AuburnChick's Adventures

Today I cast on for a quick project.

But first, let me give you some history because you know I like to hear myself type, but mainly because I think it helps to understand my reasoning for each project I select.

A few weeks ago, I was watching Chicky’s team warm up before a game.  As I sat, a message got passed down from the press box to my spot in the bleachers.  A school administrator liked my hat and wanted one just like it.

Seriously, I thought to myself?

I mean, I am no dummy.  I know that my hat has been the butt of many a joke…behind my back, of course.  And that is fine with me because I tend to not take myself very seriously…most of the time.

I mean, wearing the hat to soccer games had started out as a joke.  Chicky was mortified when I made it, and I considered it my duty to embarrass her.  Heck, I’d been doing it inadvertently for years anyhow.

But I digress (as usual).

So, somebody actually wanted a hat like mine.  I turned back, and I saw her waving to me, a huge smile on her face.

I figured she’d been around teens too long…maybe had fried a few brain cells in the style department…and didn’t think too much about it.  (For the record, she is very stylish, but I’m just saying…you’ve kind of gotta be “out there” to actually want a green hat like that!)

Well, I saw her a few days later at the school, and she offered to PAY me to make the hat for her.

Seriously?

This is the same administrator who shares my affinity for Coconut M&M’s.

First the hat and then the M&M’s.  Great minds think alike.

Well, I knew that the yarn had been discontinued and would be difficult to find, so I let things be…until I found out that the administrator had a nasty health crisis to deal with…quite unexpectedly.

I quickly got on Ravelry and searched through people’s stash, finding a few people who had exactly what I was looking for.  I was able to secure a sweet deal on two skeins and received them yesterday (Saturday)…

And so I cast on.

The pattern is free on Lion Brand’s web site.  You can find it by clicking here.

One neat thing I discovered today is that there is a row counter on the web site!  How cool is this!  I especially appreciated it because my counters are currently being used for other projects.

I pulled out the retired hat, counted rows so I would know how big to make its twin, and got busy.

Now, this project, although quick, is not super-easy.

Why?

Because of these…

Super-mammoth needles!!  Size 19’s, in case you can’t read the small print.

This is what it looks like to knit with these babies…

Yeah.  I told the Mr. that if I didn’t have arthritis before the project, I’d have it afterward!  Oy!

The knitting actually got easier the further along I went.  After working 26 rows, I cast off.  I added a much smaller pom because I didn’t want to make the administrator get a neck crick every time she wore it (and yes, this occasionally happened to me).

I used 1.2 skeins (53 yards) of yarn.

I wrapped the hat, along with the M&M’s and tied the bag with an extra pom pom I’d made…

The administrator is returning to work tomorrow.  Although I do not have to sub, I am going to make a special trip to the school to give it to her.

I cannot wait to see the look on her face!!

Filed under: Knitting | Tagged: big seed stitch hat with pom pom, BIG yarn, Knitting, lion brand |