New Pattern: Knitted Turban Style Chemo Hat

October 1, 2017| LindyBeir| 0 Comment | 2:55 pm

Categories:

To all the women that read this post: When was the last time you had a mammogram? Are you overdue? I was one of those women that put off getting my mammograms done — and when I was diagnosed, I had just had my two years overdue mammogram done. Please ladies, if you are over due for your mammogram, schedule it and get it done as soon as possible.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. I am celebrating my seventh year as a breast cancer survivor. I feel blessed and very lucky that I am cancer-free.

In honor of my being cancer-free for seven years, I am making a pattern for a turban style chemo hat that I created available on my website. I created this pattern because I have knit a number of different patterns for chemo hats, but I wanted something that was a little more stylish for an older woman.

I knit this hat using one of my favorite cotton yarns: Knit Picks Comfy Sport Weight Yarn. Chemo hats knit in cotton are washable and are very soft — they feel good on the head that is sensitive due to chemo and provide a degree of warmth as well.

The pattern is here: Turban Style Chemo Hat.
Please feel free to knit this hat for any loved one going through this experience with my blessings.

WIP: Clapotis Scarf in Jaggerspun ZephyrWIP: Clapotis Scarf in Jaggerspun Zephyr

I have started another project even though I have at least two others on needles. I just got the itch to knit the Clapotis Scarf pattern along with some of the other members of my knitting guild. It took me a bit of time to decide to join the knit-along, because I wanted to use yarn from my stash rather than buy yarn for this project. I finally settled on the Jaggerspun Zephyr lace weight yarn I had left over from a lace scarf I knit for my DD a couple of years ago. This yarn is 50% fine grade merino wool and 50% Chinese Tussah silk in 2/18 Lace Weight. The colorway is Teal. I am using size US 4 (3.5 mm) needles.

This scarf is knit by starting at one point of a parallelogram and increasing stitches until you reach the desired width of the scarf. Then you knit a series of straight row sections until you have your desired length and then you decrease stitches until you reach the far corner of the scarf. Along the way, you drop stitches to create an open pattern between rows of stockinette stitches.
So far, I have knitted the increase section to the point where I will begin the straight rows and start dropping stitches. Here’s a picture:

The Clapotis pattern is free on Knitty.com. Here’s a link to the pattern: Clapotis Pattern

Stitch Patterns – Three Examples of RibbingStitch Patterns – Three Examples of Ribbing

3Ribbings

All ribbing is a combination of knit and purl stitches across a row. When you knit back on the next row, you knit the stitches as the face you, that is, knit the knit stitches and purl the purl stitches. The knit stitches form a ridge (or rib) and the purl stitches form a valley. Ribbing is essentially a reversible fabric. Ribbing is elastic crosswise and will stretch lengthwise and is most often used for sweater neckbands and bottoms and the cuff of socks. Ribbing also “pulls in” naturally, so it will effect the shape of your garment.

One-By-One (1×1) Ribbing:

This is knitted exactly as it says. Knit 1 stitch, purl 1 stitch across the row. (Remember to move your yarn from back to front as you knit and purl.) If you are knitting this ribbing flat for a garment, you should be knitting an odd number of stitches, so that when the garment is seamed together the ribbing will appear to be continuous. If you are knitting in the round, you should always have an even number of stitches. This ribbing is the most elastic of ribbings. It tends to look more loosely knit than stockinette stitch, and because it is so elastic, most patterns have you knit your ribbing on needles that are a size or two smaller than the body of the pattern.

Two-By-Two (2×2) Ribbing:

2x2Ribbing

This ribbing is made by K2, P2 across the row. It is a multiple of 4 stitches, so when knitting a flat piece to be joined with another, you should be knitting a multiple of 4 plus 1 stitch so that the pieces will weave together correctly. For knitting in the round, you would knit over a multiple of 4 stitches. This is a popular ribbing and it works well for sock cuffs, but it is not as elastic as the 1×1 ribbing.

Three-By-One (3×1) Ribbing:

3x1Ribbing

This ribbing is also a multiple of 4 stitches: K3, P1 across. The rules for 2×2 ribbing also apply to this ribbing. As you can see in the picture, this produces a wide rib with an almost invisible valley. I have seen this ribbing used in sock patterns and it does give the socks and attractive looking cuff.

Other Ribbing Patterns: There are many other variations of ribbing, including Cabled Ribbing, Four-By-Two Ribbing, and Six-by-Three Ribbing. I will include an example of Cabled Ribbing in a latter post on Cable Stitch Patterns.

Note: For information about tension issues with ribbing, see my post: Master Knitter Level I – Swatches # 1, 2, & 3.

New Local Yarn ShopsNew Local Yarn Shops

I recently visited two new yarn shops that opened in my area. They are both lovely shops and filled with some lovely yarns – some of which aren’t carried by the local yarn shop that has been the only shop in the city for a number of years. Each shop offers a different variety of yarns than the other, so I am hoping that both of them can be successful. We certainly have a growing number of knitters in our community, so having new yarn shops is quite appealing.

ImagiKnit Yarn Shop is located in the Bel-Air Plaza at 120^th and West Center Road, Suite 602, Omaha, NE. This shop does not have a website, but does have a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/ImagiKnit-Yarn-Shop/263171999129. The owner of this shop moved her business to Omaha from Hastings, NE.

Wooly Mammoth Yarn Shop is located in Rockbrook Shopping Center at 108^th and West Center Rd, Omaha, NE. This shop also does not have a website, but does have a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Wooly-Mammoth-Yarn-Shop/150211221662670. The owners of this shop recently moved from Kearney, NE.

I’m sure the knitters in Hastings and Kearney miss having the shops in their towns, because they are both wonderful yarn shops and we are very lucky to have them here in Omaha.

Appealing, as well, are the yarns I purchased from both shops. (I couldn’t resist).

From Imagiknit, I purchased a skein of Smooshy fingering weight yarn from Dream in Color. The colorway is 2014 September and it just spoke to me of autumn. It has this delightful mix of fall colors: reds, purples, golds, greens in various shades. See the swatch below

I also bought a skein of Fabjous Fibers Cheshire Cat in the colorway Off with Her Red – which blends perfectly with the Smooshy colors. I am using these yarns to knit a shawl using the Merlot pattern, which I purchased at Ravelry. This will be the topic of another post.

From Wooly Mammouth, I purchased 4 skeins of Addiction yarn by Claudia Hand Painted Yarns – also fingering weight yarn. I bought 2 skeins in the colorway Teal and 2 skeins in the colorway Prussian Soldiers. I plan to knit another two color shawl using these yarns, but I haven’t decided on a pattern yet. I like the Merlot pattern, so I may choose to do that again – but there are so, so many lovely shawl patterns in my queue…

If you are in Omaha: check out our new local yarn shops. 🙂