger-Bargielowska’s book on austerity in Britain during the second world war was particularly fascinating. I also started to delve into my favourite, ever-fascinating time period of the interwar years once more with some great resources on art deco (more of which later).
But back to the making. At Knit Nation, last month Woolly Wormhead kindly fitted me up with the right sort of hat for my face shape and hairdo. She had a whole table groaning with sample hats for her patterns and there really was something to suit everyone. She suggested a couple of her hat patterns that would work well for me and I chose Limpetiole – a lovely pattern with a lot of reverse stocking stitch, the aesthetic of which is something I really enjoy.
If you’re on Ravelry, my project page is here.
The yarn that I used is that suggested: Manos del Uruguay silk blend (dk weight), which is a single spun soft yarn. The blend is 30% silk and 70% Merino Extrafine Wool. It has excellent stitch definition which is great for this pattern which has beautiful leaves that the yarn helps to stand out at the base of the hat.
This was a lovely pattern to knit, and very quick to make too. I wasn’t knitting terribly fast, and it took five evenings. I made the 22″ size which was the second largest and knitted it on 3.75mm dpns which has produced a hat that I can wear down over my forehead, as above, or perched as a beret. It has what one might term mid-slouch, rather than a full-on slouchy hat that drops down the back of your head. Although I loved the colour of the yarn when I picked it, I was a little trepidacious about using a variagated yarn as often I don’t like the look of the finished knitting. I have to say though, the variagation of this yarn lends itself to the pattern brilliantly, and as you can see below, it adds the look of a limpet to the hat, seen flat.
Rather a pinky purple limpet, admittedly.
* Although he’s pleased that I’m mended and back to normal, Giles thinks that it is a great shame that he didn’t get to draw and write slogans on a plaster cast as we both used to do in our schooldays. I remember having a broken arm aged around 8, and the cast turning into a mobile autograph book.