May Hats

The May deadline just passed.  A lot of hats are in the mail and even more will be arriving in the next week or two.  So many people have been knitting so many beautiful Hats for Sailors that I thought I would show some of them on these pages over the next few weeks.

I'll start with a box from Linda in Texas.  She has been knitting Hats for Sailors for a long time and we have communicated back and forth.  She knows that I am working on knitting 100 hats from 100 different patterns. (I did finish #20 last week).  So she included some aid in her package.

I found her lovely hats, a letter and several patterns that she enjoys that I haven't tried yet.  They were perfectly timed as I have been looking ahead and wondering how I am going to get to 100.  These brought me closer!

Not only had she included the patterns, but she had provided small numbers attached to her hats so I could match the pattern to the hat.  I have a hard time seeing a picture of a pattern on a piece of paper and imagining it in real life hat form.  Seeing her hats (and all of yours) really helps me see how beautiful the hats can be.

A second box arrived from Linda the next day!

All of you generously share your experiences and ideas with us.  Your choices of patterns and yarns and colors inspire me and others to try new things.  Thank you to every single person who has sent in a hat.  The sailor who received or will receive your hat will appreciate it, but so do the rest of us who appreciate your talent.

Keep watching for more beautiful hats by the knitters/crocheters of Hats for Sailors.

We also have some exciting plans for the next deadline on November 11, 2013.

Cables

I love cables!  I love the way they look and I love being able to move stitches.  I love that the pattern changes every row but repeats every several rows.  It keeps me interested but is familiar at the same time.  Cabled hats are also stretchy and fit a variety of head sizes.  It makes a great option if you do not know the size of the head of the future wearer.

After writing this post, I realized that I need to improve my photography skills and I should put the hats on someone's head!  All of my pictures are poor representations of the beautiful hats, so check out the links on Ravelry to see better photographs of these lovely patterns.

I'm back to Jared Floor (remember the popular Turn A Square?).  Koolhaas is a beautiful pattern that uses cabling to make a very interesting pattern.

Merrick by Amand Schwabe is another beautiful pattern.  I enjoyed moving the cables around the hat.  It needs to be on a head to see how beautifully the cables weave around each other.

Dean Street Hat by Nina Machlin Dayton has a lot of cables but is repetitive enough to make it an easier cable knit.


I have finished 18 of my 100 hat goal with #19 on the needles.  Our next deadline is in a week It would be nice to have 20 finished by then.  I'll let you know next week.

WATCH CAPS

Watch Caps are very popular.  I most commonly see a simple watch cap that is basically 2x2 ribbing throughout.  Here are three Watch Cap patterns that I have knitted.

This is a classic pattern that has many different names on Ravelry.

This was a nice pattern with some variation to keep it interesting.  It is Classic World War II Watch Cap.

And finally, A Hat Fit For A Boyfriend is another frequently knit hat.  It is a classic that looks great and fits well.

My goal is 100 hats from 100 different patterns and I have completed 17.  I am ready to cast on the next one and am looking for a pattern.  I'm off to the Hats for Sailors Finished Projects page on Ravelry to see what others have been knitting.

LET'S TALK ABOUT HATS

We have a deadline approaching at the end of the month and the hats are starting to arrive.  And although the main motivation for participating in Hats for Sailors is being able to provide hand knit and crocheted hats to sailors, there are also great side benefits for me because they arrive in my mailbox.  I don't have to knit all of the hats to see beautiful patterns.  I also don't have to knit dozens of versions of the same pattern to see how different yarns can produce equally beautiful but different hats.

I have a personal goal of knitting 100 hats from 100 different patterns over the next two years so I have been paying more attention to the patterns that people are using.  I thought I would start sharing some of my observations in case you are also looking for ideas.  These are three patterns that I commonly see.

Turn-A-Square by Jared Flood is a probably the pattern I have seen the most.  It is simple, easy to memorize and looks great.  Look through the finished projects on Ravelry and you will see how much variety there is.  With over 13000 Ravelry projects there are a lot to look at!

Bus Hat by Kylie McDonnell-Wade has great texture.  It is interesting to knit but also easy to memorize.  It stretches and will fit a variety of sizes.

Waffle Hat by Gail Bable is similar to the Bus Hat.  It has great texture, easy to memorize and interesting to knit.  It also expands and contracts well to fit different size heads.

I'll be highlighting more patterns in the future, based on what I see and what I have tried.  Do you have a favorite pattern?

Sandra

Packing Up The Hats

Lynne and I began sorting and packing the hats into boxes today.  Our two ships are the USS Decatur and the USS Higgins.

It took us longer than it could have because we spent a significant amount of time stopping to examine the hats and admire your talent and creativity.  Here are some pictures from packing day.

We were stacking them in 10's.  You would be amazed at how easy it to lose count.  We get easily distracted by the knitting.

Not only did many of the hats have personal notes, we also included a general note in every box saying thank you from the Hats for Sailors group.

Each stack is 10 hats and each length had 10 stacks.  It made it much easier to keep track when we knew each column was 100 hats.

Aren't the boxes festive?

Thank you so much!  Every time we go through the hats again we remember how incredibly amazing you all are!!!

THE 2012 GRAND TOTAL IS 733 HATS! WOW!!!

We have set a new record for Hats for Sailors.  We have made 733 hats this past year and they are now being prepared to send off to the ships.  But until then, here are some pictures of the gorgeous hats!

Aren't they beautiful!  Check out our facebook page and Ravelry for more pictures.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

2012 Ships

Great news everyone ... according to Sandra, we have over 200 hats either in-hand, or on the way. That's really good because I have news on the ships we are knitting for this year.

On May 25 Shanti turned over command of the USS Decatur to the man who was her Executive Officer. It was a very bittersweet day, marking the end of her command-at-sea (for the time being anyway) ... but also marking the beginning of her next adventure. She will be attending the National War College and getting her 2nd master's degree. Only this time, she gets to do it full time and the Navy pays for it. Yay!

SHIP ONE
The USS Decatur heads out on deployment again in late summer/early fall. Over half of the sailors on the ship are new to her. Commander Joel E. was there when they received their first gift of hats in 2010 and was wondering if we could, again, gift the ship with hats for this deployment. I think this would be a wonderful way to thank them for again being away from their loved ones over the holidays.

SHIP TWO
Shanti has a good friend, Nicole, who is about to take command of another guided-missile destroyer, the USS Higgins. They will be deploying this summer as well. Shanti was the Combat Systems Officer on the Higgins at the beginning of the Iraq war in 2003 (I think I have that right), so there is continuity here. Nicole has heard some wonderful stories about the hats sent to the Decatur in 2010 and would love to have her crew on the Higgins become the recipients of your lovely hand knit hats, and warm wishes, as well.

So, now we have a goal ... to outfit both ships this holiday season we will need to have around 600 hats. I think we can do that. So please, fire up your knitting needles and lets see what we can do toward this goal.

Bless you all for all the knitting and love you are passing this way.

Lynne