words of the week

Word 1 = Fez, as in the Tasseled Fez pattern from Hats On! by Charlene Schurch, knit in Berkshire by Valley Yarns, available at Webs. Learned a 2-color cast-on and twined herringbone edge, which I'm not sure I did right but I like it anyway. Long repeat means that this little project requires concentration, but it's a quickie because it's fun to see the design develop.

This is a 3-pointed hat and I chose to do a 3-needle bind-off at the top, making a very cool kaleidoscopic pattern where the design comes together at the center and an awful lot of giggles because of the three floppy tassels hanging by braids from the points. The yarn is loosely spun single ply, Lopi-like merino that includes some alpaca for luscious softness. Double thickness as a result of the stranded pattern makes for a very thick and soft hat. The herringbone edge has a tendency to curl, but it doesn't seem to be a big deal. I'd probably do the edge on smaller needles if I made it again, switching to larger needles when I started the main pattern in an attempt to eliminate the curling.

Word 2 = Snood, as in a tiny snood crocheted on a whim as a bun cover for a kiddo whose hair is not really long enough to wear in a bun yet but who really wanted her hair up off her face on a recent hot day. We weren't sure she'd like the hairstyle after all, so I just made up a quick double crochet pattern in acrylic boucle, but it ends up that she LOVES wearing her hair this way and I agree that it looks nice, so there will undoubtedly be more variations in the future. Maybe we'll even do some finer designs out of the scads of crochet cotton I have leftover from hackeysack-making Dead tour days.

Even though we don't need another hat around here, I've already started the Lusekofte Cap from Hats On! That book has probably half a dozen hats that I want to knit and it's still hot and humid out, so I figure I'll stick with the small projects during the end-of-summer parties, picnics, and beach days planned over the next week or two. If I'm lucky, I'll finish the current hat between the two picnic-parties this weekend and move on to another (or whatever else floats my boat) for the mid-week beach days to come!