Thursday, January 15, 2009

Turn-A-Square, or two...

Thanks to all of you that gave me the many recs for what to do with two skeins in Malabrigo in Apple Green. I learned about so many new patterns and have queued many of them. In the end, Earthchick and her Scrunchable Scarf suggestion have carried the day. Thanks Stacey!

Turn-A-Square x 2

I am, at bottom, a hat knitter. I just really can never have too many hats at my disposal--I even made a little private (pointless?) vow to wear a different hat to campus every day this month. And since I am teaching a M-W-F schedule plus a day for advising and other duties, that's 16. Well I have just increased my chances of realizing my secret plan by two, as I proudly add these two darlings into the rotation:

Turn-A-Square x 2

This is the perfect project that helps you remember what you loved about the Noro in the first place. The sheen of the Cash Iroha + the tripped-out color changes of the Silk Garden = extreme hat joy. Their gauges are spot on with one another and so pairing them together is a cinch. Think of this combo as the Garanimals of the yarn world. I am now crestfallen as finding that link has caused me to discover that this brand is now sold only at Satan's Lair, i.e. Walmart. Is nothing sacred? Is the world of my youth completely gone?

Turn-A-Square #1

The Specs
Pattern: Turn-A-Square by Jared Flood
Yarn: Hat #1 (light green), Silk Garden #242 and Cash Iroha #106; Hat #2 (dark green), Silk Garden #255 and Cash Iroha #100.
Needles; Size 6 and 7, HiyaHiya circs.
Time: Each hat takes basically two days of leisurely knitting, with time off for other projects. Check the name of the blog, people.

I could have easily entitled this post 'What a difference a green makes', as the two greens here couldn't be more dissimilar. On the skein I much prefer the lighter shade, but knitted up I can see that the darker shade has its merits as well. Different strokes and all that...

Turn-A-Square #2

One of the most appealing aspects of this project is that it introduced me to the jogless stripes technique. Umm HELLO where have you been all my life, jogless stripes technique? I can't believe I had never tried this or heard about it. It has improved the joins to the point that you almost don't see them. Man I wish I had this technique back when I was doing the Kauni cardi and was getting trashed on the Ravelry discussion board for trying to not make a cardigan and proposed knitting it in the round. But what about the jogs?!!! The board became alarmed, my knowledge was questioned. Humiliated and shamed, I gave up. But if I would have had this technique maybe I could have triumphed over the Rav trolls. Whatevs.

This is a great pattern, and I hope to make bunch more, just not now. Tiennie, how do you do it?






28 comments:

earthchick said...

OMG, I'm so excited that you picked the pattern I suggested! Woohoo. Up with Scrunchable Scarves! It really is the perfect marriage of yarn to pattern, yes? I can't wait to see yours in the Apple Green!

And speaking of green - WOW I love your hats. This hat is in my queue, but I got sidetracked by the Almost-Famous Luggy Bonnet, which I now have to make a third one of. One of these days, though, I'm definitely going to do a Turn the Square. Your look fantastic.

Jodi said...

Love the hats! What spring-like color combos. Yeah, you can tell what the -10F weather here in Chicago is making me yearn for...

Anonymous said...

Your hats are awesome! I love knitting hats too - so easy, quick and make great gifts!

YawnOver said...

Nice job on the hats - you picked some great color combos!

weezalana said...

Pretty pretty! Isn't the jogless jog fabulous? I actually tinked back a sleeve - a completed finished sleeve mind you - on my Wallaby because I'd spaced and forgotten to do it there!

a friend to knit with said...

i love these! i do really need to turn a square.

i really LOVE that you are wearing a different hat everyday this month! and am truly impressed. i have 3 hats that i have made for myself. 16??? wow.
i need to get busy.

Pikku- Kettu said...

Pretty hats! And one for each day of a month? Wow!

I basically have one hat. Hats seem to be the only thing that I don't really knit, not for myself at least.

Emily said...

Love 'em! I need to make one of these for TH.

peaknits said...

How does Tiennie do it? Your hats are fabulous, I love each one!

Stacey said...

Turn a square is the BEST hat pattern ever! The two you made are spectacular - the greens (I esp. love the light green!) really make the Silk Garden colors pop!

Sarah said...

I have yet to try the jogless jog, but then again, I'm not really a stripe girl. I'm sure I'll get around to it one day.

I do like these hats -- such cheerful colors for this very colorless time of year!

Karen said...

Isn't that a fun pattern? Love them both!

Jennie said...

Nice!! I may have to try this pattern out. :)

Barb said...

I admire your vow and the hats!! I only hope you aren't dipping into the Hourglass stash!

Stephanie said...

I'm going to CO that scrunchable scarf today.

Stay warm :)

Unknown said...

Love the hats. Great mission! I don't have that many hats, but I have been considering making a turn the square for myself.

Anonymous said...

I really must make one of these hats. So cool in an understated way. I had no idea about the jogs either; thanks for cluing me in. Have a great weekend!

Anonymous said...

If humiliation and shame could down a knitter, there wouldn't be any of us. Carry on!!

Kim said...

Awesome hats! I gasped with joy at the green! I remember Garanimals! Ah the dorky outfits of my youth. I failed at the jogless jog. I just ended up with holes. Must be doing it wrong.

Claire said...

Green is my dad's favorite color, so I might have to knit him a green hat after seeing these lovelies... Thanks for the beautiful eye candy!

WonderMike said...

I'm curious... what do you think about the raglan decreases without the neutral stitch? I'm somewhat of a loosey goosey knitter and I find the ssk folllowed by k2tog leaves a little ladder in between the stitches. Did you? Am I a tard? Oh, and I LOVE the jogless join!

Alison said...

My jogless stripes kept jogging, but I only tried it a couple times, back in the day...
And Tiennie, she's a machine.

Happy knitting!

alligator said...

Much love for the hats! In fact I may copy you, bwahaha! Umm... When I get to it. Anyways what I meant to say was I like your hats!

liset said...

This hat is so pretty! The colour is great too!
I love ALL the things you make. So beautiful.

Anonymous said...

Oops...forgot to answer your question - I do it by locking the kids in their rooms and never feeding them thereby leaving me lots of time to knit. :)

Octopus Knits said...

The hats are gorgeous! I want one now :)

spajonas said...

these are such fabulous hats! and everyone seems to love knitting this particular pattern too :)

Dove Knits said...

Tsk,tsk. Had you followed my blog, you would have learned all about jogless knitting from my Green Zebra cardigan. Oh well, better late than never! Love the greens!