Cable Gram Blog
Stripes! Part 1 of the Variations on a Theme Challenge
IMPORTANT: Some users report experiencing migraines and seizures when accessing Ravelry due to their site redesign. Links in this blog post direct to Ravelry pages and are spelled out accordingly. If you are prone to either of these issues, please proceed with caution when clicking the Ravelry links.
For the first round of the Variations on a Theme Challenge, MKG knitters worked from the 1898 hat pattern (Ravelry pattern page).
In this post, we look at the many ways knitters added stripes to the pattern. But first, let's look at a "vanilla" version of this hat, knit by Barbara Rice (babsknits126 on Ravelry), one of many participants who knit a plain hat to learn the pattern before creating their variation.
This hat pattern features a double layer brim/headband with increases and decreases to shape ear flaps; next, stitches are picked up along the top of the headband to form the crown. Barbara knit her version on size 7 needles with Red Heart Super Saver Multis.
Jessica Clifton (jessicalouMN on Ravelry) knit hers with Berroco Vintage in three colors because she didn't have enough of any one color to finish a whole hat. She says, "What a fun hat to knit!"
Guild President Kathy Lewinski (katbaro on Ravelry), working with Knit Picks Wool of the Andes (black and grey) and Knit Picks City Tweed DK (red and grey), created stripes in the brim by knitting 2 rows in each color. Since the pattern tells you to count the rows in the brim, changing colors like this helps keep count. Kathy also used slip stitches to create a nice border at the top of the brim.
The next hat is one I made (artistnumber91 on Ravelry). Ever since I knit the vertically-stranded-socks by Lorilee Beltman (Ravelry pattern page), I've been looking for a place to use her vertical stranding technique, which I think of as a one-stitch intarsia. I decided to put two narrow stripes in the headband portion of this hat, using vertical stranding. For the dark green stitches, I purled on the right side and knit on the wrong side, so the stripes really pop.
Kate Crandall (KateCKnit on Ravelry) added a more elaborate stripe using a Latvian braid as she picked up stitches to form the hat crown. Her main yarn is Aarlan Cristal, a 100% wool, single ply that was left over from a much-loved sweater she made in 1989. The green yarn in the braid was left over from a sweater she just finished.
And the Latvian braid variation in Kate's version hints at the topic of the next blog post on the Variations on a Theme Challenge: more colorwork beyond stripes. Stay tuned for more!
The Variations on a Theme Challenge will be ongoing throughout the year as we knit for our various service knitting partners.
We hope you will join along! Learn more here.
April Meeting & New Ticketing Site!
** 4/20 The Zoom email link has gone out to everyone who registered. Please check the email you used to reserve your tickets. If you don’t see it there, check your spam folder. If you still don’t see it please email Kathy presidentmkg@gmail.com **
Join us for a Conversion with the Maker Sarah Schira of Imagined Landscapes.
Sarah loves to knit and design gnomes. She discovered a lot of other knitters like gnomes too thanks to her popular #nevernotgnoming knit alongs. When she's not knitting gnomes, she works on knitting patterns for everyday adventures inspired by her love of travel.
Our trunk show guest will be Knitcircus Yarns from Madison, WI.
Starting with this April 2021 MKG meeting, we are making some changes to how you register to get the Zoom link for our monthly meetings. We will now be registering interested attendees through a ticketing site. Here is the link to reserve your ticket for this month's meeting. Everyone who gets a ticket will receive the Zoom link the morning of the meeting. This means YOU MUST GET YOUR TICKET BY MIDNIGHT THE DAY BEFORE THE MEETING.
Why the change? We are proud to support teachers, designers, and speakers in the fiber community by paying them to present at our meetings. Although our programming remains free and open to the public, there is a cost to it. A typical meeting costs $3-5 per attendee, after technology subscriptions, speaker fees, prizes, etc... We wanted to give people who aren't members of the Guild, but want to attend a particular meeting, a way to make a donation to help support our programming if they are able.
For those of you who are members, we so appreciate your on-going support. Without your yearly dues there would be no Minnesota Knitters' Guild.
Designer Spotlight: Barbann Pappas
Monthly Yarn Store Spotlight Series: Darn.Knit (Anyway)
Service Knitting Drive-Up Donation Event
Variations on a Theme Hat Challenge
WANTED: Knitters to participate in a Variations on a Theme Hat Challenge
to benefit the MKG’s service knitting partners.
How the Challenge Works:
~ We’ll choose a free hat pattern suitable for MKG’s service knitting projects. (First up is the 1898 Hat!)
~ Each participating knitter will choose their own yarn, needles, and creative variations on the pattern.
~ Each knitter will knit their piece, then send a photo of it plus a few sentences describing their choice of yarn and their variations to Bonnie who will run the challenge.
~The photos and description will be compiled into a post for the MKG blog.
~ We hope you will donate your hat for MKG’s service knitting projects, but that’s not a requirement for participating.
~ We’ll continue to choose additional patterns and repeat the process as long as there are interested knitters.
The first challenge (the 1898 Hat!) has begun! Check out our Ravelry group for more information.
If you are interested in joining in, please email Bonnie.