Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Two pics of G's chemo cap version 1

Version 1 of the chemo cap: cast-on of 100 stitches, stockinette body, and 2x2 ribbing for the brim... covers almost all the ears.

I'm now doing Version 2, started it March 15 Sunday night... the body would be 2x2 ribbing, and cast-on is just 80 stitches. I'm varying the number of cast-on stitches because i read, belatedly after finishing Version 1, that tencel stretches even more than cotton. So I decided to reduce the cast-on to 80 stitches for Version 2, which is gonna be stretchy already being pure ribbing (except for the crown). My plan for Version 3 would be stockinette body with roll brim.

Tencel in itself being a shiny yarn is not easy to photograph even when it's cloudy natural lighting. Sorry for how my pics do not do justice to the sheen of the yarn.

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Friday, March 13, 2009

Knitting updates: chemo caps and more wool beanies

Frankly I wish I didn't have to be knitting this. This weekend I'm aiming to finish one chemo cap for my friend G who has had her second chemo session, and now sports a bald head. I'm combining one strand of black tencel with one strand of multicolored tencel, with blue and purple shades. She wanted her cap in indigo which I don't have in tencel.

It's done in stockinette with a spiral top and 2x2 ribber edging. No pic yet...maybe when it's done. I'm gonna do another chemo cap in 2x2 ribbed. Hope they fit my friend G and I hope she likes them. She's somewhat of a design doyen in her field, so it's a big deal to actually give her anything handmade.

Many thanks to Punay who had recently given me the circular needles I exactly needed for this project: a metal pair, 3-mm thick and 40-cm long. The smallest needles I had for 2-strand tencel knitting were US size 4 (3.5mm) bamboo dpns and circulars, and i used the dpns for the spiral top...in a way, I was glad they were bamboo so they "grabbed" the slippery tencel. It's a major hassle knitting with FOUR thin bamboo needles and I probably wouldn't have lasted with metal dpns. Still, despite being able to "grab" the tencel, the bamboo needles kept falling off... so I immediately changed to the metal circs the moment I could. The metal circs were heaven-sent.

After I finish this couple of chemo caps, I'm planning to knit again woollen beanies. First dozen were already sent to the US a few months ago, and I might have a chance to send some more around May or June...