Jayne Hat earflap shaping continued

I am really enjoying this journey of creating a Jayne Cobb hat for T. If you haven't been following, and are interested in the process , you can read the series of posts:

Yarn for the Jayne Cobb Hat:
http://smariek.blogspot.com/2007/11/red-orange-and-yellow.html
Jayne Hat started:
http://smariek.blogspot.com/2007/10/jayne-hat-started.html
Jayne Hat earflaps:
http://smariek.blogspot.com/2007/10/jayne-hat-earflaps.html
Jayne Hat earflaps continued:
http://smariek.blogspot.com/2007/11/jayne-hat-earflap-shaping-continued.html
Pom-Pom minor update (scroll down):
http://smariek.blogspot.com/2007/11/zara.html
Pom-Pom completed:
http://smariek.blogspot.com/2007/11/jayne-cobb-pompom.html
Jayne Cobb Hat completed:
http://smariek.blogspot.com/2007/11/jayne-cobb-hat.html


I hope my readers don't think I'm getting too anal about this Jayne Cobb Hat business, it's just one of those quirky experimental things that I take pleasure in. I know there are simpler ways about this. Hats aren't rocket science, right? And I'm only working on the earflap right now which should be a piece of cake compared to the pom-pom that is coming afterwards.

EARFLAP SHAPING continued...

The photo above shows you what results from doing Option 4 (options were mentioned here). I knit the earflap a little longer before starting the decrease. As expected, it became more elongated due to the decrease happening every other row instead of every row. This was an interesting experiment for shishkabobs & giggles, but definitely not a keeper. I think this one is about 7.5 inches long.

Now then next thing to try would be Option 1. Here is my 3rd earlflap attempt, where I decreased at the beginning of every row. I also knit even for a few more rows to make that section longer. This is what I worked for the earflap:

WS: Slip1, P2Tog, Purl to last stitch, K1
RS: Slip1, SSK, Knit to end

I decided to use SSK instead of K2Tog, because I wanted the stitch to lean inwards. I didn't like results of my 3rd earflap attempt. The edges curl inwards making the earflap look narrower than it really is if it were flattened out; this was also a problem in the previous incarnations. And doing one decrease per row made the earflap longer. The result was something too long and narrow looking.

For my 4th earflap attempt, I thought I'd try doing 2 decreases per row, one at each edge of the row. This is how I worked each row:

WS: Slip1, P2Tog, Purl across, P2Tog-TBL, K1
RS: Slip1, SSK, Knit across, K2Tog, K1

Yes, I used K2Tog, P2Tog, SSK, and P2Tog-TBL depending on which way I wanted the stitch to slant. I still wanted it to slant inwards. I don't think it really matters, it's not like anybody will really notice. I was just in that mood where my stitches had to slant just so. Oh, I also widened this earflap by 2 stitches to compensate for the narrowing caused by curling inwards. So the earflaps are each 24% of the circumference, and the front and back are 26%. I knit even for about 4.5 inches before starting the decrease.

You might have noticed that I slip the 1st stitch of every row and knit the last. It's just my quirk. I wanted a nice looking edge. I'm not sure if this might have contributed to how the edge curled in all these versions. I probably should have done one with straight knitting on one side and straight purling on the other to see what the difference is.

However, I am tired of frogging earflaps and reknitting them. I like this one best. Let's stick a fork in it.

Now I just need to knit the second earflap. I know I've gone on for a while about the earflap positioning, earflap stitches, and earflap shaping, however in the grand scheme of things, this portion was really not that hard. I think the hardest part will be the pom-pom, which I will need to tackle after finishing the second earflap. I've never made a pom-pom before. I've looked at instructions & diagrams but I have a hard time envisioning how it is going to become a pom-pom.

Oh, I've also been thinking about what kind of dangling bits I want at the ends of the earflaps. I was thinking 3 or 4 strands of yarn. I'm certain that in one scene of The Message, Jayne wears his hat with the earflaps up and tied in the back. I wonder whether it would be better to braid the dangling yarn to make it stronger tie than single strands of yarn would be. I haven't decided yet. The episode clearly shows dangling strands though, so braiding them (or using an I-Cord) might be construed as a bastardization of the original hat.

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I found Lupicia at the Valley Fair shopping center a few days ago and couldn't resist picking up more loose tea: Momo Oolong Super Grade, Ripe Mango Oolong, and Lichee Black. I've had the Momo (Peach) Oolong many times, it is regularly stocked in my house. This is the first time I'm trying their Mango Oolong.

Today I made tea in my favorite Chatsford Spongeware Sheep teapot for the very first time since moving to the new house. I picked up the teapot from Upton Tea, one of my favorite online tea vendors. Unfortunately they no longer carry this particular pattern. I should have picked up a smaller teapot before it was discontinued. A small portion of my teapot can be seen in a photo here.

I took Miss M to the SF Zoo on Wednesday. Going to the zoo is now a day trip now that we are living in the south bay. I had forgotten how cold and overcast SF was, and it did not help that the zoo was by the ocean. I was freezing the entire time we were there. Miss M & I have been feeling a bit off all week, and I don't think being out in the cold at the zoo helped. It's a good thing she was bundled up in 2 jackets and had a blanket on her lap. I let her eat lunch in her stroller where it was more comfortable and warm compared to the cold metal chairs at the picnic table we used.

We saw three leaping lemurs (well I saw three, I think Miss M only noticed one). Those guys are pretty fast when they want to be, and they make a surprisingly loud sound. I could only get a photo of this brown one. The other two black & white ones were moving too fast. I told Miss M that he was Zoboomafoo's cousin (you can see a photo of Zoboo here). She loves the show, it's too bad they don't show it locally anymore.


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