This was something I planned to write about earlier in the year, that 2015 sees the 10th anniversary of so many things. Yet the words weren't there and I struggled to write, as I have on many occasions this year. 

January saw the 10th anniversary of mine and Tom's first meeting, and the beginning of our relationship. September 21st is the 10th anniversary of this blog, where Woolly Wormhead first came to be online, and November sees the 10th anniversary of my first self published pattern (Tri-Peak, Nov 14th).

That's quite a lot of anniversaries for one year, don't you think?! Tom and I had a pizza and a few glasses of wine, we're content with a quiet do. For my Woolly Wormhead anniversaries, I felt that a new pattern release, for something special, and a unique KAL to support the pattern would be the perfect way to celebrate.

 

 

Tucked has been waiting for the right moment to be published. Ever since I first blogged about it last year, and then shared photos on Instagram from the photoshoot we had with this Hat earlier in the year, Tucked has received an incredible amount of interest. When I take it to trunk shows and workshops, it is *the* most tried on and adored Hat. I get emails on a regular basis asking when it will be published, and I've not wanted to rush it and have it be lost amongst the book release.

On the 14th September, you'll be able to purchase the Tucked pattern.

On the 21st September, the KAL will start in my Ravelry group, and it'll be a KAL with a difference. And with prizes! (because I can't have a 10th anniversary pattern release and KAL without prizes, right?)

Due to the construction of the Hat, it's pretty much ungradable with numbers. After a lot of thought and feedback, I decided to push ahead with it as a pattern that is graded with gauge alone.

The KAL will not only cover all the techniques included in the pattern - provisional cast-on, joining live sts, tucks (welts), short rows and grafting - we'll also record our gauge and how that has affected size of the finished Hat. It'll be a kind of techni-KAL! I will provide everything you need to know, including row gauge and how the short rows affect length at the back and the front, and how you could alter the length for a better fit, at the start of the KAL. And I'll be there throughout (except for the weekend I'm teaching at the Swiss Wool Festival) to guide you through it.

On the yarn front, Tucked is knit in Wollmeise DK, which is incredibly sproingy and has great yardage. The pattern is thirsty on the yardage front with all those tucks, and you'll be looking at wanting around 279yd/255m. The sample size is generous and fits even larger heads, so I don't think you'll be wanting more than that (and that figure does also include 10% tolerance as usual).

I'm really excited to have reached 10 years of Woolly Wormhead, and to be publishing Tucked as a celebration of that. I do hope you'll join us and knit this intriguing Hat! Don't forget to join the mailing list, as details of the publication (including any special offers) will go out there, first.

Do hope you'll join us!

ps/ comments haven't been working of late, and SquareSpace are looking into it - in the meantime I've switched the Captcha off, as that seemed to be the culprit, so you can post comments again :) (just don't all spam me, K?)

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... as to what's been on my needles recently, and as to what's prompted thoughts of a different route for grading, here's a few images for you.

I only finished the grafting about an hour ago. It's a wonderful hybrid of short rows, tucks, decreases and grafting. It's not been blocked yet... I'm not so sure it needs it; it stands up by itself, the stitches are firm and settled.

 

 

 

It's not that it's impossible to grade, but that it doesn't lend itself well to it. There are formulas in place but they change with throughout the Hat, as it bends smoothly and effortlessly around the shape of the head, and they in turn aren't necessarily related in terms of the numbers.

 

 

 

I'm really rather chuffed with my short rows. 

I love short rows. However in the round they're a heck of a lot trickier to get neat and even, as our gauge naturally changes between knit and purl stitches, especially for any loose knitters like myself. Having spent a bit of time experimenting, I've a few tricks that help even things up.

 

 

 

The yarn is Wollmeise DK, a very springy, multi-plied yarn. The Hat is knit at a very firm gauge to support the shape, yet it's still comfy and has enough stretch. It's also really rather warm!

The feedback on grading by gauge is unanimous, so that's that sorted! I know it's do-able, but I guess I wanted to hear from my regular knitters/customers whether they'd be happy with that. It will need extra explaining and naturally it'll all be made clear, but I am pleased to have the green light on that.

This Hat let's me feel like a Hat architect again. I love it when my engineering and creative sides work it out together like this.

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One-size-fits-all or one-size-fits-most patterns for Hats are common, but I guess other folks whose heads are larger or smaller than average share my pain when it comes to finding Hats that fit. Shop bought Hats are the worst, the mens section rarely has anything to my taste. And yes, a knitted fabric does stretch (within reason; dependant on the stitch pattern) but if it's over stretched it just looks pants. Admittedly now that I'm dreadless and have a lot less hair it's not quite the issue that it used to be (having shrunk from 25in/63.5cm to 23in/58.5cm) but still. I want a Hat that fits and looks like it's meant to fit and look, y'know?

Hence I do what I do; it stops that bee buzzing under my bonnet.

Now here's a thing: I've started work on the sculptural and structural Hats that I've been doodling and dreaming about for an age. The collection is called 'Turning Heads' and I am absolutely indulging every bit of creative whim and every need to calculate and engineer and it's making me very, very happy. It's slow going but who cares when it feels like you're touching base with yourself again?

Except that some of the ideas I'm wanting to pursue are going to be rather tricky to grade through no. of stitches and repeats. And it's making me feel a little compromised. Even though I don't expect many folk to make, let alone wear, many of these new Hats, I want to make it possible, and that includes making them knittable in more than one size.

(and I'm even thinking of adding a few notes here and there on how to tone the Hat(s) down and make them a little more everyday and wearable. But that's still a maybe)

So I got thinking... if I included a section on how to change the size of a Hat through gauge, would that be acceptable? Most of the Hats are knit with a firm fabric so I'll be including ball band gauge to give an idea of how the density affects the form, and similarly, notes on dealing with that will be included in the 'grading by gauge' section.**

Would that do the trick?

Would schematics help? Hats don't always need them but these might, given the nature of them. A schematic showing how the Hat should fit the average sized head would be rather useful too, methinks?

**grading by stitch repeats and structure is my preferred method, but quite often there will be rather subtle differences between the sizes, which is generally unavoidable. When looking at it from another perspective, grading by gauge is a good method as it's simply a matter of scaling up and scaling down, rather than juggling the structural maths...though of course it has it's limits. It's impossible to get the larger sizes and smaller sizes to look the same whichever way you go about it, and quite often you wouldn't want to anyway...

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