Cost Effective Knitting

Early on in my knitting career I learned to think not just about the price per skein but also the price per yard. A $20 skein with 350 yards is a better deal than a $10 skein with just 90 yards, for instance. Now I have another way to measure cost - the price per project.

In shopping recently for yarn for a baby hat for my new niece, I found four irrisistable colors in a yarn that wasn't so cheap. I was looking at a price tag of $40 for one hat! But after I finished with that one, I kept on knitting (it was too big and ended up being snapped up by the 3yo anyway) and made two more plus a doll. She is based on the pattern in the Weekend Knitting book, which I highly recommend. She is knit in pieces and then sewn up. After botching the seams badly, I am thinking and thinking about how to make her in the round.

The hats are based on a combination of patterns.

Both of the little hats are made with 72 stitches knit in the round. On the ruffled edge, I cast on 144 stitches, knit one round and k2tog around to get the ruffle. I then did a single stitch rib for 4 rounds. I had hoped that would bring in the hat a little to make it fit tighter and stay on better. I'm not sure if it worked out, but it looks okay. I didn't realize that ribbing stands out from stockinette stitch. I thought it would pull it in and make that part of the hat tighter.

The yarn is Debbie Bliss Rialto - it's a superwash merino. It is a dream to knit with. That's part of the reason I made so many things - I just couldn't stop. It's soft and springy. It is, however, very splitty. It's not the sort of yarn that holds up well to being frogged multiple times (unfortunatley, I know this from personal experience).

Now that I am all done, DSIL has requested a white crocheted hat with a crocheted flower for the baby girl. That's fine - I don't mind having another project. But, I realized that as I have been organizing and sending unused items off to bless others that I blessed her with all my crochet books! Silly me. Thankfully there are so many patterns available on line.