May is for winter knits
Elizabeth Zimmermann, in her wonderful Knitter’s Almanac, designates the month of May as the time to knit mittens for next winter. You’re digging in your heels, right? In the northern hemisphere, at least, May tends to bring the first really promising weather of the year; summer is just around the corner and we can finally forget about winter. Who hasn’t had enough of rain, wind and snow? The next winter isn’t for ages, and there are three whole months of lovely long, bright days ahead. Many people I know cease to knit entirely at this point in the calendar. (I call them foul-weather knitters. We fair-weather knitters have been seized by an addiction so bone deep that blistering sun and wilting humidity cannot keep us from the wool. I shall be joining squares of a thick wool blanket in the summer heat this year.) Anyway, it’s understandable if even year-round knitters are turning to swishy summer skirts and breezy tops in linen or cotton. And yet, Elizabeth was as practical as they come. “It is better not to make mittens in a hurry,” she wrote. “When snow flies and small frozen hands beg for warmth (sob), the actual knitting tends to be perfunctory and possibly scamped; one economizes on the number of stitches; one does not make the cuffs sufficiently long. The main object then is to turn out scads of mittens to appease the demand, and enjoyment of production is not what it might be.”
The same is true of winter hats — who hasn’t, in a hurry to be done, started the crown decreases too early and left the ear lobes exposed as a result? — and my daughter has just outgrown both her warm ones. Also, I am not optimistic enough to expect real warmth in the month of June, particularly at daybreak when my husband often buckles our girl into her pack and heads off to the coffee shop. (They bring me coffee in bed. I know. It’s an excellent arrangement.)
My kid has an enormous head. It’s in the 97th percentile, while her weight is 65th. Having spent many years looking at her father, I am not surprised that this turned out to be the case. (And I’m very grateful she was willing to start small at birth and then grow that noggin really rapidly once she was out.) But the hats sized for children 1-3 years old don’t fit any more, so I thought I’d best take an actual measurement before knitting her a new hat to make sure it would fit for next winter. Eighteen and a half inches, my friends. This translated to the Adult Small size of the pattern I’d chosen. Not the Toddler size or the Child size, the Adult Small. Ada is wiggly in general and also wanted to pull the measuring tape off her head to examine and taste it, so it’s possible I was off a little bit, but I thought I’d better play it safe. Adult Small it was, though I did go down a needle size because, really, Adult Small? An apprentice teacher at my school taught her class to use their own Reasonableness Detectors to check answers to math problems (you subtracted and got something bigger than the original number… does that make sense?), and this was pinging mine. But I didn’t go so far as making a swatch or anything. Another thing I’ve learned from Elizabeth Zimmermann is that a hat is an excellent swatch its own self. Plus the yarn was so delicious that I had no choice but to knit it RIGHTNOW.
Mopsy, from Blue Moon Fiber Arts… it’s my new favorite. You’ll never believe it’s only 10% angora. Cozy doesn’t begin to describe it. I want to knit a sleeping bag out of this stuff. And it loves to cable. I felt compelled to cable all the ribs on the hat even though the pattern doesn’t call for it.
Here we’re wearing it Dutch Girl style, with the ear flaps turned up. But turned down and pushed back is pretty hilarious, like Princess Leia on a wagon train. (I think the flaps will lie flatter if I actually give the hat a bath and a bit of blocking, but it’s tempting not to.)
And yeah, it’s plenty big for next winter. And the one after that.
P.S. This grown-up girl said “Mama” yesterday and I think she may actually have meant it. She was in bed with me, clambering about and practicing standing up, looking pleased as punch with herself when she managed it. I could see the wheels spinning as she thought, “The only way this situation could be more excellent is if I were also nursing right now.” So she huffed and puffed and bumbled herself sideways, stooped for the attack, then looked up at me with a big, milky, toothless grin and said, “Mama!” I’ll take it.
Posted: May 21st, 2011 at 12:22 pm
I love that hat! Have just started a Cairn for my boy in xs size. It fits an 18 inch head. Might be a nice one for Ada too. Must dash as have sneaked up here to check blogs when I should be packing the camper van for the early start to Devon tomorrow morning! Hubby is calling and wondering what I’m doing …
Posted: May 21st, 2011 at 12:40 pm
She’s a little darling!
Posted: May 21st, 2011 at 1:55 pm
I am actually working on an unfinished pair of mittens right now. So I am also going according to the great master.
The hat is perfect – it’ll definitely fit this upcoming winter. And it looks so snugly warm.
Posted: May 21st, 2011 at 4:10 pm
Goodness, she looks like you in that “Dutch Girl” picture.
Posted: May 21st, 2011 at 10:13 pm
She does look like her mother – there’s something in the expression. I’ve got some big headed kids as well!
Posted: May 21st, 2011 at 10:48 pm
Liz and Ingrid are spot on: The “Dutch Girl” photo DOES look like you at that age! It startled me! And “Princess Leia on a wagon train” produced gales of laughter from us. Baby, Mama, writing, hat – all marvelous!
All love,
Mom
Posted: May 23rd, 2011 at 8:25 am
Aww, she said “mama” 🙂 I can’t believe she keeps a hat on her head longer than 1.2 seconds!
Posted: May 23rd, 2011 at 4:08 pm
Awwww, Ada’s absolutely adorable (lots of “A’s” in that sentence!). It’s good that the hat will last her a while. The cardigan I knit for Olivia is already too small; which makes me a little sad. My little girl is growing up!
Can’t wait to meet you at the Spider Gala in CT next month 🙂
Posted: May 23rd, 2011 at 8:26 pm
SO CUTE! I love Ada, and your tale of her amazing capabilities. Rowan’s head is also measuring over 18″, though more like 18.33 than 18.5. No matter, the helmet fits!
Posted: May 25th, 2011 at 5:22 pm
That is one cute hat on a very cute model!
Thanks so much for the pdf of your Leif sweater which I found a link to on Grumperina’s blog. What a great pattern! I love the way you combined garter and stockinette stitch and the twisted tree as well. It will be a fun knit.
WE have lots of Popes in our family line, include a Sarah! Have a good evening and thanks again for the pattern. PS I tried to email you with no success….
Posted: May 26th, 2011 at 10:14 am
“Mama” a moment to treasure…how wonderful. She is beautiful!
Best,
Carrie
Posted: May 27th, 2011 at 5:35 am
Oh, lady… I really wanted to be a “foul weather” knitter this summer. But alas, after reading this post, I’ll be bringing my knitting with me on my Memorial Day vacation.
Love the had and yarn. I’ll have to get some.
Love your babe’s big head. She is adorable.
Posted: May 27th, 2011 at 5:38 am
I just realized that I actually have this pattern in my revelry queue. Did you knit in the ear flaps? It doesn’t look like you did. I love how yours turned out.
Posted: May 28th, 2011 at 2:34 pm
That baby is too darn cute!
Posted: May 29th, 2011 at 7:49 pm
Mama! Congratulations! Such a beautiful moment when a babe finds that word.
I had a day a year or so ago when I measured all the heads in my family on a whim and was shocked to discover that the difference in head size between adult and child was almost nil. It’s funny how big those wee noggins can be!
Posted: June 7th, 2011 at 12:12 pm
I cannot imagine being a foul weather knitter. It is cold enough in the air conditioned environments during the summer that it is tempting to wear wool sweaters year round!