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Sunday, August 14, 2005
Summer of Love
Well, I'm off to a slow start. I intended to have these baby hat patterns posted last month, but I had to get a full time job for a while, so my other activities had to slow down. I also wanted to write an essay about preemies, and how they need the warmth and protection that we can provide with our knitting, but my heart just wasn't in it. I do think that babies need these things, and that it is wonderful to be able to help get a new life off to a good start. But there is so much suffering and pain in this world and so much darkness in the news and on the horizon, that I have trouble celebrating the birth of a child (which is one of the reasons I do not have any children of my own).
I have been thinking about Knitting for Change all summer, however, as I've come across articles about knitting all over the internet and in books and magazines at local yarn shops and even at the grocery store.
After much thought and worrying about what to say
about babies and preemies,
I've decided to make month's discussion focus on love,
with baby caps symbolizing the beauty within all people.
We are all born as wonderful and harmless infants, equal and innocent. The disadvantages that many of us face because of poverty, prejudice, disease, and abuse separate us into our own little circles where we rarely make the effort to interact with people from other walks of life. These tragedies are neither deserved nor inevitable. My hope in presenting ideas in this blog is to remind you--and myself!--that there is nothing special about our own situations. If anything, I have been very lucky in my life and with that luck comes the responsibility to share the love and material goods that I have received with those who have not been so fortunate.
As you knit a cap for an innocent, untouched newborn, I hope you will think about giving the same love to all people--to those who are like you and, especially, to those who are not. I believe that it is only by getting to know people personally, as friends, coworkers, and neighbors, that prejudice can come to an end. It is easy to dislike, and even to hate, strangers and faceless groups of "others" whom we fear, but it is just as easy to accept and love the people around us, no matter how they dress, what color their skin is, what accent they speak with, or what religion they do (or don't!) belong to. My challenge to each of you this month, is to get to know someone who is completely different than you are. Don't try to change them. Just share your love and, perhaps, your knitting. You will find that your view of the world will expand, and you will grow emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. You never know, after all, who that angelic baby will grow up to be...
Knitting for a Cause
I've been very pleased to notice articles and essays about knitting for causes in so many books and magazines this summer. Here are a few that I found recently:
In
Stahman's Shawls and Scarves by Myrna Stahman, I found a section called
"Let's Make the World a Better Place for All" that includes patterns for
several seaman's scarves. The patterns are dedicated to
Matthew Shepard, a gay student from the University of Wyoming, who was
murdered in an anti-gay hate crime in 1998. According to Myrna, "At
Matthew's funderal his cousin, the Rev. Anne Kitch, asked the world to
find in Matthew's life a lesson that transcends the evil of his death."
In response to this request, Myrna has designed two patterns that she
allows readers to photocopy for noncommercial purposes. Her only
request, is that whenever you knit these scarves, you take some action
to work against hatred and towards the understanding and acceptance of
people who are "different from yourself". The Matthew and Matt patterns
are on the web
here. (Myrna also includes 3 patterns dedicated to the victims of the
Columbine shootings in 1999 in her book)
In the Fall 2005 issue of
Vogue Knitting Magazine, I found several interesting mini-articles. The
first is about Joy Durham, one of the models in the issue. Four years
ago, her young daughter, Sunshine, lost an eye in an accident, and faced
with huge medical bills on top of the trauma of the accident, Joy
started knitting scarves to give as Christmas gifts to save some money.
The gifts were so successful that she went on to start a business that
donates a portion of the profits to help families facing similar
difficulties.
Sunshine Scarves and
The Sunshine Foundation are two arms of Joy's efforts to help children who
have facial deformities gain access to the costly prostethics and
surgery needed to give them normal lives.
Knit for Her Cure is an organization that sells kits to make scarves, blankets, and hats, that make perfect comforting gifts for cancer patients, and for anyone in need of a little extra warmth in their life. A portion of the profits is donated to the Gynecologic Cancer Foundation. All of the gorgeous projects are made from luxurious yarns from Muench, and there are patterns for knitters of all skill levels.
