#52

I finally finished the hat I started in December.  The pattern is Seaman's Cap by Brenda Zuk.  It is a great basic pattern, simple and straight forward.  I used Cascade 220 superwash for the ribbing and then switched to Liberty Wool for the main part of the cap.  I have a lot of Cascade in my stash so it is a good way to make my Liberty Wool stretch further and I like the way it looks.

I have slowed down my hat knitting and am focusing on knitting some other projects.  But I am in training for the Ravellenics.  We have Team Hats for Sailors and I am on the Team.  During the London Olympics, I knitted 7 hats.  I plan to exceed that number this year.  It will be a little bit more complicated.  During the London Olympics, I could knit the same, simple pattern over and over again.  This time I need to knit a different pattern each time which will slow me down.  I am currently mulling over my pattern choosing strategy.  Do I choose simple, quick patterns that are basically the same hat?  Do I choose only patterns that have been sitting in my queue?  Do I choose patterns that are interesting and keep me going?  Do I choose them all in advance and just live dangerously and choose one at a time?

How ever I decide to approach it, I really have to tamper down my eternal knitter's optimism and be realistic about what I can accomplish.  I have to admit that I can't just whip out quickly a very complicated cable pattern with a 12" brim!

If you aren't already on Team Hats for Sailors, think about joining us.  Your goal can be anything you want it to be.  All we ask is that it be a hat for a Sailor.

#50

We now have a web site Hats for Sailors.  It is still under development, but that will be the new place to go for information and news in addition to our Facebook and Ravelry pages.

We have a great KAL on our Ravelry site.  Each month we will knit a different hat pattern. We are still looking for volunteers to lead KAL's throughout the year.  No experience necessary.  Just pick a pattern and invite our members to knit along with you.  Easy Peasy!!!  Check Ravelry to sign up.

I have passed the midway point in my quest to knit 100 different hats from 100 different patterns.  The month of December was chaotic and hectic and I was not sure I was going to make it.  Somehow my knitting brain (that thinks I can do amazing things in no time at all) seeped into the rest of my life!  I planned and hosted a Christmas at home in California and then flew to London with my husband and sons to meet my daughter for another Christmas.  No problem, I can pull off two Christmas's in two countries.  And all that extra time to knit on the airplanes, I can make even more gifts than I had planned!  I had to finally admit that my plans were too ambitious and I needed to scale back.

It is funny that even though I scaled other things back, I was able to meet all my knitting goals (sometimes only by minutes)!  Maybe being confined on airplanes for long periods of time with nothing to do helped.

My hat goal was to finish #50 before the end of the year.  I had posted a picture last month of #50.  That hat still isn't finished, but two other hats skipped in front of it.  They are both watch cap patterns and very similar, so it was interesting to knit one right after the other.

Both are great patterns and easy to knit.  The length was determined more by the amount of yarn and time I had than exactly what the pattern called for.  In both cases, I was sure that they were long enough and tested them others to be sure.  I would happily knit either pattern again and they will be my "go-to" patterns for watch caps.  I used the same yarn for both hats, Cascade 220 superwash.  Lorne's Hat was knit on size 4 needles and Sandoval Hat was on size 6 needles.  Lorne's hat was tighter, more dense and probably a little warmer.  Sandoval Hat was wonderfully squishy, stretchy and soft.

One pattern was Sandoval Hat by Robyn Devine (#50)

The other pattern is Lorne's Hat by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee #51

After all the chaos, I came down with a horrible case of the stomach flu right after I returned home.  I am so lucky that I could recuperate at home in my own bed!  But now I'm a little behind on my 2014 hat knitting.

#50 On The Needles

#50 of 100 is on the needles (barely).  My goal is to complete the 100 different hats from 100 different patterns in two years.  That means that I need to finish the 50th by the end of this month to stay on track.  It is on the needles but my hat knitting has come to a grinding halt as I frantically try to finish my Christmas knitting in time.  It is a plain, simple pattern with a cascade 220 superwash brim and a liberty wool body to the hat.  That should be fast?

But, I have a chronic problem when it comes to knitting.  I always think that I can knit much faster than I actually can and that I have a lot more time in my life to devote to knitting than I do.  It happens every single time and yet I never learn!  You would think that I would at least have a second of hesitation, but I don't.  I am so deep in denial this Christmas, that I won't even take stock of what is left to knit because the answer scares me.  So, we'll see if #50 actually gets finished in time because it is at the bottom of the priority list and that list is long…too long.

My holidays have been turned upside down by family changing plans.  It is all for the better and will be a lot of fun.  Everything is crammed into a smaller time line, with more people and more locations.    It makes panic bubble up inside me periodically.  I keep trying to remind myself that the very best thing I can do is spend time with people I love and all of the rest really doesn't matter.  If I keep that attitude (and I hope I do), I'm afraid #50 may have to wait until 2014.

2013 Picture of 528 Hats

Announcing the Ships for This Year

This message from Lynne…

Great news ... with Shanti's assistance, we have selected two frigates that are currently deployed. The USS Rentz is off the coast of South America and the USS De Wert is in the 5th and 6th fleet areas of responsibility (Middle East and Mediterranean). Both ships have 220 - 240 sailors on board and are very excited about being our ships of choice for 2013. These numbers mean that we have just about the right number of hats available this year. 

Great job everyone. You are going to make a lot of sailors happy this year.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

They are arriving every day!  These are the hats that have arrived over the last week or so.  Aren't they beautiful!

Do you know Lynne?

November Deadline
First things first, don't forget our deadline is fast approaching.  Hats need to be mailed to me, Sandra, on or before November 11th.  If you do not have my address, please email us at hatsforsailors@gmail.com.

Do you know Lynne?
There are so many amazing and wonderful aspects of being involved with Hats for Sailors.  One of the best is getting to know so many of you.  We all have many facets to our lives, including Lynne.  Most of you know her as Shanti's mommy.  If you haven't read it before, Signature Needle Arts profiled her on their blog awhile ago but it is worth mentioning again for any of you that don't know her.  Here is the link.

It is good to look back at how we started and the two amazing women who had this idea and made it happen.