Some time ago, Mother Twisted (my mum) asked me to knit her a hat for Christmas. If you type the word ‘hat’ into the knit part of the Ravelry pattern database, you’ll get 68 624 alternatives. Yes, that is the real number. You might think that’s a lot, but we Twisteds are fussy blighters, and I wasn’t very optimistic that we’d find the right pattern amongst such a small collection. My pessimism was justified, and all 68 624 were rejected, lovely though most of them were.
So I realized that I’d have to design the hat, as well as make it. And I’d have to do it quickly, because illness and my aversion to planning ahead had left me figuring this stuff out mere days before Christmas.
Possibly I should have kept the process secret from my mum, but it’s difficult to disguise the fact that you’re making someone a hat when you’ve just spent five minutes measuring their head. (“Oh, no reason, really… I’m just interested in people’s head sizes…”) So Mother Twisted knew that I was actively working on The Hat Situation. The Yarn Harlot has a secret method for gauging someone’s sock size by measuring their left nostril or something like that – I forget the details – but I’m not aware of an equivalent for hats.
Also, we Twisteds have big heads. (STOP SNIGGERING! Yes, that means YOU!) There was the time long ago when Mother Twisted and I took up horse-riding, and our trip to the shop to buy riding hats pretty much ended with the staff rummaging out back for a bucket, or an old tin bath, or indeed anything that would fit over our heads.
But I digress.
I stuck to Mother Twisted’s Hat Design Brief: must have a fold-back brim, must match her red coat, must have a bit of pattern, and I started doodling. If you follow this blog on Instagram, then you’ll already have an idea of how the process played out as I began to knit (NO SPOILERS, PLEASE!)
Slowly, the hat grew, then shrank, then re-grew in a different shape, then shrank, then re-grew again. Being Christmas, it was hard to snatch much knitting time. Work was busy, children were busy, and there were important events to attend such as our pub knitters/hookers’ Christmas meal. Just to detour from the hat for a moment, the event was held at the house of one of us:-
There was lots of luscious food and wine, and nobody batted an eyelid if you counted stitches whilst passing the vegetables. Missing from the photograph is The Little Room Of Rachell, who was very much in attendance, but who managed to evade the camera every single time. She was good at catching the rest of us for a shot, though:-
…Which was all very well, but which didn’t really help The Hat Situation. If only Christmas didn’t arrive so completely unpredictably every year.
I knitted and knitted, in the sparse spare moments that presented themselves. One of the reasons why I tend not to knit or crochet Christmas gifts is because I just know I’d be the sort of knitter who is up at 1am on Christmas day finishing a present. Guess when I completed Mother Twisted’s hat? Sigh. (And yawn.)
Anyway, she seemed to like it… or at least she was too polite to say THAT’S THE UGLIEST THING I’VE PLACED ON MY HEAD SINCE I WENT HORSE-RIDING WEARING AN OLD TIN BATH! (She’s very polite, my mum.)
So how was your Christmas? Here, all was well. As always, we hosted my people and the Stoic Spouse’s people, so there were eight of us under this roof, munching our way through an enormous turkey (cooked by the Stoic Spouse) and a boozy Christmas cake (cooked by me). The twinnage have reached the age of peak over-excitement so despite the fact that I’d crawled into bed at 1am, I was woken at 4am by a pair of hysterically happy seven-year-olds. And if the weather was distinctly un-festive on the 25th, we did at least have some snow a couple of days later which I photographed on my run:-
Superb hat and I can so see you knitting and frogging and knitting…
You are such a delight – you’re a beam of sunshine and an inspiration – the hat is gorgeous. I’m sure your mum is proud of you and very happy with her hat.
Lovely hat, you’re fast I’ll give you that. I think I have knitters elbow… yikes my elbow hurts when I knit, got any home remedies? I’m off to the Doc next week, but I’ve a feeling he’ll advise to stop knitting.
Try looking up yoga stretches for knitters. There are quite a few good ideas.Keep knitting!
Yikes, that doesn’t sound good. Not good at all. I’m sorry I don’t have any clever ideas for remedies. Just hope it gets better very soon, and you can knit again without pain. Sending sympathy. Lots and lots of sympathy.
Snow? That’s a mere frost! Come to Canada for REAL snow!! Lovely hat. Belated merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
I know, that’s a pretty meagre spread. But we have to make do with what we can get, much as I’d love to live in a country with proper seasons. Feel free to laugh at our puny snow!
It’s gorgeous!
What a fantastic design! It was a joy to read as well. ????
