need input/opinions

[marnie]

ok. i've been struggling with this hat for EVER and i can't tell any more if i like it or not. can i have some input?

it's a simple hat/beanie in mistake rib. first it took a million years to get mistake rib in the round without a bump at the join part. figured that out after trashing the first 2 inches of the hat 3 times.

then i had to struggle with the decreases. i should have thought it about it ebfore i cast on, but i didn't and there was a TON of math to get it right and a ton of experimentation to find a decrease that worked invisibly with mistake rib.

i finally finished and the mistake rib made the hat very very loose. so i tore the whole thing out and tried again. it kept sproinging upwards and getting more beret like.

now i can't tell if i like it or not. these photos of it on me are the best i can do with a 50mm lens at arm's length. i hope you can see how it's shaped somewhat like a sea urchin and i'm trying to decide if i mind or not.

the side:
http://curlypurly.com/photos/urchinhatside.jpg

the top:
http://curlypurly.com/photos/urchinhattop.jpg

on me:
http://curlypurly.com/photos/urchinmarnie1.jpg

http://curlypurly.com/photos/urchinmarnie2.jpg

a sea urchin:
http://www.arubahouse.com/images/Hugh%20Pics/Shells/Sea%20Urchin%201L.jpg

it gets a little bulgy like a sea urchin instead of just being smooth on my head. i've tried decreasing sooner, later, CO more stitches, fewer stitches, bigger needles, smaller needles... in the end, this length and width bothers me the least. but is it good? or just bothering me the least.

please be honest.i really just can't tell anymore. the part i am unsure about doesn't photograph well at arms-length and a portrait lens. the reason i added the photo of the sea urchin is that at the base of my hat, it kind of poofs out a bit before going in, much like the shape of a sea urchin. i just can't figure out how to make it not do that in mistake rib.

[ravingcutie]

ok - a bit hard to tell exactly from those photos, but my first impression is:

Cool! I like the stitch pattern. The shape of the hat looks fine from the side & appears smooth on your head. (You don't look like a dork in a mishapen hat....but I am seriously wondering whether or not you have a nose.)

The top view of the hat is showing a bit of the "sea urchin" imitation - where it tends to pull in, almost looking like a rounded shelf at the decreases. I can't tell when it's on your head, so I wouldn't sweat it.

Is it blocked? I have a feeling that you won't notice that at all once it's blocked. I recommend spritzing until damp through and then blow drying on low air, low heat on your head.

What kind of yarn is that? huh? huh?

[ravingcutie]

You have pretty green eyes.

[raitch]

I agree with you. Sea urchin. It's pretty but I don't like the shape of it. but you know... I'm sure lots of people will love it. But it's YOUR head. Don't settle.

[cozystitches]

I was wondering if you could smile in your pictures....ya know smile w/your eyes? Yer lookin' a bit scary there.. ;)

As for hte hat, I like it. I like the look of it. I can't see any issues with it. I think the height is great, I've seen several people wear those shorter beanies now (I don't wear hats so I can't say frompersonal experience). :) I like the sea urchin look...now just do it in that green color to match the urchin... ;)

Hugs,
tammy

[mommomrebecca]

I can't tell.:scratchc: I do love the stitch, but I can also see the problems you are talking about. And it does kinda look like it is going to sproing right off the top of your head if you think too hard, kwim?

[margaretcraye]

Let me begin by saying: The pictures are great....and the only representation of said "urchin" is in the one where you propped it up to resemble one.

So "rock on!" (I just got off the phone with my younger sis, who prides herself on saying stupid phrases intermittently). I mean the hat is finished, that yarn has served its purpose in life....if you cannot live with it....give it away someday....save it for holidays next year. Or....

(I'm still reminising here.....)
Once she (my sister) got off of 'my' phone pretending to be me; spoke with a professional acquiantaince/sortof friend that I have, that we were both meeting, and as she hung up she said, "Alright, well, Rock ON!" Which is normally very uncharacteristic of the way I would ever present myself. I never told the person it wasn't me....not that it really matters....don't even know why I wasted anyone's time making you read this.

[pamelamama]

marnie, reminds me of a problem I had with my "mystery stitch" hat. It was way poofy, but my goal was to design a poufy hat.

[pamelamama]

but it was too poofy adn I threw it back on the "designs to work on" pile.

[marnie]

ok - a bit hard to tell exactly from those photos, but my first impression is:

Cool! I like the stitch pattern. The shape of the hat looks fine from the side & appears smooth on your head. (You don't look like a dork in a mishapen hat....but I am seriously wondering whether or not you have a nose.)

The top view of the hat is showing a bit of the "sea urchin" imitation - where it tends to pull in, almost looking like a rounded shelf at the decreases. I can't tell when it's on your head, so I wouldn't sweat it.

Is it blocked? I have a feeling that you won't notice that at all once it's blocked. I recommend spritzing until damp through and then blow drying on low air, low heat on your head.

