Tart Hat start date & check in

[ravingcutie]

Hello all you knitters!

The start date for the tart hat will be Wednesday, July 7th. I hope everyone will be back from their 4th celebrations by then. Plus it should give you plenty of time to get your yarn. (I'm ordering mine today!) I'm so excited!

If you can't make it by that date join in anyway - we're not going to be super structured. I'm sure we'll finish @ different times, but hopefully the support & fellowship will encourage us all to finish!

Please check in by posting below: I'll keep a list so no one gets left out.

The pattern is free & located here:
http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter03/PATTbabytart.html

The material requirements are as follows:

SIZE
0-3 months[3-6 months, 6-9 months, 9-12 months, 12-18 months]

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
Head diameter measured just above eyebrows: 15 [16.5, 17.25, 18, 19] inches

MATERIALS
[MC] Tahki Cotton Classic, from Stacy Charles, Inc. [100% mercerized cotton; 108yd/100m per 50g skein]; color: [CC] Tahki Cotton Classic, from Stacy Charles, Inc. [100% mercerized cotton; 108yd/100m per 50g skein]; color:
1 set of 5 US 1 12-inch US Tapestry needle for weaving ends
Stitch markers

GAUGE
18 sts/ rows = 4" in bobble pattern

Any :?: :?: , post, pm or email me! :thumb

Happy :knit !

[amyrobynne]

Anyone know if there's anything special about mercerized cotton, or will any cotton do?

[ravingcutie]

I could be totally off here, but I'm sure any yarn w/ a close gauge that would be suitable for a baby would be fine. I almost made mine out of merino for warmth (I love :sheep) but decided to go w/ cotton because of color. Here's where I got mine - very cheap!

http://secure.elann.com/productlist.asp?ProductType=5&Cat=ALLY

It's the Endless Summer Collection Lara, about 1/4 of the way down.

[pageta]

I have one that I'm working on currently (which will RIP until I can finish it with everyone here). I had superwash wool sitting around that I wanted to use and I decided it might work great for this. I think my gauge is fairly close, but I'm not too worried about it. The hat looks fine, and that's all that matters to me.

[Arwyn]

Katie,

What colors did you get? I was thinking Toast for the brim, and Burgundy, Antique Plum, or Claret for the "filling". (What were the shipping fees like for this place? If it's reasonable, I'm totally ordering from them.)

[ravingcutie]

Ha ha! We think so much alike. I had a hard time picking out my filling "flavor". Toast for the brim - not much other choice there. I actually ended up choosing Crimson for a cherry pie. My brother has a cherry tree, and my mom uses his cherries to make cherry pies when we visit. The Crimson just looked, well, cherry. Hopefully it will be the right color when it arrives. Shipping was $4.85, from Canada. Much better than some stores in the US charge. ( I hate the $8.95 "flat rate" thing - great for a sweater, bad, bad, bad for 3 50g skeins) The site was recommened by someone else on the boards, for having nice service. This is my first time ordering from them, though.

[koolsheepmama]

Oooh, that is such a cute item! I saw it when that Knitty issue came out and put it on my to-do list. I'm waiting for someone to have a baby, though, and I'm too darn addicted to knitting soakers right now ;)

Have fun! It sounds like an awesome knitalong :)

[ravingcutie]

koolsheepmama......this is the nefarious knitting fairy....knit with us! Make a tart hat! Come over to the dark side (aka - anything not a soaker)!


The nefarious knitting fairy:
:dust

[pageta]

The reason why I don't care much about my gauge is that I don't have anyone specific to knit it for so I figure it will fit someone at some point. I am just knitting it because I think it is cute and sounds like fun to make. I can always use it as a baby shower gift if I don't end up using it myself. In fact, I may make one out of different yarn than the stuff I'm using (green and white) when I make one for myself.

[pageta]

Me again...I think if I were going to buy yarn for this project, I would get this: http://www.halcyonyarn.com/Yarn_pages/yarn108.html. I saw it in my LYS this morning, and the gauge on the label matches the gauge for this project better than the stuff at elann.com. It looks like they have good colors too. I haven't bought from Halcyon Yarn before, but I've heard good things.

