Recently there have been complaints 'round these parts that my hats 'just aren't warm enough'. It would appear that a certain persnickety individual is dissatisfied with the thermal retention capabilities of the run-of-the-mill hand knit hat. To that person I feel like saying 'Hey, you could have married that crazy broad you were dating before you met me who claimed to not be able to hear vowels and let her son throw up in a glass at a restaurant and told you to leave it and that the waitress should clean it up because that's her job', but I hold my tongue, and give him what is known in my family as the arched eyebrows of disdain. My brother is the expert.
Marital quibbles aside, his remonstrations did get me thinking that a hat with a liner would be nice after all. So after some admiration of Tiennie's masterstroke, I figured that I would have a go at EZ's Very Warm Hat from The Opinionated Knitter. Besides it gave me the opportunity to delve into the realm of the newest hot color combo, I'm calling it 'redoise' (red and turquoise), which is totally the new chocqua, incidentally. I am not the first knitter to put these two together, as evidenced by this.
Just when you think you've been entertained to the limit by Elizabeth Zimmermann's unique prose, you come across a line in her directions that just makes you so very, very happy. At the end of the directions for the Very Warm Hat, you are told to "follow these directions for your first hat; then go careening off in your own idiosyncratic direction for all subsequent hats." Wow. Did she have our numbers or what?
The Specs
Pattern: Very Warm Hat
Yarn: Malabrigo worsted in 'American Beauty' and 'Water Green'
Needles: Size 8 addi turbo
Mods: None at all.
Knitting this hat was a pleasure, although my edge where I picked up the sts for the second hat is somewhat screwy. I am pleased with the outcome, as is the recipient, who will never be allowed to live down certain choices he made in the dating arena as far as I am concerned...
And can you believe that there is more Make My Day love coming my way? Thanks to Kim, Rachel, Janet, and Larissa, a group of knitters I admire to the utmost.
45 comments:
Yowzer! I was impressed with Tiennie's hat and now yours as well. Maybe it's because I just can't wrap my mind around how it's done! I'll have to check the book tonight. That color combo is just the coolest. Oh, and that dating story? Hilarious. It's no wonder...
Finally, you have succumbed to my lined hat thing. Fantastic colors.
You had me at "throw up in a glass"...but seriously, the hat is amazing - another reason why I cannot deny myself Elizabeth Zimmerman a minute longer!
Hmmm. Turns out that EZ book is finally on its way to me via Amazon this very minute! And I have the perfect Malabrigo color combo in the stash (I know, you aren't surprised). Thanks for the inspiration, the hat looks gorgeous (and super dooper warm, too)!
Also, I did not think anyone could beet my bf's "past dating history" stories... but, dude, you win.
Redoise totally rocks! I was the lucky recipient of that sock that Pam made. The second one is lurking in my WIP's pile.
I'm completely besotted with your hat! Must go dig through stash. Gotta love EZ.
Every time I see someone knit an EZ design, I'm more and more impressed with that woman.
Knitting with the Malabrigo must have been pure heaven. The hat is divine!! Bravo!
another lovely hat. i have to stop knitting scarves and make a hat with my noro iro. i love your project spectrum yarns wow those might be inspiration enough to make a pair of socks but sadly i'm over the sock knitting phase. i think i did 3 pair and i've had the foruth on the needles for two or three years!
Hats are the new socks. Great color combo. That pattern rocks.
"redoise"—I love it, sounds a little like something you would find in a boudoir.
The hat looks like it should end any complaints! Very neat!
Buy me a ticket on the redoise love train. That hat almost makes me want to move someplace cold enough to warrant knitting one. Nobody puts it better than EZ.
Oh man that hat is AWESOME! I've been obsessed with orange and turquoise but you have made me see the light!
love these hats! great colors.
It looks so awesome!
I've always loved red and turquoise together! (You should see the rug in my family room.) That hat is fantastic. I hope the recipient appreciates it!
I can't get over your dating story - hilarious!!
Cool hat - wish we'd get some hat weather down here.
I just can't get over how, every time I look, someone has knit an EZ design I didn't know about!
