PATTERN: Earthbender Hat

EARTHBENDER HAT

Yarn: Cascade 220 – Forest Green (MC), Yellow (CC)
Needles: US 9 Circular (40″+ for Magic Loop)
Gauge: 4.5 sts/inch in stockinette stitch
Notions: 2-3 stitch markers, yarn needle

SOLID COIN:

CO 92 sts.
Join for Magic Loop, being careful not to twist.

Work 2×2 rib for 8 rounds (or 1 inch, whichever you prefer.)

K 1 round.

Switch to CC and knit until hat measures 4-5 inches from cast on.

Begin decreases as follows:
Setup: K23, Place Marker (PM), K23, PM, K23, PM, K23
Round 1: K2tog, *K to 2 before marker, SSK, slip marker, K2tog* 3 times, K to last 2, SSK
Round 2: Knit all sts.

Repeat these 2 rounds 4 times in CC.

Switch back to MC and continue decreasing until 9 sts remain between markers.

Next round: K2tog, *K to 2 before marker, SSK, slip marker, K2tog* 3 times, K to last 2, SSK
Repeat this round until 3 sts remain between markers.

Next round: *K2tog, K1* around

8 sts left. Thread yarn onto yarn needle and draw through remaining stitches, closing top of hat.

OUTLINED COIN:

Follow instructions for SOLID COIN for Cast On and ribbing.

K 1 round.

Switch to CC and K 3 rounds.

Switch back to MC and K until hat measures 4-5 inches from CO.

Begin decreases as follows:
Setup: K23, Place Marker (PM), K23, PM, K23, PM, K23
Round 1: K2tog, *K to 2 before marker, SSK, slip marker, K2tog* 3 times, K to last 2, SSK
Round 2: Knit all sts.

Knit decreases in MC for 4 rounds.

Switch to CC for 3 rounds.

Switch back to MC and continue decreasing to end. When 8 sts remain between markers, thread yarn through remaining stitches, closing top of hat.

Wear the version of your choice while practicing your Earthbending Skillz.

Waterbender Hat PDF

BREAKING NEWS.

My friend Dani (who, in addition to being a great friend, is also an excellent designer, dyer, tea-blender, and sock-club-runner) has turned my Waterbender Hat pattern into a handy-dandy PDF file for your downloading enjoyment. (Also, go check of Dani’s blog and shop. Buy things from her, because she is awesome.)

You can download it from the Patterns Page! (I’m working on putting it on Ravelry, and it should be up sometime soon.)

Also, in design news: I’m working up 2 versions of the Earthbender Hat for a class in the HPKCHC. Those patterns will be posted (if not in PDF form, then definitely in a blog post) before the end of the month!

PATTERN: Waterbender Hat

WATERBENDER HAT

(Download the PDF!)

Size: One size fits most adult heads

Yarn: 1 ball each of Wisdom Yarns Poems #558 (MC) and #517 (CC)

Needles: US9 Circular (I did Magic Loop on a 40” circular set, but you can use a shorter circular set and switch to DPNs for the crown)

Gauge: 4.5 stitches per inch (row gauge is not crucial)

CO 112

Join for working in the round. Work in 2×2 ribbing for 1 – 1.5 inches

K 1 row even, decreasing 2 stitches evenly. You should now have 110 stitches.

BEGIN CHART:

After working the 8 rows of the chart, switch back to MC. Knit in MC for 4 – 5 inches (measure from bottom of ribbing.)

Begin decreasing.

1: *K9, k2tog* around

2 and all even-numbered rows: K around

3: *K8, k2tog* around

5: *K7, k2tog* around

7: *K6, k2tog* around

9: *K5, k2tog* around

11: *K4, k2tog* around

13: *K3, k2tog* around

15: *K2, k2tog* around

17: *K1, k2tog* around

19: K2tog around (You can repeat this row if you like.)

Cut yarn, leaving a generous tail, and thread yarn needle. Draw yarn through remaining stitches to close top of hat. Weave in ends.

