One Down

It’s cozy here today, a day for the computer and catching up.  I was out yesterday for a bike rally function, came home late, and it was -20 out,  and I’ve spent most of today drinking tea, snuggling under a blanket on the couch, and trying to get warm while doing laundry with the power of my mind.  (No luck yet, will keep you posted.)  Though winter was late arriving in Toronto, it’s here for sure now, settling into real cold and flurries, and an inside day was just perfect.  It is a very good day to think about wool. I’ve got a laceweight shawl on the needles, and all day I’ve been looking at it and thinking it’s not right. Not defence enough for what’s out there, and I’m thinking that (even though I have a date to finish it in mind) that I should have big wool on the needles. Something bulky and fierce to knit along with my hot tea. I’ll make up my mind a little later when I sit down to knit, but for now, wanna see a hat?

peacocktam 2016-01-18

It’s the Peacock Tam, available as a kit from Mrs Knitter, though I’m pretty sure I bought it at a shop somewhere in my travels. The kit was the perfect thing for a project like this, one that takes only a little bit of lots of colours of yarn – a lot cheaper than buying full skeins of the Jaggerspun Maine Line 2/8 that it calls for.  I had a lot leftover after knitting it too – maybe even enough to knit another, though it feels a bit risky to try.

peacocktam2 2016-01-18

I knit it while we were on holiday, mostly when I was sitting still, rather than bumping along on crazy roads while trying to juggle a chart and multiple wee balls of yarn. It was the perfect project to have with me – the blue was like the ocean, the green like the trees – it’s a silly thing to enjoy matching a project to your surroundings, but it amused me to no end.

I finished it up when I got home (those ends! I felt like I was weaving ends in forever) and blocked it over a dinner plate, plunked down near a heating vent in the living room. (It is a constant source of joy to me that Joe no longer inquires about scenes like that. A plate with a hat on it in the living room, and he doesn’t say a word.)  I’m really happy with it, and the best part, is that it’s January 18th, and I’ve just finished the first Christmas present for this year. Shazam.  One down, so many to go, but at least it’s a proper start. I told you, this year is going to be different.

92 thoughts on “One Down

  1. A magnificent start to the LRPB. Weigh your leftovers. Might it work if you subbed in a different background colour? Hats on plates and hats on newel post, shawls on beds and socks on the banisters: wool is never far away Chez Harlot!

  2. The colors are breathtaking!

    As for big wool chunky woolen mittens would e done in no time. You could satisfy your need for big wool, have another Christmas present done, and have barely used up any knitting time.

  3. THAT HAT! Is the most perfect… wonderful… delightful, charming, completely amazing combinations of colors. EVER. Wow! What a lucky Christmas recipient.

  4. I love the hat. The colours, the shape…. the fact that I cast on something similar (but monochrome) today…

    this weather is something else! I know it’s normal for January in Ontario, but wow!! There were a few times today we couldn’t see the house across the street.

  5. What a gorgeous hat. The crown does remind me of peacock feathers, but the sides are how I imagine the sun lights up the tropical oceans. Stunning.

  6. My husband no longer bats an eye at a hat on a balloon balanced on a jar over the heat vent. Such scenes just blend in for him now. He was a bit of a slow learner on the wool front but he has caught on now. He still startles at the concept of looking for yarn shops on our travels though. Of course there are yarn shops at every port on an Alaskan cruise!

  7. Beautiful hat–and I so admire your Christmas gift schedule. I had one of those myself. Note past tense. I still have hopes of retrieving it after I finish this baby sweater that I had to rip back for my own stupidity. But babies won’t wait and Christmas is a long way off (in January, at least). But for the first time ever, I would dearly love to hand over something handmade with love to everyone in my family. And I will, come December.

