It's an odd blog title, but it's true all the same. I worry about the sizes of the Hats I make.

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I'll try and avoid veering into my usual rant about how one size doesn't fit all, or even most. If it's a gradable pattern, I just think taking this road is lazy when it comes to Hat design. Even my patterns that can't be graded by the stitch count or pattern repeat are still graded by gauge.

There - I've got that out of the way!

Dancette (right, above) is one Hat I always use in my sideways knit classes to demonstrate not only how fun garter stitch can be on it's side, but also how stretchy it is. I haven't found a head yet in one of my classes that it won't go on.

But just because a Hat goes on doesn't mean it fits.

As a knitted fabric stretches widthways, it'll take up in length. It's not rocket science really; garter stitch is daftly yarn thirsty and in turn is daftly stretchy. But even garter stitch will get shorter as it gets wider - it can't magic yarn or stitches out of thin air.

And because I get myself all worked up about this, I spend a lot of time trying to decide which sample size I should make in the pattern. It's especially tricky because I don't usually know who will be modelling, and few of my models will have the same head size.

I usually end up erring on the side of caution, and making a slightly larger size than I expect. If there's a 22in size, that's the one I go for. Because if my model turns out to be smaller, then the Hat's a little big - whilst it won't be ideal for braving the elements, it'll not look too awful in a shoot. But if a Hat is too small for a model then you can bet it'll look pretty crap.

When I was working on Painted Woolly Toppers, I reknit Dancette 3 times. It's a skinny fit beanie so it wants to have a fair amount of negative ease, but not too much. And I spent ages deliberating over differences that really didn't amount to more than half an inch, which in hindsight is unnecessary and I really should have words with myself. But it's a habit I can't seem to break. Yet I must, else I'll pay with my shoulders.

The sample above left is the first design from the new book, and it's folded and compared to Dancette. It's exactly the same size. However, the gauge has actually run smaller than I was expecting and the Arroyo looks very happy at this gauge, so I think I'm going to knit another sample in DK. Because yes, Dancette fits but the new one won't, because stretching out all of those short rows will look a mess; you don't want quite as much negative ease with these kiddies.

But - at least I've only done this once. I can happily knit the rest of the Hats in DK and only worry, say 4 times a day instead of 50, that I'm knitting the right size. (because I will worry right up until the moment that I pop the sample on the model's head)

One day I'll learn to trust myself...

Posted
AuthorWoolly Wormhead

We're putting a lot of work into getting me better, into reducing the pain and improving my range of movement.

As much as I didn't want to go anywhere near the Amitriptyline again, I'm on twice the dose this time and it's doing it's thing - it's getting me to sleep, and along with all the other pain management methods, the pain is now liveable.

We've bought ourselves a hand-held ultrasound unit, and that's making a difference (yes, we've done our research and we're using it conservatively). I'm having two massages a week, one specifically to focus on all the scar tissue from inflammation around all the muscles (there's a heck of a lot of it) and we're mighty grateful to be good friends with a talented masseur who's friends' rates means I can get two long, deep massages for less than the price of one in London. And of course, if the damp/cold weather kicks in or I've somehow pushed things too far, I've the TENS machine at hand. For the last 10 days or so, I've not needed to use that everyday, so I'm definitely on the right side of this now! And of course I'm doing physio at least 5 times a day (I'm a pro at the pendulum exercises these days).

And all of this means I can knit again! Not constantly, I need regular breaks and days off in between, but I can knit. My tension isn't a mess, either.

And so I'm diving straight into the designs that I've been working on for what feels like forever. There's only so much work on paper I can do before I get bored and move on, so I'm relieved not to have lost enthusiasm for this idea.

I started by making myself a prototype for the construction.

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This construction method is something I started working on a good 4 or 5 years ago, when I was planning all of the Turning Heads Hats. I was wanting to use this construction with a stitch pattern that could then be rotated for the brim, so I'd got all the maths done for that (it was just a matter of finishing knitting the thing!)

BTW, the Turning Heads collection is still something I hope to see published, but it's in a kinda weird limbo - that's what happens when you have a breakdown during a project; that project becomes associated with the breakdown, or at least it's very hard to revisit it at a later date. Given that my brain is very much back on track in terms of puzzle solving and pattern maths and construction, the concept behind Turning Heads feels within my grasp again. But that's somewhere in the future.

