This week, I chat with Joan Schrouder and share a free knitting pattern for a smocked baby hat with a twist.
Spiral-Smocked Baby Hat
I decided to try my hand at using smocking as part of the top shaping of a hat. It went rather well, if I do say so myself. The hardest part was figuring out how to describe what I did when I added the smocking. In the end, I gave up on writing it out and made a chart instead. The hat starts with 72 stitches, and uses the same stitch pattern and smocking technique (mostly) as the Smocked Wash/Dish/Anycloth from a few weeks ago.
Now, as you probably know, 72 is 9 x 8. So, I broke the hat into thirds and had three sets of smocked spirals, of different lengths, working down from the top. It makes more sense when you're looking at the hat.
Conversation
I had a great time talking with Joan Schrouder, who goes by schrouderknits on Ravelry, and only managed to mispronounce her name once. Thanks, Joan, for putting up with me!
Links
Elizabeth Zimmermann founded Schoolhouse Press.
If you want to know more about brioche stitch, there is a lot of information on Nancy Marchant's website.
The March Sweater in the Knitter's Almanac is also called the Chainmail Sweater and the Difficult Sweater - Not Really.
The Purled Long-Tail Cast On is explained really well by pieKnits here.
A good book featuring double knitting is Double Knitting: Reversible Two-Color Designs
by M'lou Baber, which can be purchased from Schoolhouse Press.
Patterns for Guernseys, Jerseys, and Arans: Fishermen's Sweaters from the British Isles by Gladys Thompson
Mary Thomas's Book of Knitting Patterns
The Principles of Knitting is being offered for pre-order on Amazon.
The KnitList is a yahoo group.
