Sunday, May 27, 2007

Spin Journal #3: The Gray Monmouth Cap

As noted in a previous post, I decided to knit the gray Monmouth cap with 3 strands of single handspun "Corrie-Cot" (a Corriedale and Cotswold blend), as my singles still seemed a little skimpy for the task at hand. No matter how much I try, I simply can't spin fat singles. I don't have wheels for spinning fat singles--double-drive wheels are traditionally for fine spinning--and it really is difficult for a spinner to go back to fat after learning to spin thin. A great deal of it has to do with concentration: you have to constantly pay attention to how you're spinning, and if your attention strays, you go back to spinning your regular "default" yarn.

I finished the knitting on the Monmouth cap, and took a few liberties with Rutt's original description to get a cap more to Stephen's taste. He thought the first cap was "OK, but..." and then had a list of changes he wanted made. Make the crown shallower, make it more semi-spherical, etc. One thing he wanted that I simply can't comply with is making it a thinner cap. The original cap I made him was out of a 2-ply Merino I spun and hand-dyed with madder, and I used overly large needles to create a cap that was lighter and lacier than a normal Monmouth. But back to the changes. I've listed my pattern notes below.

1) Cast on 60. Join to make round. Mark the join.
2) Knit 3 rounds. Inc 3 stitches spread evenly throughout round. Mark where the stitches are.
3) Knit 1 round, then purl 1 round (this will create the edge of the hem), then knit another round.
4) Dec 3 stitches above the increases while knitting this round. Mark these decreases.
5) Knit next 8 rounds.
6) Dec 3 stitches above the previous decs while knitting this round. Mark the decreases.
7) Knit next 6 rounds.
8) Dec 3 stitches spaced evenly between the previous decs while knitting this round. Mark the decreases.
9) Knit the next 4 rounds.
10) Dec 3 stitches above the first 2 sets of decreases while knitting this round. Mark the decreases.
11) Knit the next 2 rounds.
12) Knit 2, k2tog all the way around.
13) Knit next round.
14) K 2, k2tog all the way around.
15) Knit next round.
16) K 1, k2tog all the way around.
17) K1, k2tog all the way around. You should now be down to 8 stitches.
18) Thread a tapestry needle, cut the yarn leaving a tail of about 6 inches, and thread it through the remaining 8 stitches, then pull tight to close the top of the hat. With another piece of yarn and the tapestry needle, turn the brim and whip it down.
19) Felt the living daylights out of the cap (I throw it in the washer on hot with a couple of towels, then dry it in a hot dryer), and shape it over a head form to get the shape you want.

I'm not putting a button or a loop on this one, as Stephen normally wears these caps under his helm as padding, and the extra stuff can be annoying. The finished cap is quite large; the photos of it are on a styrofoam head, but it's huge on my own head. Next step: felting/fulling the cap.







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