Beaded Hat From Hell

Lovely idea, pain in the posterior to do. Can't wait to finish this and try it again sans beads.

I'm getting some grief from 'im Indoors about the total lack of sweater for him. I have the top-down pattern, I've done the gauge/swatch three times, in the round no less, and have got the exact tension as given on the yarn's wrapper. All that's left is to amalgamate the two, since the pattern calls for far finer yarn and consequently more stitches and rows per 10 cm square than this chunky stuff will do. I hope to just use the pattern as a rough guide to how to make something top-down and get it right by constantly trying it on my big lad. I suspect his enthusiasm, such as it is, for the whole thing will fade when he has to try it on over and over again.

New hat, new skill

Yesterday I finally cast on for my first Odessa hat. I'd bought the 6mm blue tiger's eye beads online (from Artbeads.com) and then found a wool/silk mix yarn to go with them (from Yarn LLC in New Haven). Threading the 150 beads onto the yarn was more fiddly than I'd hoped, since the holes in the beads aren't big, but I managed it without too much swearing. Having tracked down the right size 16 inch double end (from Gotta Knit on East 34th in Manhattan) and pushed the beads further up the yarn it took me three tries to get the first couple of rows done. Kept losing track of where I was in the k3, p2 rib.

Now that I'm three beads into the pattern it's getting easier, but pushing those beads up every time I want to do a row is a pain I shan't repeat (unless I can find beads with far wider holes in them). Shame, since the knit part of the pattern is lovely. I'll definitely make a non-beaded version or three.

When this one is finished I can cross beading off my list of new things to try in the knitting sphere. I've been knitting for so long but really stuck to very plain stuff - clothing in stocking stitch/stockinette or cabled mainly. Felting was fun and I'll do again. Lace was fairly addictive too. Next on the list is a top-down sweater.