Such a delightful post to read 🙂 and a lovely hat.
Thank you. You’re very kind.
I love that hat, and I bet your mom did too!
Thank you, and if she didn’t like it then she’s too polite to say so!
I love it!
Just warning you, my 9 year old was up until 2:30 and got us up at 5:45. Your Christmas knitting time will shrink as the wee ones get bigger! I love the hat! Well worth the sleepiness.
Yikes, maybe we’re not at peak Christmas excitement levels yet, after all! Thanks for the warning. I hope you’ve had some sleep.
Luckily I squeezed in a 2 hour nap after all the presents were open by 6:45, so I managed to make it through Christmas only slightly bleary eyed. Happy New Year!
Phew!
May your New Year be as beautifully twisted and knitted as you would like it to be.
Thank you. And may your 2018 be filled with yarn and colour.
Like the quick decrease end to the hat, did you just wing that?
Didn’t exactly wing it. I alternated decrease rows with knit rows. I’m just trying to find time to write up the pattern in case anybody is interested!
So enjoyed reading this and your tale of buying riding hats made me laugh out loud! First time laughing for a while as I’ve had a miserable virus all through Christmas! So enjoy your blog and love your Mum’s hat!
Thank you, and I’m glad to be of service. I hope your virus has gone by now. There do seem to be some vicious little illnesses around this winter. We’ve suffered from most of them, too. Here’s to a healthier 2018 for both of us.
I love, love, love that hat. You have got to teach me how to knit in the round one day when we both have the time! Ha Ha! Happy New Year to you all. XXXX
Hi Janice. It’s easy! Come round any time and I’ll show you. Or come to our knit night in the pub.
Lucky mum, beautiful hat. Happy New Year. Xx
Happy New Year to you too.
It’s a lovely hat, so warm and bright when I walked with the Twinnage on a frosty morning. Many thanks, Daughter Twisted. Though I think the large-sized riding hats were needed to cover our luxuriant hair – or that’s what I like to believe!
Aww thanks, Mum. Glad you liked it. And yes, OF COURSE the over-sized hats were merely to cover our luxuriant hair…
I adore the hat, but that goes without saying! It’s the head form made of glass that I’m all nutty-crazy about! Where did you get that? I am in the States and have never seen anything like that.
Hi Bex. The glass head was from Amazon in the UK. But I’m guessing you can buy similar things in the US, too? They are marketed as stands for headphones, but they seem to be lifesize so are ideal for hats, too. I think I just searched ‘glass head’ on Amazon.
A wonderful hat indeed, now can we see the tin bath hat? Rachel won’t have her picture taken for blogs as I found out when I met her on top of windy multi storey car park in Scarborough when she was armed with a trout!
Ha ha, I’m happy to say that no photos exist of the giant riding hats in use. Thank goodness that social media wasn’t around then. As for the lovely Rachel, I think she goes everywhere armed with smoked trout and an aversion to having her photo taken. One day, we’ll persuade her.
I love the final hat project! I did see the progress pic on Instagram and I loved your colorwork design even before it was knitted up. What a happy mum you must have.
Thank you! Well I HOPE she likes it…
So enjoy your post! Beautiful hat! You’re just the right kind of twisted!
Thank you, and happy new year!
I really like the subtle color changes under the red yarn pattern. Was that the yarn doing the work or did you pull out some colors that were close and change every couple of rows? I like stocking hats and make them to give away or as movie knitting, but since they look (I don’t remember exactly what my husband said, but he was politely hone) poor on me, I don’t wear them myself. Your mum looks lovely in hers!
I would usually use self-striping or subtly variegated yarn, but I didn’t have much available this time at short notice, so I used four very similar shades and swapped them in and out on a whim. It was a minor hassle, but it seems to work.
The hat is gorgeous and so is your cozy, lovely home. What a wonderful place to celebrate with family and friends. It looks like a wonderful Christmas, and here we are at the start of a new year. Happy New Year!
Thank you as always for your kind words. I hope that you have fully recovered from the horrible flu, and that 2018 brings you much joy and colour, especially in your garden.
Thank you! The flu is finally behind us, and today I worked in the garden for an hour and a half pulling weeds. Three cheers for good health.
Phew, glad to hear that you’re better. May this new year be full of good health for you.
Thank you! Right back your way.
Thank you! The same back to you.
It’s a fabulous hat, such a beautiful pattern!
Thank you. Working on the pattern, right now.
I would love to see all the options for “a Hat>”
Working on it right now…