The Dulaan Project of the Flagstaff International Relief Effort (FIRE), collects hand-knitted clothing items--including hats, mittens, socks, neck gaitors, scarves and sweater--for impoverished people in Mongolia who live in areas where the winter temperatures often plummit to 40-degrees below zero. The FIRE web site includes information about packing and shipping items to them, as well as links to free knitting patterns.
The January 2005 issue of
Family Circle Easy Knitting included a feature article entitled, "Knit
Your Bit for the American Red Cross" that included a brief history of
the organization and its traditions of providing handknit goods to U.S.
troops in the two World Wars, as well as information about a retro sock
knitting kit that includes the yarn and pattern to knit regulation
military socks from the 1940s. The proceeds from the kits support the
work of the American Red Cross. The Red Cross used to have the kits for
sale on their web site, but that link seems to be broken. You can still
buy the kits from
Lion Brand. Other free historical knitting patterns are available at the
Red Cross Museum web site.
Interweave Press is having
Scarf Style contests at various Knit-Out and Crochet events around the
country. The Philadelphia contest on September 18, 2005, is called the
Go Red Scarf Style Contest. All scarves must be made in red yarn
and the proceeds go to the American Heart Association Go Red for Women
Campaign.
I love all of these ideas! I am working on a couple of ideas myself for later this year, so check back every month to find out what's new. Or better yet, sign up for my mailing list.
Lesson: Knitting in the Round
Knitting in the round is quite easy, and many people love it so much they never knit back and forth once they try circular knitting. It eliminates the need to sew seems, which can be an added bonus if you don't like finishing.
The only hard part about knitting in the round is getting started. You have to get the stitches onto the needles and join them into a circle without twisting them.
When working on circular needles, cast on then place the needles on a flat surface and make sure all of the stitches are lined up on the inside of the curve of the needles. With the tail and the working yarn on the right needle, pick up the needles carefully, and knit the first couple of stitches. This joins the knitting into a circle. Just knit around and around and around. You can use the yarn tail to keep track of the beginning of the round (as I do), or you can put a little plastic marker onto the needle and slip it every time you come to it.
Knitting with double-pointed needles (dpns) is not very different, but it is slightly more cumbersome until you get used to it. In fact, switching needles as you progress around becomes part of the rhythm of knitting.
When working on dpns, cast on then divide the stiches evenly onto 3 or 4 needles. Do this by just slipping the stitches from one needle to another. You can put your work on 4 needles and knit with the fourth (my preference and common in the United States) or you can put your work on 4 needles and knit with the fifth (common in Europe). If you've never used double-pointed needles before, try both setups to see which is most comfortable for you.
Place the needles on a flat surface and make sure all of the stitches are lined up on the inside of the triangle or square formed by the needles. With the tail and the working yarn on the right needle, pick up the needles carefully, and knit the first couple of stitches. This joins the knitting into a circle.
If you are new to circular knitting, I suggest you try a project on circular needles first. A hat is a good project, because you have to switch to double pointed needles when you knit the crown. Because you already have the rest of the hat knitted, switching from circular to double-pointeds is easy, and you only have to knit a few rows on the mutliple needles. When you are ready to switch, pick up one dpn and knit 1/4 to 1/3 of the stitches. Pick up another dpn and knit the second batch. Continue until all of the sts have been knitted onto 3 or 4 dpns and the round is complete.
To start the next round, take another empty dpn and knit all of the sts off of the first needle. The first needle is now empty. Use this needle to knit the stitches off of the second needle. Keep going in this manner.
Pattern: Baby Caps
These three caps are made only with the knit stitch -- there is no purling. (The pink cap pattern is on my main blog, posted last January. The patterns for the yellow hats are below.)
For washability, I used a soft acrylic microfiber yarn in a solid color combined with a textured multicolor version of the same yarn. With one ball of each yarn you can make several hats. The stockinette stitch cap is knit in the round. The garter stitch cap is a miniature version of the origami hat that is knit flat and seamed.
