Urchin on the Couch! / Dear Mom:

I made you a hat, but I just can't give it to you.

Instead, the Urchin On The Couch is going to my own little urchin on the couch.


Pattern: Urchin by Ysolda Teague
Started: April 21, 2008
Completed: April 22, 2008
Materials: My Handspun "Mom's Couch," 84 yards
Needles: US 11 / 8.0 mm

This pattern knits up super-quick, but I'm not sure I'd attribute that solely to its ease. Unless you're the type to write down rows while you work—which I'm only inclined to do on complicated Arans—there's a certain intellectual drive required for this pattern in order to keep counts going in your head. With such short rows, it seemed wrong to constantly pick up a pencil to make little tic marks. Bad enough that I was flipping needles so frequently. I probably should have tried knitting backwards to avoid some of these irritations, but truth-be-told, I quickly assessed that I just wanted it done.

Further evidence of my desire to finish as quickly as possible: I originally set out to work this project Continental (I'm a longtime thrower—which you know since you taught me how to knit—and I'm dying to get picky with it!). I even started the hat that way, and I was getting more comfortable with Continental style when my urge to get this pattern done quickly surpassed my desire for the learning experience.

As I envisioned this project, Urchin seemed the perfect match for this handspun, named for you. It doesn't require a lot of yardage (although it did use up every little bit I had), and it's designed to celebrate thick-thin yarns (a category for which this, my second-ever attempt at drop spindling, certainly qualifies).


Please believe me when I say I had every intention of giving the hat to you. After all, you are the "Mom" of the eponymous couch fame. But when I pulled the hat off the needles and tried it on my head, I went, "Ugh!" It looked absolutely horrible on me and should never again grace the head of a self-respecting adult.

The problem had less to do with the pattern and more to do with the color-striping effect. You see, all those nifty, vertical short rows that give this hat its interesting construction are fine knit up with solid-color yarn. But for anything that will stripe, the short rows look dreadful. You end up with weird poolings in odd, unflattering places on your head.


So, I'm sorry, Mom. The Hat That Would Have Been Yours would not have looked good on you at all. But on C, whose head is a smaller circumference, it can be a little more floppy and slouchy and, therefore, becomes more tolerable. Of course, this kid can wear paper bags and still look smashing.

C's thrilled because "Mommy made me something, FINALLY!" (Surprise!) She wore it all day at school and has set out an outfit that matches it again for tomorrow. So some good has come from it all!

We can probably chalk this experience up to good karma. Remember that for Christmas last year I sent you The Hat That Would Have Been Mine: the Kool Kool[river]haas, the third and final fling of my love affair with Jared's Koolhaas. Well before I had that one off the needles, I knew it looked like it belonged to you!




Now that's a good-looking hat for Mom! (Thanks, B, for sending the pictures!)

Christmas Again: Pumpkin Koolhaas Redux

My sister sent pictures of the Koolhaas I made her for Christmas! She's been making wonderful gifts for everyone else for years — even when there's not really an occasion other than that she loves us. Back in December, when we talked about the Koolhaas hat and she mentioned how much she wanted one, I decided to make it for her for Christmas.


Pattern: Koolhaas by Jared Flood
Started: December 14, 2007
Completed: December 17, 2007
Materials: Peace Fleece Worsted in Glastnost Gold
Needles: US 6 / 4.0 mm; US 8 / 5.0 mm

B adores all the colors of fall, so I knew the yarn would be in the autumn color range. I looked forward to an opportunity to work with colors outside my normal color scheme. I had just finished the J's Pumpkin Koolhaas, so I figured I'd keep B's out of the orange colorway. I knew from my conversation with her, though, that she was interested in something tweedy like I'd done for J. Peace Fleece had been on my mind since the planning stages of J's Urban Aran. I knew it would be great for this hat.

So off I went to my LYS, all but flinging myself towards the Peace Fleece. Fortunately, I had cell phone in-hand. As I perused the stacks and contemplated the options — and found myself holding tweeds in lovely reds and greens (colors I do usually work with) — I realized I needed to get B on the phone and talk through the fiber selection with her. Just hearing her voice got me right back on track with my thinking: "This is a gift for my sister. Her favorite color in the world is orange. Of course her hat should be orange."

Peace Fleece is quite dense in this pattern. (Read: Will get you through the deepest freeze.) I like the way the cabling nestles in to the fabric rather than popping way out on top. It’s a very different look that I find really beautiful – and the hat looks better on people (like me) who have fuller faces and, therefore, can’t pull off skullies in lighter weights.


It’s a little hard to tell from the online screed res, but this is a beautiful, subtle tweed, with red, yellow, and teal/green in the little nubbins.

