Hokie Hope Hat

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At last, I can show you what I only hinted at on Saturday. It is not a blanket square, as many of you guessed. A few of you saw me cast on for this last Tuesday night, so you had advanced knowledge as to what the final product would be. And anyone who reads this blog regularly should not be surprised that it is, in fact, a hat.

It really doesn't (shouldn't) take me an entire week to knit a hat, but, then, I don't always knit every day, especially when I have things like plant sales and gardening to attend to. Also, on Sunday there was a little scare involving my dad and an emergency room (all is well, now), which sorta messed with that day's knitting mojo.

The hat was actually complete last night, I just needed to make the pom-pom today -- my very first, as a matter of fact, and I think it came out fairly well, if I do say so myself.

Specs:

• Yarn:
• * Main color: Malabrigo worsted 100% merino in "Velvet Grapes" (#204)
  
• * Stripe & pom-pom: Malabrigo worsted 100% merino in "Sealing Wax" (#102)
  
• Gauge: 5 stitches per inch
• Needles: U.S. size 8 (5mm) Denise circulars & Clover bamboo 7" DPNs
  
• Pattern: cast on 100 stitches, join in the round, knit every round for ~6-7", adding contrasting stripe(s) as desired; switch to DPNs, decrease & finish according to Super Simple Hat Calculator; make pom-pom and attach.
• Size: 20" circumference
  
• Recipient: high school friend Judi, who is now on Virginia Tech faculty

* I can't say enough nice things about Malabrigo. It is incredibly soft, a joy to knit with, creates a beautiful fabric, and I just love the mottled effect of those kettle-dyed colors. Granted, it is single-ply 100% merino, so, pilling is inevitable, but, a small price to pay, in my opinion, for such a lovely end-product.


Pom-poms are a risky design choice, and although the hat was nice as-is, I felt it needed another dash of orange. I will send it to Judi with a note telling her that to remove the pom-pom if it's not her style. Or, if hats in general (or this one in particular) are not her style, perhaps she can give it to a student in need of a little Hokie spirit.

The best part is, I have lots of leftover yarn with which I can now start knitting some squares for Mosaic's Hokie Healing blankets:

(click ^ for mailing address)

If you, too, decide to send in knitted or crocheted blanket squares to Mosaic, don't forget to also enter yourself in Phyl's blog contest!

Or, if blanket squares aren't your thing, and you'd rather knit & donate something else, check out Tanya's Project Hokie Hope or the Knitting for Virginia Tech group blog.

Linda in our knitting group has created a VT logo square for the Mosaic blankets -- I think Jane will be posting the pattern on her blog, but if not, I can post it here and/or email it to folks. And a Blacksburg knit-blogger has created a Hokie-bird intarsia chart that can be incorporated into blanket squares. Leave her a comment and she'll email you the chart.

I'm also attempting to commission a professional yarn dyer to create a custom "Hokie Hope" maroon and orange colorway. Nothing is firm yet, but if this would interest you, let me know, and also what your preferred yarn weight might be. If and when I know more, I will announce it here on this blog.

And of course, for those who'd rather donate cash, there's always the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund.

God Bless knitters who are always willing to jump in and help during times of crisis.

And God Bless Virginia Tech!

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