The hat is adorable, and I certainly hope it helps to stave off the arched eyebrows of disdain.
Uh, nice hat but, um, that restaurant story has scarred me for life... WTF?????
Rockqua, man. Rockqua. It's where it's at. Although I'm now foraying into chartreusqua with happy results.
Seriously, in a glass?
Ok, this is my big idea for youtube- a knit-slapdown between ADD and Tiennie: you two sitting in a ring with yarn and needles and patterns scattered all around you both and when the bell rings you have to scramble to grab materials and put together a project and who ever gets it knitted up first is world champion!!!! I would even do pay TV for something that exciting!
think about it, I hear Don King is looking for a job....
She...couldn't hear vowels? Also, as mentioned by other commenters, A GLASS?!
The hat is awesome, I just love everything Zimmerman!
Love it!!!!
Great hats! Love the new color trend: redoise. Next time Mr. ADD complains about anything just hand him some vomit in a glass. How can you not hear vowels? WTF?
Great hat!
Ooooo! I love the color combo and I love the hat. I just queued it. I'll have to be certain to find as stunning a color combo as you!
Wait. In a glass...and she told him to leave it...because why?!! Oh, clearly he did something right at some point in his life. Imagine what his life would be like without the redoise? And that hat is fantastic, of course.
Ha! I love EZ, don't you love her surprises like that.
The er, puke in a glass story, is pretty freakin scary. Im glad he didn't stay.
that hat looks divine in that yarn! i've always thought of the Very Warm Hat as overwhelmingly warm and itchy, but in Malabrigo? yum!
Great hat! I love the "redoise" ;)
In my family, I'm the expert at the "arched eyebrow of disdain". My mom asks me to demonstrate constantly. It's very effective when used properly, hee hee....
Hope the blahs have cleared away!
knittymuggins
Very cool "very warm" hat. The red zig zag reminds me of a heart monitor. It's be perfect for a doctor or nurse.
What a wonderful hat, and I'm sure there will be no more complaints about warmth with this one :)
Love the hat, and the EZ quote about "careening off in your own idiosyncratic direction" - sounds like what I do all the time on everything!
As a consumer of hats rather than a knitter of them, I can confirm one thing: a hat's warmth is of extreme importance, as is the exact fit, which I say should be slightly springy and clingy but NOT snug. Few things are more disappointing than (when, say, miserable & tired in some drafty train station, full of cracked concrete and urea) grabbing your hat out of your backpack, thinking it will save your comfort, only to be thwarted by a head-binding yet somehow insufficient toque. This is one place where tight skimpy clothes don't do any good for anybody. So: it's good you're staying relevant. Sometimes people actually wear these things you guys knit. :)
Aw thanks but yours is the Masterstroke! I love the colors together!
You've made me VERY glad I was never a waitress...Love the hat (that water green!). Definitely bound to be the warmest, softest hat ever. Perfect.
Oh yes, totally a a very warm hat and I second that on the water green colorway. It's so sweet!
Wow. That throwing up in a glass thing creates quite a mental picture. I think EZ had our numbers before we born, much less knitters.
I love love love this hat. Your color choices are SUPREME. :-)
Oh, excellent hat--I was just thinking today (7 with wind chill) that my own handknits are a wee bit drafty. "Redoise," huh? Certainly better than the alternative that flashes to mind.
What a lovely hat!
Absolutely the best dating story! Prior gf was a nut...& disgusting. (I hope I am not the subj. for some poor hubby's wife out there. I don't think I was a crack pot datee, but ya never know.) I am loving that EZ hat. I have now seen the light as far as EZ goes. Amazon here I come! (Thanks for pushing me over that edge.) Your color combo is delish & malabrigo is the best.
this hat is a total winner - i love it!
Nice hat! I'm rather oobed out by that restaurant story.
Lovely interpretation of EZ! I actually cheated on mine and just did a turning row in all purl stitches before starting the second hat. No picking up stitches. :)
i LOVE the hat! the color combo is excellent, and the reversibility is to die for.
Great colors! I have yet to fall prey to the temptation of the double knit hat. But I can see it happening to me soon...
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