I got better gauge with this than the Tahki Donegal I used on J’s. It didn't turn out as long as his. No need to roll the brim.

Note that I had quite a bit of yarn left over. I purchased one skein and still have about 50g left!

In the end, I'm so glad I went with the orange! My fears that two orange projects in a row would get boring were unfounded. The Peace Fleece and the Tahki Donegal used on J's hat are so different that I found myself fascinated with the nuances of difference between the two and was actually glad to have done one right after the other.

Best of all, B says she loves it and, occasionally, even has opportunity to wear this woolly wonder in New Orleans.

I enjoyed working with the orange so much that I went and got myself a skein of orange sock yarn and look forward to knitting it up!

Christmas Knitting (or C's Woe Is Me and the Koolhaas Solution)

Just before Christmas, C was feeling left out of the big knit fest — convinced that nobody would ever make anything for her. I had recently made two pairs of socks: one for myself and another pair for my MIL. I had also started the Urban Aran Cardigan for J, which was intended as a Christmas present but then got sidelined while I completed some smaller projects... including 3 Koolhaas hats for gifts. Little did C know, I was working on a pair of legwarmers for her after she went to bed each night.


Pattern: My own.
Started: December 12, 2007
Completed: December 24, 2007
Materials: Moda Dea Sassy Stripes (2 skeins)
Needles: US 1 / 2.25 mm

She loves them, and they keep her legs very warm when she rides the scooter with me.

Of course, because of all C's loud moaning and gnashing of teeth, her dad promised to make her a hat. I had recently taught him how to knit, and he had just finished his very first knitting project. Here is his Vivace Scarf:


Great job, no? It's a basic seed-stitch pattern in Ty Dy cotton.

I had recently finished one of Brooklyntweed's Koolhaas hats for him for Christmas, and I had been urging him to consider tackling one himself. I believe knitters need to be fearless. There are only a limited number of stitches and stitch techniques, so what better pattern to teach him cables on than a hat that's loaded with them? He took the challenge and decided that, for his second knitting project ever, he would make C a Koolhaas. It is with great pride that I present C's Great Poppin' Koolhaas, made by her dad:


What's with the name, you ask? I had modified the pattern for smaller-circumference heads. Before we blocked it, the hat kept popping off C's head! She looked like this a lot:



Blocking took care of the problem, so no more poppin'! I don't know about you, but I'm thoroughly impressed with this hat — doubly so because it's only his second project!

So C landed two hand-knit Christmas presents. And J enjoyed knitting the Koolhaas so much, he made one for me, too!


My husband rocks!

J's Pumpkin Koolhaas

We all know the maxim that you should never knit your boyfriend a sweater... well I never did. In fact, I may hold a record. This year, nearly 20 years after meeting my boyfriend/husband, I finally knuckled down and knit something for him:

Pattern: Koolhaas by Jared Flood [AKA Brooklyntweed]
Started: December 7, 2007
Completed: December 11, 2007
Materials: Tahki Donegal Tweed
Needles: US 6 / 4.0 mm; US 8 / 5.0 mm



Love the stitch definition with this yarn. This was my first try at the Koolhaas. The hat ended up fitting well around but being a bit long, so Joseph folds up the rib. He loves it and, I’m happy to say, wears it all the time... even around the house!



But wait — What's that he's doing? (you ask) He's knitting! Yessiree, there's a lot of good that can come from checking out Brooklyntweed, the remarkable blog by Jared Flood. In my household, that "good" was J's decision to give knitting a whirl. (Thank you, Jared, for your stunning aesthetic!) I started teaching him in November, and by Christmas he had finished his first project (that scarf in the picture) and a second project for C (see the next entry). In the picture, he's working on a tie of his own design. He now has his own Ravelry account, and you can check out his project page to see more of it.

Back to the Koolhaas:

It's a fantastic pattern. I live near the Seattle Public Library where Jared got his inspiration, so I’m partial. As of January, I’ve made three of these – given them all away – received one (knit by Joseph), and modified the pattern for children’s sizes so Joseph could knit one for our daughter. Did I mention we love this pattern?

I finished it well before Christmas and gave it to him to wear right away. Who can really wait when the guy lives with you, watched you knit it for 3 days, and knows it's done? Not me! The problem was, I had told C it would be a Christmas present. Rather than blow the whole Christmas thing for her, we kept it a secret that J was wearing the hat. He'd wait to put it on until she wasn't around. We did have a few scares, but we pulled it off. When he unwrapped it Christmas morning, she was thrilled because he would finally get to wear it!

Unfortunately, I gifted the other two Koolhaas's I made for my mom and sister before taking any pictures. My sister promises to send me some, so I'll post them sometime in the future!