Above is a look at how the crown shaping works with this construction method. It's a sideways knit Hat without short row shaping. 

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And this is how it looks from the side. It is still very much a sideways Hat; garter stitch sideways is essentially 1x1 rib, except with loads more possibilities design wise, and better properties stitch wise.

Recalculating the maths of this construction method for garter stitch was easy enough - the gauge properties of garter stitch sit so well with that of sideways knitting - if you've ever taken one of my sideways knitting workshops with me you'll know I wax lyrical about this!

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After a false start and a ripping out (it's how I work best!) I'm fully underway with the pattern.

Although there's no short rows involved in the construction, I wanted to throw in some short row colourwork, because I wanted to see how the two play together. It's making for some mind boggling charts and rather fascinating problem solving, as increases/decreases are working at 90 degrees to the short rows, and they don't always play when when they don't intersect at the right points. But I'm thoroughly enjoying myself working it all out!

It's absolutely been worth all the effort, I'm mighty chuffed with how this first design is taking shape!

The collection will be called 'Lateralis'. If you follow me on Instagram you'll know I've spent some time trying to decide between laterale and Lateralis... the Latin does have a medical usage and I do try and use a word that doesn't have alternative meanings, but it is absolutely the best word for the idea behind this collection. Lateralis literally means 'belonging to the side' and is the original of the words and usages of 'Lateral', as well as the origin behind some of the pattern names, too. The Italian sounds good following on from Elemental and Circled, but it doesn't strike me as quite as sophisticated as the Latin, and these patterns (and the photography I have planned for them) are definitely more sophisticated than anything I've done (in my opinion, at least!). So Lateralis it is. I'll get a webpage built for the collection as soon as I have some good photos of the finished Hats to share.

Release date wise, it'll be in autumn. I'm not going to be more specific than that as my shoulders are dictating my pace right now, and I want to be free to indulge myself in the designs so that I produce the best stuff, rather than feel committed to a deadline, which usually results in my not best stuff. Likewise, it'll be 4 or 5 designs, but I'm not committing to that either.

Yarn wise:
To knit the prototype I used Bloomsbury DK from The Yarn Collective, the same yarn that I used for the Elemental collection.

As for the pattern sample shown above, I've used Malabrigo Arroyo. These Hats will be graded by gauge, and I'm writing in 3 sizes that cross sport weight and DK. Chances are I'll be reknitting this one in DK for the photoshoot, as the Arroyo does make a smallish size... I tend to find Arroyo is on the skinnier side of the sport weight scale. I'll publish the gauges vs sizes in the near future, but for now I'd say if you're knitting adult size Hats, DK is what you wanna be stocking up on.

Right, onwards! I've a weekend of chart wrangling ahead. Hope you like the new stuff!

Posted
AuthorWoolly Wormhead
2 CommentsPost a comment

A few questions have come up, so I'll take the opportunity to explain things further.

Firstly, print = hard copies - I absolutely will continue to publish PDFs for as long as I'm in business!

Should a future relationship with a distributor or publisher develop, whereby they handled printing and stock and it was stated clearly in my contract that I only receive royalties, then I should think that would be OK. The problem with Magcloud is that it's a 3rd party that essentially makes me the publisher, and although it's not used that way, it could be, and that's the concern. Being a business that manages tangible stock would move me into a different business bracket and I can't justify the extra work and cost involved with that.

I used to have a nice little set-up for print wholesale that allowed shops and dyers to buy directly from Magcloud at wholesale prices, and I only receive the royalties. When sterling crashed after the referendum the print wholesale side of my business was basically killed off, as many of my customers were in the UK and everything on Magcloud is set in US dollars - everything became too expensive for them. 

Digital sales remains strong through Ravelry In-store sales, so you can still support your LYS that way. I'm sad to no longer be able to support them with print, but more and more shops are moving away from print to digital, and increasingly I think you'll find less options for print unless it's for something very niche like the big books Susan Crawford likes to produce.

I am hoping to continue to have sample copies of my eBooks in print format, as they'll belong to the business and not be for sale, but I'll need to double check that with the accountant. They're really useful for Hat clinics, trunk shows and workshops, as you can see quite clearly what's inside the eBook which you can't do with digital in any other way.

And having checked, I can't sell eBooks via Magcloud without first selling a print option, so that platform will be closing entirely. It will take a little while to set up the new company and move all the accounts and I will try to keep that shop open as long as possible for you to get your last minute purchases.

