Koolhaas

First - a huge thanks to all of you who've gotten your IK Holiday Gifts Issue early and e-mailed about my pattern. The hat has been worn and well-loved around Brooklyn for almost a year now, so it feels great to finally be able to share it with all of you.


Big thanks to Bea for modeling*

According to Interweave's website, Holiday Gifts hits the shelves today - there are a lot of great quick-to-knit patterns for all of us holiday procrastinators, so go nuts!

I knit two versions of the hit. The prototype, in electric green, and the magazine version in cranberry red. The pattern can be knit with a worsted weight yarn and behaves best with animal fibers. The green version was knit with Sundara Yarns Merino Worsted Superwash and has held up wonderfully. With the magazine version, in true IK fashion, I was able to indulge a bit with my fiber choices and knit with 100% yak. Shambala from Shokay (check out this wonderful company's story) is one of the most luxurious yarns to ever have graced my needles and I figured a small hat pattern was just the ticket to aid knitters in justifying such a luxurious treat without breaking the bank.

The Story Behind the Design: The hat takes its name from Rem Koolhaas, a Dutch Architect/Urbanist whose work I admire very much. Last winter when I was home in Washington, I spent an afternoon in the Seattle Central Library, one of my favorite places in Seattle and an incredibly inspiring space. The architecture there created a design impulse and the hat was born in the following days. The design process kind of explains itself when you view the space (photo below)

It's a quick knit - sculptural and very sproingy (did knitters invent this word?). The pattern is written for both adult woman- and adult man-heads and can be easily adapted at a smaller gauge for children. Bust stash worsteds, or treat yourself to one skein of luxury yarn and enjoy every stitch.

Thanks again for continued support of these designs. Happy Fall (and holiday) Knitting!

* I've already received a bunch of questions regarding Bea's ring in the photo at the top of the page. Unfortunately, I dont' know where she got it. Sorry!

Cap Karma

A quick little bit of handspun knitting to stave off that wonderful chill in the air.

Pattern: Cap Karma by Smariek (Yahoo Group)
Materials: My Handspun, worsted superwash merino 2-ply
Amount: 4 ounces/100 grams
Fiber Source: Miss Babs
Needles: US8/5.0mm

Modifications: The original pattern calls for a standard spiral-decrease crown. I really loved the allover cable pattern and didn't like how the spiral decreasing broke that up. I wrote an alternate decreasing scheme that kept the cabling intact. If you're interested in doing the same, I've listed the specifics below.

Crown Shaping (substitute this for the crown shaping listed in the pattern)

Row 1: k all sts
Row 2: k all sts
Row 3: *ssk, k6* around
Row 4: *[sl next st to CN and hold in back, k next two sts, k st from CN], k4* around
Row 5: k all sts
Row 6: *k5, k2tog* around
Row 7: k all sts
Row 8: *k3, [sl next 2 sts to CN and hold in front, k next st, k 2 sts from CN]* around
Row 9: *k1, k2tog, k3* around
Row 10: k all sts
Row 11: k all sts
Row 12: *[sl next st to CN and hold in back, k next st, k st from CN], k3* around
Row 13: *k2, ssk, k1* around
Row 14: k all sts
Row 15: *k2tog, k2* around
Row 16: *k1, [sl next st to CN and hold in frton, k next st, k st from CN]* around
Row 17: *k1, k2tog* around
Row 18: k all sts
Row 19: *k2tog* around

Break yarn and draw through remaining sts. Weave in all ends.

Knitting with handspun is a major treat, I've had such a great time doing it - I'm sure there will be a lot of handspun hats cropping up in the next few months. Next to the BSJ, they're the perfect match for all those odd 4oz skeins that have been piling up.


Another one for the pile - onto the next!