[Arwyn]

Yay, someone else who feels the same way about guage as I do! :hug (Well, for this project, at least) I love making stuff for no particular person, so I don't have to worry as much about exact sizing. That, and making bulky things, like loose sweaters, or mittens rather than gloves. I know it would be much more virtuous of me to get down and get my guage right, but I'm SO a "close enough" type of gal! :oops:

[ravingcutie]

Ok, I admit it. I chose elann.com because it was cheap & I didn't want to spend $20 on a hat. I know I would have leftovers but still, that's an expensive baby hat to make yourself. :oops:

[abigailvr]

I'm going to join you all! Going off to shop for supplies now. :)

[amyrobynne]

Ooh, I hadn't thought to use it as a baby gift! I know two women due in November, and if I make the tiny size, I don't need to buy as much yarn :) Excellent...

[pamelamama]

I can see it now... a village of tart hats.

:bag :bag :bag :bag :bag :bag :bag :bag :bag :bag :bag :bag :bag

Ok, we need a tart hat icon. Anyone know how to do that?

[pageta]

Okay, now here was my brainstorm last night: Knit one to enter in the state fair. I entered some bread two years ago and won first prize and got to be interviewed for the newpaper as well as on tv (I drove to the station and was interviewed in their studio for their news at noon). I wouldn't really expect all that hoopla just for a hat (it was the Fleishman's yeast contest that I won and they coordinated all the publicity, not the fair), but it's still fun to enter something and see it up there with everything else. They don't have the booklet out yet for needlecraft at our state fair, but once I see it, I might just go buy some different yarn so it can be knit pretty to enter in the fair - as in, yarn that is the same color as in the picture.

[ravingcutie]

I can't draw to save my soul, but a tart hat icon would be soooo sweet!

[mamapez]

Okay, I am so there it isn't even funny! Would you believe I already found this hat and bought the supplies for it about 3 days before this forum opened? I saw Pamela post about Knitty.com on the wool soaker yahoo group, followed the link, and started browsing. I saw this hat and thought it was so adorable. I kept coming back to it and finally decided what the heck?!? So I only just learned how to knit, I can handle tangy! :) Of course, I have knitted and had to rip out the brim twice, :roll: but I figure I was just meant to be in this KAL! :bigups: What a nice surprise that you all settled on this project. :)

[ravingcutie]

Yeah! Glad to have you! :wave I don't have my yarn yet, but when I do get it I may have to spend time frogging, too. I'm just not that proficient a knitter.

[amyrobynne]

I was with family all weekend and took the opportunity to knit while my 4 month old was being entertained.

I knit the 0-3 mo. version and it had some challenges. First, they aren't kidding when they say it's easy to lose track of stitches. Second, k3 tog with cotton is nearly impossible--I developed a variation that looked pretty much the same. Third, it seems too wide and too short. I don't know how much of that was affected by the fact that I lost a bobble somewhere along the way.

One thing I'm nearly certain is a mistake in the printing--the decreases should be on the first or FIFTH row of the pattern.

I was perplexed by the instruction to turn the last stitch into the first of the next row. That doesn't work too well when the first stitch should be a bobble increase, but you've just decreased 3 into that stitch already.

I'm thinking about ripping out the fruit part, or maybe just starting over and working while everyone else does. Has anyone run into the issues I've mentioned? I can wait a couple days if need be :)

[ravingcutie]

Well, I hope that the hat turns out. I'm going to swatch today. A bit late if I need to purchase different needles, but oh well. Maybe with all of us working together we can smooth over the harder parts!

[abigailvr]

I'm still waiting for my yarn, but amyrobynne's post has made me a little nervous! I hope I can cut it. :lookroun:

[ravingcutie]

Yay! Today is the day. Haven't even cast on yet. My swatch isn't done either - cranky babies yesterday. Hope everyone else's project is going better. Ha! :shocked:

[pageta]

Here's a link on how to do bobbles that might help everyone: http://www.pagebypage.com/bobbles.htm.

[ravingcutie]

Going to start a new thread for the actual KAL, just so we don't have to wade through old posts.