There are some more important changes I need to talk about but I'll finish up here now and write the rest during the week!

Posted
AuthorWoolly Wormhead
CategoriesIndie Biz

You'll know that over the years my relationship with print hasn't always been straightforward. I've never wanted to hold tangibles - the idea of having boxes of dead trees around fills me with dread, and I've never wanted to have money tied up in those boxes. That's not a criticism of anyone else's business model, as we all do things the way that suits us best and I know that if I was a big book person myself I would probably push the print side more. But I'm not - I prefer digital books and am never keen to have too much stuff.

Despite this, I've always tried to keep print options open. POD (print on demand) has served that area, as have print distributors of my patterns. But slowly, those areas have slipped away for various reasons, the biggest of which is the low level of sales compared to the amount of work preparing items for print takes.

And now, for a slightly different reason, I'll be closing that last remaining print option.

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As I'm sure many of you are aware, Brexit leaves us in a very difficult position... one that will cost us a lot and see us jumping through too many hoops just to try and hold onto what we have here. Yesterday the stress of it all broke me but today I picked myself up and carried on, because I have to.

One of the most important things I need to do is separate me and my business. In the UK I'm a sole-trader, which means me and my business are the same thing. It's the simplest way to do things (it should surprise no-one that I like to keep admin simple!) and it means I'm not officially a registered business. Truth be told I never wanted to be, and one of the few original aims I had was to not be enough of a business to get VAT registered!

But that all has to change. I'm also not very far away turnover wise from the UK VAT threshold so I know the time to change is here whichever way you look at it.

I did think to get incorporated in the UK, as it would make sense to not have to learn a whole set of new tax laws, but we have to do the latter anyway if we're to move our residency to Italy (and nope, I'm not moving my business there - the tax laws are eye watering).  And it's daft to keep my business in a currency that we're not using daily - the drop in the value of Sterling has made the cost of our daily living much more expensive.

There are fortunately options for micro businesses to incorporate abroad, and Estonia is leading the way on this with it's e-residency program. And the companies that offer accountancy services also help set up the business and get you through the process quickly and efficiently for a very reasonable fee (you see why I went this route, yes?). The whole set up is progressive and streamlined and has been very popular with freelancers, digital nomads and the like.

Having done some research and talked to a few companies, I think I've found a company (agency?) to work with who sits well with me. The downside is no tangibles in terms of sales. Having discussed how the Magcloud set up works they're still not keen to support that and rather than lose the opportunity, I've decided to close the POD door for good.

What I earn through Magcloud - both on eBook and print book sales combined - comes to less than 1% of my turnover. So POD sales would be about 0.5%-0.6% of my turnover. And considering how much time and extra effort it takes to prepare for print, and how much I need to reduce and streamline admin, it doesn't make sense to try and fight to keep POD on the table going forward. I closed POD wholesale last month and had been toying with the idea of shutting POD across the board, and this move of business has been the deciding factor.

I know I have a few customers that prefer print and I hope you can appreciate that I've tried to keep that option open but do need to move with my needs and my business.

I'll leave the print option open for as long as I can but I suspect it'll be shut within about a week. If you'd like to get a print copy of any of the books I offer on Magcloud, you may wish to do that sooner rather than later! (I will though try to keep the eBooks on Magcloud, though I'm not sure that's an option without the print side...)

Thanks for your understanding :)

Posted
AuthorWoolly Wormhead
6 CommentsPost a comment
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Description

York Slouch is a garter stitch Hat that is shaped like a bonnet. It has a deep split brim which curves around the face covering the ears, with the split worn at the back. Its body is slightly slouchy for a comfort fit and it has a gathered crown.

Availability

My Patreon supporters and members of The Woolly Hat Society get exclusive early access to new free patterns and tutorials. Once the exclusive period is over it’s published here on the blog.

Support

If you have a question about this pattern, pop it in a comment below. Sorry, but I’m unable to help with my free patterns or tutorials via email or private messages.

Social Media

Share your hand-knit Hats online with these hashtags!

#WoollyWormhead

#WWYorkSlouch


Yarn
175yd/160m/100g
Chunky/Bulky weight, single ply yarn.