Wear with pride when you’re practicing your Waterbending skillz.

WIP: As-Yet-Unnamed Mitts

New design I’m working on. It will be published on this blog as soon as I get it typed up and prepared.

I think it’s going to be my first pattern for sale, instead of offered free. My lovely friend Dani suggested that I sell the pattern, and when I said I didn’t even know where to begin with selling patterns, she offered to help me. I’m excited about it! It’s been fun to knit so far, and I can’t wait to finish the pair and release the pattern!

(PS: BIIIG Christmas Knits FO Roundup coming soon!)

Christmas Knitting

JK CAN’T TALK TOO BUSY KNITTING.

Stash: MMMMALABRIGO

*hangs head* I’m a bad blogger, I know.

Just wanted to pop in and share the most recent addition to my stash.

14 skeins of Malabrigo Worsted. Purchased from Little Knits, which is quickly becoming my favorite online retailer. And yes, 14 skeins might seem excessive, BUT almost every skein has a purpose.

Here’s the breakdown.

The Blues:

3 skeins of “Bobby Blue.”

2 skeins of “Continental Blue.”

The Purples:

2 skeins of “Cuarzo.”

2 skeins of “Jacinto.”

The Greens:

2 skeins of “Verde Esperanza.” (This one is actually a really deep green that my camera just could not capture. It’s so lovely.)

1 skein of “Saphire Green,” because it was all they had in stock. I wish I could’ve bought more in this colorway, it is beautiful!

And the obligatory Yellow:

2 skeins of “Cadmium.” Because I cannot say no to yellow.

Almost each set of skeins has a destiny, which almost never happens. Usually I buy yarn because it’s there, or because it’s pretty, but I went into this purchase adventure with a plan.

Christmas knitting is (sort of) coming along. I need to speed-knit to get everything done, I think. But I have plans!

THIS IS MY NIGHTMARE

(Sorry for the horrible webcam picture.)

Do you see it? DO YOU SEE IT?

That’s a hole in my handknit sock. I wore them ONCE. WAH.

Umm, they’re in time-out until I can figure out exactly how to deal with this catastrophe.

FO: Waterbender Hat

Okay, let’s be honest here, yall. I AM NOT A REAL ADULT.

I may fake it on the outside, but inside … I am an awkward, quirky, obnoxious little child.

So when my dear roommate Jessica suggested we start watching an older Nickelodeon show called Avatar: The Last Airbender, of course I consented. It was animated, for chrissakes! I couldn’t pass it up.

Shortly into the first season (we have all 3 seasons on DVD) it became clear that this was a new obsession that I simply couldn’t escape. I loved everything about it: the characters were funny, one of the voice-actors was on Arrested Development, it had the child-who-has-a-responsibility-to-save-the-world-and-is-angsty-about-it, and it had characters that could throw fire WITH THEIR FEET. (I WANT TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT!)

So, obviously I started thinking about knitting something related to the show. There are 4 different types of Benders in the show: Water, Earth, Fire, and Air, to correspond with the 4 elements. The Avatar, Aang, who is angsty about saving the world, is the master of all 4 elements, and he has to use them to defeat the Fire Lord, who is trying to take over the world.

In order to master all 4 elements, Aang must learn them all in a specific order. Aang is an Airbender by birth, so he has to learn Water, Earth, and Fire in that order.

I decided to design a set of 4 hats to correspond with the different Bending styles, and I decided to do it in the order that Aang has to learn the other Bending styles.

Aang had to learn Waterbending first, so it’s the first hat I designed.

I used half the chart from Knitty’s Swell for the waves. I used Poems again (because apparently, I am obsessed) and clever readers will already have realized that the MC is the same as the one I used for my IRK hat!

(This next paragraph relates, I promise.)

