In Which the Pirate Offers Guidance.

Apparently, Michael can’t find his Oversized Hat. It’s not in the closet, not stuffed into the sleeve or pocket of a winter coat, not in the snowboarding bag, and not in any other logical place for a hat to be. Intead of asking me to knit a new one for him, he asked me for advice with making his own replacement. As we were driving right past WEBS on our way to Stratton on Saturday afternoon, we stopped there and he picked out a skein of Cascade 220 in a light heathery gray-ish blue, like the colour of perfectly worn-in jeans.

I showed him how to use the swift and ball-winder in the store:

After we’d had dinner and checked into our hotel, I showed him how to do my favourite cast-on for socks and hats, the stretchy one with slip-knots (video instruction on YouTube):

With only a quick reminder of how to knit and purl, he was ribbing away (on the other side of the room, because the light was slightly better there).

By Sunday evening he was more than halfway through the ribbed part of the hat. I’ve assured him that it will go much faster once he’s on the stockinette portion! And of course, completing the new hat will be the magic that makes the old hat re-appear.

Meanwhile, I knit the heel flap and turn of the textured sock, stopping just before picking up the stitches for the gusset. There should be pictures of that progress later this week, and I’ll also tell you about the charity fundraising project that’s been taking my time away from knitting. Stay tuned!