Needles & Notions
Set 5mm/UK6/US8 & 5.5mm/UK5/US9 DPNs/Circular or size needed to obtain gauge
2yd/2m waste yarn (for provisional cast-on)
5mm crochet hook (for provisional cast-on)
Stitch marker as necessary
Tapestry needle

Sample details
Shown in Noro Obi [175yd/160m per 100g; 55% Wool, 35% Silk, 10% Mohair]

Shown in size 21in/53.25cm on model with 21.75in/55.25cm circumference head

Gauge
16 sts x 36 rows to 4in/10cm on 5mm needles over Garter St.
15 sts x 30 rows to 4in/10cm on 5.5mm needles over Garter St.

Sizes
To fit sizes: 15 [18, 21, 24] in/ 38 [45.75, 53.25, 61] cm
Finished size: 12.5 [15, 17.5, 20] in/ 31.75 [38, 44.5, 51] cm
Not sure which size to make? Check my handy size and measuring guide!

Skills required
Garter Stitch

Knitting in the round

Provisional Cast-on

Increases & Decreases

German Short Rows

Abbreviations

K: knit

P: purl

rpt: repeat

Rnd(s): rounds

st(s): stitch(es)

SR: work a short row

M1: pick up the horizontal loop before the next stitch, place it onto the left needle and knit into the back of it

p2tog: purl next 2 sts together

ssp: slip next 2 sts knitwise, then purl these 2 sts together through the backs of the loops

How to

Using 5mm needles, waste yarn and provisional cast-on method, cast on 50 [60, 70, 80] sts. Change to main yarn and work the Brim flat.

Brim

Rows 1 to 4: Knit all sts

Row 5 : K5, SR

Row 6: Knit to end

Row 7: Knit all sts, working the short rows as you go.

Rows 8, 9 & 10: as rows 5, 6 & 7

Row 11: K10, SR

Row 12: Knit to end

Row 13: Knit all sts, working the short rows as you go.

Rows 14, 15 & 16: as rows 11, 12 & 13

Row 17: K15, SR

Row 18: Knit to end

Row 19: Knit all sts, working the short rows as you go.

Rows 20, 21 & 22: as rows 17, 18 & 19

15in size jump to Row 41

Row 23: K20, SR

Row 24: Knit to end

Row 25: Knit all sts, working the short rows as you go.

Rows 26, 27 & 28: as rows 23, 24 & 25

18in size jump to Row 41

Row 29: K25, SR

Row 30: Knit to end

Row 31: Knit all sts, working the short rows as you go.

Rows 32, 33 & 34: as rows 29, 30 & 31.

21in size jump to Row 41

Row 35: K30, SR

Row 36: Knit to end

Row 37: Knit all sts, working the short rows as you go.

Rows 38, 39 & 40: as rows 35, 36 & 37

Rows 41 & 42: Knit all sts

Cast off all stitches then slowly remove provisional cast-on, stitch by stitch, and transfer all live stitches to a spare needle . The Body will now be worked upwards from these released stitches.

Change to 5.5mm needles and work increase row into released stitches once as follows:

Inc Rnd: *K3, M1, K2; rpt from * to end [60, 72, 84, 96 sts]

Join in the round, being careful not to twist sts. Place stitch marker to indicate start of round.

Body

Rnd 1: Purl all sts

Rnd 2: Knit all sts

These 2 rounds create Garter Stitch in the round. Repeat these 2 rounds until Body measures 4 [4.75, 5.5, 6] in/ 10.25 [12, 14, 15.25] cm from the start of the Body section , excluding the Brim, ending after a Rnd 2

Crown

Rnd 1: *P2tog, ssp; rpt from * to end [30, 36, 42, 48 sts]

Rnd 2: Knit all sts

Rnd 3: *P2tog, ssp; rpt from * to last 2 [0, 2, 0] sts, p2tog 1 [0, 1, 0] times [15, 18, 21, 24 sts]

Rnd 4: Knit all sts

Rnd 5: P 1 [0, 1, 0], * p2tog, ssp; rpt from * to last 2 [2, 0, 0] sts, p2tog 1 [1, 0, 0] times [8, 9, 11, 12 sts]

Rnd 6: Knit all sts

Break yarn and draw through remaining 8 [9, 11, 12] stitches, tighten to close.

Finishing

Weave in all ends. Whilst blocking would be recommended, garter stitch is incredibly stretchy and the body of the Hat will grow sufficiently with wear – excessive blocking will likely cause your Hat to become too big.

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Posted
AuthorWoolly Wormhead
CategoriesFree Patterns