Train Hats

(Here is the post I really meant to have up yesterday, if only I hadn't misplaced the cable needed to download photos.)

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As you can see, I figured out the whole two-color rib thing during my long weekend ride, and with the help of some basic black acrylic from my stash I managed a "train tracks" hat. But I don't think I particularly like it - somehow the design reminds me quite a bit of the pile of badly-treated acrylic knitwear that lived in the cupboard of our back hall at the farm, right above the rubber boots. It was the kind of stuff you could pull on in a hurry to go pick apples or stack firewood or other cool-weather work which didn't require a sense of style. The the two-color rib does make an extra thick texture, so I will say that the hat should be reasonably warm around the ears. But again, that recommends it more for rough play than those "cute baby on display" events. In case you're wondering, it's 72 stitches around on size 8 needles.

So, I decided to try again - especially since Wally World did actually have train buttons, wonder of wonders. I found a packet labeled "trains, planes and automobiles" that was really intended for crafts rather than clothing, and sorted out all three of the trains found within. So, 80 stitches on size 4 needles with the same yarn, using a 2 x 2 checkerboard rib and I-cord ties, followed by some embroidered train track, and voila! (I'm hoping that it looks like train tracks when the hat is worn, and no some sort of unfortunate uni-brow.)

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Finally, I'd been asked for matching mittens, so I banged out these basic red thumbless mittens as a version of the pattern at left. I went up to 20 stitches at cast on, because the other size looked a little too small for a chubby 9 month old fist - and then I added the draw-string ties (just a crochet chain woven in and out at the top of the checkerboard rib) because the finished mittens looked too big. Hopefully, it will all work out once they are delivered to the little guy in question.