Babies heads are so small it's hard to imagine that these hats are the right sizes, and they grow so quickly that a cap that fits today will be too small next week! My grandmother always made 2 hats for babies: a tiny version that they could wear home from the hospital, and a larger hat that would fit for a few months afterwards.
These hats are sized with that in mind. The preemie version is sized to fit an orange, the newborn to fit a grapefruit. Somewhere I read that this is the best way to estimate sizes for baby hats and I've never forgotten the tip! (If I had some citrus fruit here, I would have photographed the hats on an orange and a grapefruit, but it's summer so my fruit bowl is full of plums and peaches instead.)
I also posted pattern for this hat on my main blog last January.
Yarn
1 ball of DK weight yarn in a solid color and 1 ball of DK weight yarn in a coordinating colorway.
I used:
Plymouth Dreambaby D.K.
50% Acrylic Microfiber, 50% Nylon
5 1/2 sts
= 1"/US 6 needles
183 yds/50g ball
Plymouth Dreambaby Kokonut D.K.
67% Acrylic Microfiber, 33% Nylon
5 1/2 sts = 1"/US 6 needles
126 yds/50g ball
Stockinette Stitch Hat
This hat is knit in the round from the bottom to the crown. Knit the cap in one yarn or use both yarns, changing colors randomly for stripe pattern as desired.
Size
Preemie (Newborn)
10 inches (14 inches)
Needles
Size 6 set of 4 or 5 double-pointed needles for preemie size.
Size 6
16-inch circular and set of 4 or 5 double-pointed needles for newborn
size.
Gauge
6 sts = 1 inch over stockinette stitch (knit every round, worked circularly)
Instructions
The larger size can be made on a 16-inch long circular needle, with double-pointed needles used for the crown decreases. The small version is too tiny to fit on a circular needle and the entire hat is worked on double-pointed needles.
Cast on 60 (90) sts. Join, being careful not to twist, to knit in the round. Place a marker to indicate the beginning of the round. (The marker is not cricital now, but it will be used to keep track when you begin the crown decreases.)
Rolled Edge
Knit every round for about 3/4 (1) inch. As you knit, the stockinette stitch fabric will curl up forming a rolled brim.
Cap Body
Knit every round until cap measures 3 (4 1/2) inches from the bottom of
the rolled edge.
Crown
If you are working on a circular needle, change to double-pointed needles when the stitches no long reach comfortably around the needle.
Setup round: Decrease 4 (2) sts evenly spaced--56 (88) sts remain.
Decrease round 1: *K2, k2tog. Repeat from * to end of round--42 (66) sts remain.
Knit 1 round even.
Decrease round 2: *K1, k2tog. Repeat from * to end of round--28 (44) sts remain.
For newborn size only, knit 1 round even.
Decrease round 3 and following rounds: *K2tog. Repeat from * until 3 sts remain.
I-cord knot
Work I-cord on 2 double-pointed needles as follows.
*K3. Do not turn. Slide sts to other end of double-pointed needle. Repeat from *.
When I-cord measures 1 1/2 inches, bind off remaining 4 sts. Fasten off and weave in ends.
Tie i-cord in a knot.
Origami Hat
The hat is made from the bottom up and knitted flat. After you cast off, you sew the back seam and the top closed.
Size
Preemie (Newborn)
10 inches (14 inches)
Needles
Size 6 needles
Gauge
5 sts = 1 inch over garter stitch (knit every row, worked back and forth)
Instructions
Brim
With multi-colored yarn, cast on 50 (75) sts.
Knit every row until piece measures 1 (1 1/2) inches. Change to solid yarn.
Body
Knit every row until cap measures 4 (6) inches from top of brim.
Bind off.
Sew back seam. Sew top seam. Fold points at ends of top seam to the center and sew them down to the center of the hat. Weave in ends and fold up brim.
If desired, make a tassel or pompom and sew it to the top of the cap. Here are some good instructions: