I hope you are having a great week.
I received a request, a while ago, for a knitting commission of sorts: a request for 2 personalized ‘name’ hats, due at the end of February. I said yes (always excited to take on a new creative challenge).
But, readers, I have never knit such a thing – I have never put text on a garment. As I watched tutorial after tutorial for intarsia and stranded knitting over the last few days, I wondered if I could deliver the promised goods. Beyond mastering stranded/intarsia techniques (no simple feat), there was the question of designing a colour chart, finding a way to work it into a hat pattern that didn’t initially include one, while making sure to observe the proportions of the letters, the positioning of the name on the hat, etc. I couldn’t conceive of how to pull this off.. I was all question marks – a big long “uhhhhh……??”
Eureka!: Embroidery
A ray of light came through the clouds. I discovered the Duplicate stitch (a.k.a. Swiss darning). Often used on knits for lettering and monograms, the duplicate stitch is a nifty over-embroidery technique. One simply follows ‘on top’ and around each v-shaped stockinette stitch with a contrast strand, as below.
Embroidery must have been invented so that human beings could cultivate awe and develop their powers of contemplation. That’s my theory, at least. I love embroidery – looking at it, following out the details with my eye, running my fingers over the stitches. It’s just delightful. When it comes to doing the actual embroidering, however, I’m an absolute newbie.
After some experimenting with different fibers and thicknesses for this project, I decided to embroider the names on the hats using a single strand of fingering weight (as above). This does not offer perfect stitch coverage, but neither does it bend the knitting out of shape the way doubled thread did (making the stitches look tense and stressed). I was on my way.
The Hats
The 2 requested hats are for a ski trip. I chose Jane Tanner’s Scraptastic Hat – a simple, close-fitting beanie that hopefully won’t fly off on the slopes. Meant to be worked using sock yarn remnants, the pattern specifies US 2 needles, at a gauge of 7 sts to the inch. Using two strands of superfine/fingering yarn held together, I used my US 3 needles (6 sts/inch). I sized down in the pattern (Large to Medium, for ex.) to compensate for producing a slightly bigger garment than the gauge intends. The finished hat did end up on the roomier side, but is still wearable.
I look forward to posting the hats as I continue to work on them. I can only hope the embroidery muses will help get my skills up to snuff in time. I’ve got my needles crossed. More on this project soon.
Happy weekend, friends.
I like your plan. I think the finished hats are going to look super!
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Thanks, PaperPuff. I’m hoping! Happy scarf-knitting to you. 🙂
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Great idea! These will look brilliant… And it should be so much less fiddly than intarsia. I really must try Swiss darning again actually… It’s been a while!
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Thank you. I really do enjoy Swiss darning. Apparently it’s also good for repairs? Just a lovely all-around stitch. Thanks, Helen, for reading. 🙂
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You’re welcome! Your blog was one of my favourite finds from last year 😀
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Thank you. Likewise! 😀
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Very brave! What a neat way to put lettering on hats 🙂
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Thanks, Tierney. Yes, I had to move past some first-time embroidery jitters, haha. Thanks for reading. 🙂
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Those are going to be great! I love duplicate stitch–and you are so very good at it! So much easier than trying to do colorwork for each name (which I cannot imagine!) You are very brave and industrious to take on such a project–that’s for sure. I am so curious about the story behind the wearers–twins? a couple? a mother-son team? And by the by, I like the new look of your site: you changed the opening illustrations a bit and the result is super neat and tidy (though I liked the other version as well, of course!)
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Thanks, Melissa. 🙂 The hats are for two best friends. I hope to have more info to do a fuller entry about them and the caps soon. Thanks for your thoughts on the blog design.
Good luck with the steeking (I can only imagine super-human amounts of courage are required to cut one’s knitting!). I’m sure the sleeves will be great. I look forward to reading/hearing about it!
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Wow look at your tension! Very very nice 🙂 and such a clever way to embroider the letters, I think your friends will be very pleased when they receive them!
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Thank you for your kind words. I tend to zone out when knitting, so there were a few dropped stitches along the way. 🙂 I do hope so! Thank you for stopping by. 🙂
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Such a cool idea. Can’t wait to see the outcome. Must share this with a friend who love knitting and embroidery. The perfect project.
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Thanks, Mo. 🙂 Of course, please do – how very thoughtful of you! (hoping the weather is getting nicer in TO). 😀
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I wish I could knit too. Tried a few times ended up cramping. They are looking lovely. Do share when finished
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Thank you. I wish I could crochet, but it has always seemed harder than knitting to me. Sorry to hear about the cramping. Thanks for reading, Mehreen. 🙂
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