What kind of yarn is that? huh? huh?

YAY! yeah, i thought blocking the swatch was enough info. the hat is merino and i didn't want to block it yet because i'd torn it out so many times, i was afraid blocking it would make it a bit fuzzy and hard to frog.

but i changed the top a little bit to add about .5" to it in a pointy looking way (when it's not being worn) and blocked it and it works now!! thanks Katie, you ROCK!

oh, i do have a nose and it's HPY. i'll have marco take a photo later so you can see the whole head now that it fits without poofyness

edited because i wanted to clarify that the YARN is HPY. my nose is regular flesh and cartilage.

[ravingcutie]

I am just now laughing hysterically about your HPY nose. Please tell Marco he has got to photograph you so I can see this amazing nose!

[mhurst]

I love the stitch pattern...and your pretty eyes! :)

Can't wait to see the new pic

[littleturtlemama]

coming in late, but wanted to say that mistake rib is now my sworn enemy. I've been working on a cardi for greg (that surely will NOT fit him anymore, since I started it, oh, 9 months ago or so!) But it does play nice once it's blocked. Severly.

Love the hat. LOVE IT.

[marnie]

T - i think i found the secret to blocking it well, but it requires a large heat exchange and cooking cooling racks. i didn't read Katie's post well and SOAKED the hat instead of spritzed it and it was immediately the size of a mop bucket.

we have those heater/air conditioners like in hotel rooms, you know the kind i mean? with a fan? anyway, i put cookie racks on top of it and shaped the hat severely while turning the heat/fan on high and attacking the top with a hair dryer. i kept shaping and shaping and shaping and shaping and voilà, it shaped perfectly!

so here's the finished version, excuse my tired face and my pissy expression. marco was getting artsy with the camera and this was the only photo of the 89 he took that had the HAT in it.

http://curlypurly.com/photos/urchinhatfinal.jpg

http://curlypurly.com/photos/urchinhatback.jpg

[MsFitzKnits]

marnie -- i really like it. it's a great NYC hat, imo -- hip but not too in your face. i like it a lot.

and now, to pick your brain -- i was just this morning thinking i would do some wrist warmers for a friend in the mistake rib knit. you've made me a touch nervous to try it w/ your "bump in the join" comment -- esp since i have to have them done by sunday. would you share your "no bump" technique? if you think it's too much trouble altogether, i'll stick with a more basic pattern... but thought i'd ask!
xoxo

[marnie]

Melissa, i'm going to be making a pair of mistake rib wristwarmers, casting on this afternoon as soon as i finish this other thing i'm working on.

i can certainly let you know how i do it if it works out.

i fear, however, that mistake rib might be too stretchy for wristwarmers. we shall see.

[mhurst]

I love love love it! I really need a new hat and am trying to decide how to make one that isn't just the run of the mill rolled brim...but I certainly do not have the patience to deal with a stitch pattern/problem like you did!

Hey are your glasses purple? If so, we have matching glasses! :)

[marnie]

they're black. purple must be very cool, though! i used to have some that were the same olive green as my eyes. it was pretty freaky looking.

[littleturtlemama]

SHUT UP! SHUT UP! Marnie, I had no idea you were a redhead!!! How in the world did I miss this crucial factoid? It's offical, you might be my long lost (fraternal) twin ;) I just assumed with all the all-black wardrobe stuff, that you had black hair, LOL.

I love the hat, looks great on you.

[marnie]

i'm a redhead, t. it's true. right now i have some patchy purpley bits from an all-natural dye that was supposed to cover just the grey but left a purple clump. and all the grey. oh well.

that and the green eyes are the main reasons i keep saying i need to grow from black to brown.

Pam (another redhead) thought i was a blonde until we met. go figure.

[ravingcutie]

I thought you were a brunette! Lol! Love the ensemble - looks just gorgeous on you! (You're pretty darn hot looking yourself ;) ) I think you did a really nice job on the design and blocking. You really don't resemble an urchin in anyway.

Maybe we should have a contest where we guess what people look like IRL. Then we can enjoy people's perceptions of us vs. what we're really like.

Now is a bad time for photos for me; I had overnight company last night and none of my kids would sleep. I ended up leaving our company with Nick and driving to my parents so they could help with the girls. I had been trying for 3 hours to get them calmed down and it was just not happening....anyway, to make a short story long, I got into bed well after 1am. Today I have not showered, I pulled my hair up without brushing it, and am wearing a fabulous outfit of mismatched items.... Can I borrow your chic looking hat?

[pamelamama]

:pink

[indiegirl]

raise your hand if you are in the redhead club:

*me* *me* *me*

Marnie, I had no idea you were a redhead! Yay.

And your hat: I love it. I wonder how it would look on big-heads like me, though. I have a hard time pulling off hats because my head is like an orange with a toothpick on it.

Jesse