The Harry Potter Knit/Crochet House Cup (hereafter known as HPKCHC or just House Cup) started its fall term on Ravelry this week, and I am very glad to be returning for my 3rd term as a Hufflepuff! One of the classes this month is Charms, and the assignment is to study to Aguamenti Charm, create something water related, be it colours, waves etc. I proposed an idea in my House’s Common Room: would another ‘Puff be willing to test-knit my hat pattern and count is as their Charms assignment? I had 2 responses, so I typed up the pattern and posted it to this blog in a password-protected post and PM’d the people who expressed interest. (If you’re interested in seeing the pattern before I release it, shoot me an email and I’ll send you the password.)

So, Water is done. Earth is next, and I need to do some practice before I get started on it. I have an awesome idea for the Earthbender hat, but it involves using a technique I’ve never done before, so practicing is necessary.

Happy Bending, everybody.

FO: My Floppy Hat (& WIPs!)

Project: My Floppy Hat
Pattern: None! I just sorta winged it. (Wung it? Whateverrr.)
Yarn: Araucania Nature Wool Chunky

Made to coordinate with Kristin’s Crackpot Idea Hat, but not match completely.

It’s not quite as floppy as Kristin’s hat, but that’s cool. Mine can also double as a beanie if need be. Depends on how I want to wear it.

Araucania continues to be my favorite yarn brand. I love everything that they produce, and their colors are simply glorious. The color variations in this yarn are just beautiful.

So, now Kristin and I will be SUPER HAT TWINZ on the road trip to Cincinnati!

(Bonus points if you can guess the movie on the screen!)

Things that I’m currently working on:

• Wrockstock Pullover (My very first pullover!)
• Super secret HC84 Project! (HC84 is the event that Kristin and I are road-tripping to at the end of the month!)

So, that’s about that. I predict that my knitting will probably decrease once school starts (NEXT WEEK OMG) but I’m trying to get in as much knitting as I can before then!

FO: Crackpot Idea Hat

Project: Crackpot Idea Hat
Pattern: E-town Pithy Hat by Briggs & Little
Yarn: Paton’s Classic Wool Merino

My dear friend Kristin works in publishing, and within the next year, her magazine is getting shut down. She is being proactive and thinking of ideas for when this happens. One of the more hair-brained ideas is as follows (copy/pasted from a googlechat):

Kristin: I think I’m going to research how to be a flight attendant
Kristin: That’s my latest crackpot employment idea after my time here is up
Laura: i love that idea
Laura: you’d get to travel everywhere, play with the fake seatbelts, demonstrate oxygen masks
Kristin: My stepbrother’s wife is a southwest flight attendant
Kristin: I could do that
Kristin: I love to travel
Kristin: i mean, I could travel for free
Laura: think how awesome that would be
Laura: i have this vision in my head of you as kirsten dunst in elizabethtown
Kristin: AWESOME
Laura: YOU COULD MEET ORLANDO BLOOM AND CONVINCE HIM TO GO ON A ROAD TRIP TO MEET YOU
Laura: AND WEAR A RED BERET
Kristin: uhhhh IDEAL
Laura: I COULD KNIT IT FOR YOU
Kristin: I WISH YOU WOULD

Obviously, I had to do it.

So, after an epic quest for the pattern, I got to work. It only took me 2 days to knit the whole thing. Magical! I texted Kristin when it was almost done and told her that if I finished with enough time left over (I’m seeing her on August 28th for a ROAD TRIP!) I would knit one for myself and we’d be super twinz, arriving to Cincinnati in STYYYYLE.

Mine is going to be in yellow, of course.

I finished the hat late Sunday night, after Kristin and I had been on Skype. I showed her the hat when it was in its final stages, and she seemed to love it, which makes me super happy. As soon as I finished it, I put it on and took pictures. I have never really been a slouchy-hat-girl, but I couldn’t take this one off! It just reinforces my desire to knit one for myself.

And here comes my ridiculous face.

This hat was a lot of fun to knit, but I think mine will have different cables on it. I’m toying with the idea of using the cables from the Irish Hiking Scarf, but I haven’t made any concrete decisions yet. Except for the color.