Scrappy Hat

Yes, I have been working on something besides the Mitred Square Blankie and the Pink Baby set. In my defense, I am running out of yarn for the pink set, and am waiting for an order to arrive, and I simply am not up to making any decisions about which sock yarn to use in which spot for the mitred square blankie. Maybe tomorrow.

Anyway, here is a picture of my sweet Melanie (a.k.a. Mellie, Mellie Vanellie, Smelly Mellie, Miss Grumpus, and Grumpy McCrankypants) modeling the Scrappy Hat (pattern is here) I finished a few days ago.

Mellie is doing OK - we had xrays repeated today, and there is a definite mass at the base of her stomach. Our Vet (super great guy - love him, love him, love him) suggests waiting for a bit and treating her conservatively with meds as the surgery would be intensive/invasive. We have a lot to think about. Not today, though..."I can't think about that today. I'll think about that tomorrow." Scarlett O'Hara

Back to knitting (something which I have a smidgen of control over), I used Wool of the Andes from Knit Picks for the hat, 65 stitches on size 7 needles. The next one I will make a bit smaller, I think. Yes, I WILL me making more - it was lots of fun, and who wouldn't like a scrappy hat as a gift? These are the colors I used.

After working on the hat for a bit and doing a color change after three rows, leaving two tails to be woven in per color change, I remembered something I saw on Knitty Gritty about color changes using a Russian something-or-other method. Sorry, my mind is mush and I don't remember the name of it. Anyway, I tried it, adapted it a bit, and came up with the following, which reduces the number of ends to weave in by half. I'm absolutely positive that other knitters (possibly EVERY other knitter) out there has already figured this out, but it was cool for me, and gave me the feeling that I could look at a problem and come up with a solution, and have it work out well, unlike sitting here crying, watching a sick dog and not be able to fix her boo-boo no matter what you do. But I digress...

Step 1, thread a darning needle with the color you would like to add to your knitting. Insert the needle into the core of the yarn for a bit. I would load the needle with about 2 inches work of yarn, but that would depend the yarn you are using, I guess.

Step 2, insert the tail from the previous color into the "noose" you made with the new yarn.

Step 3, pull the needle out of the core of the yarn.

Step 4, smooth out the bunchie-ness, and voila, end is neatly woven into the yarn.

I apologize if this is so basic that you think I am an idiot for being excited about it, let alone taking pictures of it and putting it in my blog.