  8. I have 2 heavy sweaters on the needles (and just discovered my husband snagged and ripped a sweater I made him a couple years ago that’s going to require some serious darning)… But my oldest nephew is getting married in the fall, and I like his bride enough to want to make her a wedding shawl… and I have the yarn… and it’s calling to me… But I have to finish these sweaters first…

    That hat would suit my oldest niece extremely well… she lives in Cleveland and needs good, warm hats… No no! Must finish sweaters…

  9. Maybe this year, I’ll try something different; like mini-mittens for an Advent garland for my god-children. I’ve never knitted for Christmas before. I always think of it too late (like Thanksgiving) but I (think that I )could (maybe) manage 1 hat/month and tuck them away. Hmmm.

  10. Beautiful hat, great start on Christmas! This is the way to not have craziness in December! If I have some left over, but I’m not sure it is enough, I add in a few little leftover balls in related colors and use them to extend the colors that seem a bit short. They do not need to match, the color just changes at that point, and with all that peacocking going on it will look like it was supposed to change there. Trust me, done it many times. Use up some little balls of oddments and get a second beautiful hat for the Christmas box! Maybe a little pink or magenta or even coral or yellow, and, of course, any blues or greens you have handy, Good luck!.
    Julie in San Diego, where it is warm and we would love a visit from the Harlot. Yarning for You ( (760) 744-KNIT (5648)) sometimes hosts speakers, as does the North Coast Knitter’s Guild . (President,Liz Knapp, President@sandiegoknitters.com, Program Chair, Tina Rounsavell, Programs@sandiegoknitters.com)
    Julie in San Diego

  11. Wow… that applies to both the hat and to the fact that it is for Christmas this year.

    In contrast, I was working on finishing a hat today that I had planned to give for Christmas… 2014. :-/

  12. What a beautiful hat. The best part is that the recipient (even if they try to spy on the blog) probably won’t remember it by the time Christmas rolls around this year. A great addition to the Long Range Planning Box.

  13. “I told you, this year is going to be different.” — The Yarn Harlot, January 18, 2016

    “You want WHAT for Christmas?!?! A knitted slipcover for your SOFA?????” — The Yarn Harlot, December 23, 2016

    PS: The cat wants another blanket, in addition to the umpteen gazillion she already “owns”.

  14. Beautiful hat! Congrats on getting going on the Christmas knitting. But part of me thinks its sad that the hat will not be worn until the next winter season.

  15. I love Mrs. Knitter’s patterns and kits, too. The first one I made was Falcon, and she was so kind in responding to my questions as it was my first attempt at tams. Her designs are to die for! Now, if I could just get my tension to be as even as yours looks!!!

  16. Lovely hat. Just the colors for this dismal time of year. I’m off to the stash, I think I am going to make some warm felted slippers, and I remember a bit of that lovely blue color somewhere…

  17. You know, you’re making the rest of us knitters look bad by finishing a Christmas present 11 months ahead of time. I mean, honestly, where’s the scramble from mid-November to Christmas? No scramble means no fun…or something.

  18. You know, THAT would be a hilarious “what do YOU do” sort of post: what things have we all tried when blocking something that is NOT flat?? I’m still known around here for blocking my own hat on a small pumpkin, balanced on a jar under the furnace vent…and using pins to keep the edge in place, of course–poor pumpkin! =)

  19. My first colorwork project was a simple two color tam more than 25 years ago. All of a sudden I want another tam. The Peacock Tam is gorgeous and hypnotic. Mrs.Knitter, I feel a tam coming on.

  20. That tam is beautiful! Congratulations on your first Christmas finish. Something for the Christmas list in thick yarn? As for the weather…..there are no words!

  21. That’s got to be the perfect hat to look at on a miserable, cold winter day — those colors are so cheerful! I vote for trying to eke out another. After all, I’m sure you have some bits and bobs in your stash that you could substitute if you ran a little short on some colors, right?

  22. I would command you to send that tam to me if I were not benevolent. It has all my favorite colors and would look great with my coat. My own knitting skills are still in the fumbling stage. Perhaps I can command my household knitter (and knitting teacher) to make me one before next winter if I order the kit. She’s frantically knitting prayer shawls for the church and crocheting a wedding present afghan right now.

