Knitting & Purling

A few years ago I set out to create patterns for hand-knit hats to show Cornell University's Big Red spirit. The result was a line of hats that flatter all ages and feature a Norwegian-inspired classic and an appealing rolled-brim beanie. All sport sans-serif lettering.  Left: Norwegian-style hat Right: baby hat I have had great results with Dale of Norway's Heilo yarn for the Norwegian hats, and it produces a crisp edges for the lettering. The baby hat uses a small amount of yarn so it is wonderful to choose luxuriously soft alpaca or cashmere blends. But it's the cozy little baby cap that wins hearts, and I've now made that pattern available for purchase on Ravelry . More Big Red hats: Head gear Hipster A mighty emblem for precious cargo Last, but not least: the "Sesqui Special".  This was a custom baby hat for Liz using a Cornell giving society logo.

Knitting letters is similar to stitching alphabets in  traditional samplers and cross-stitch embroidery. The catch is that the "pixels" are rectangular, not square.  Helvetica, a typographic classic, renders well in knits because it is bold and sans-serifs.  If, in the 70s, I could be a champion at rendering fonts in pencil,  I figured i could transfer that skill to knitting.  Here's my latest creation, a warm solution for the hair-free, requested by my clever neighbor, Marc.  As Marc says, this cap stops people from wondering why he is wearing his  hat indoors. Plus, the fiber is super soft Berrocco Ultra   Light Alpaca .  When I chart my pattern, my process is utterly low-tech, as shown below. Sometimes I have also been known to hold up graph paper and trace from my Mac or iPod computer screen after I have enlarged or reduced text. The completed hat Here's a hat for...