    • Warm smile! Stephanie, thank you so much for blogging about this project! it has been so gratifying to read all the kind comments. You could order the yarn pack – with two kits’ worth of yarn you’d probably have enough for 3 hats. My husband has been very busy winding yarn and making kits since your blog came out! Thank you so much!! Mrs. Knitter

  23. Welcome Home!!! Beautiful hat – absolutely gorgeous. It looks like you and Joe had a terrific trip together in an amazing location.

  24. It is beautiful [and would take me a year to knit, I’m sure] … but couldn’t you have been a little bit kinder and pretended it was a late gift from last Christmas … I’m now stressing about gifts for this Christmas* …

    * not really … it won’t occur to me until mid-October by which time [and with my knitting speed] it will be too late!

  25. I nearly shouted “YES!” when that tam scrolled up. Glorious — and a reminder of the best use for those oranges I somehow accumulate. As to the leftovers/ subsequent tam, you need advice like a hole in the head, but I knit a LOT of FI tams, and you could easily use yarn of your own for the first six inches (more interesting, too), then The Proper Colors for the crown/top/star. More interest=second tam soonest.

  26. Oh my gosh, that hat is the bomb! I don’t even like color work much, but I’m very tempted to make one. Although first I’ve got to knit my husband a sweater, or at least get it swatched and casted on and something growing on the needles to show him for his birthday on Friday…

  27. The hat is so beautiful. I envy the lucky person who will receive it. Right now, I have a wretched cold and I’m too miserable to knit. Plus it’s eleven degrees F here in DC and a massive blizzard is predicted for the weekend. Oh so not happy.

  28. Gorgeous! I am usually well-controlled around your project photos but just clicked and caved when I saw her “October traditions” hat kit which I am now itching to get my fingers on. Stay cozy. Hubby in Baltimore today and feeling the same cold front you have. brrrrr.

  29. Well that is gorgeous for sure, and someone is going to be thrilled to get it. I, however, still owe a baby (who just turned 7 months) a sweater. I’m a horrible cousin, but I did have a bad go of it when the little fellow arrived, and have been fighting an wrist injury since 12/3. Still.. still.

  30. Love, love, love that peacock tam. I may have to put it in my Ravelry queue. Right now I’m knitting your pattern, Cloisonee mittens in black with blue/green for scallops. My husband said, wow you’ve never made any cool pattern like that before…;). He is the one who requests PLAIN no stripes, no design, no nothing knitted items like gray or brown scarves and mittens…

    • I think the ‘daughter’ of the recipient has too much hair for a child’s tam……
      Just a wild guess, but I think I’m right. 😉

  31. I went to Mrs Knitter’s site and looked at all the hats and I think I will purchase a pattern. I have lots and lots of KnitPicks Palette leftovers. But I could not find any pictures of anyone actually wearing one of them. Could the world’s top knitwear model possibly be persuaded to put on this hat and have her picture taken?

    • Since she didn’t model it to begin with, that may be who the gift is intended for…check Ravelry project page for pictures of others with their hats on heads.

  32. Congrats! One item ticked off the spreadsheet!
    Thought I was the only one with telepathic laundry skills 🙂
    Of course it only really works if you have fleet of fetch and fold fairies. Mine may have unionized…they’ve not been seen this year…:(

  33. I would like to know where you found the pattern for the hat you knit last year, the Wooly Worm (?)hat. I know some noggins that need more wool to keep warm!

  34. how absolutely gorgeous…
    any Harlot fans out the know where I can purchase fur pompoms at a reasonable price in Canada?

    thanks

  35. Beautiful. I want it, even though it’s really warm and muggy here at the moment (sorry to everyone who’s currently freezing their behinds off). Steph, this is so popular, what about knitting another one and auctioning it on the blog for bike rally fundraising? We LOVE!!!

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