Halfdome

No offense, Jesse/Yarnboy, but at first, I didn’t appreciate the beauty and simplicity of Halfdome. Now, with two under my belt, I’d like to thank you for a great-looking, speedy and soft addition to my repertoire. Heck, I want to shave my own head just to enjoy one myself!

Intitally, I thought I didn’t need anyone’s pattern for a hat. Hats are simple enough, especially a stockinette roll-edge cap. That said, I did pause to glance at the pattern, as I always want to support my knitting bretheren—and a local one at that! Seeing that it was knit on 5’s, I moved it below the many other items on my to-be knitted list after I finished all the other works in progress, as well as knit through my entire stash.

That said, a friend’s break-up inspired me to take another look at Halfdome. At least once a week, my manfriend and I eat at Walzwerk, a kitchy and tasty East German restaurant, just a few blocks from our place. Our favorite waiter—yes, bald—was lamenting the end of his long-distance relationship with a fellow in Atlanta. I felt compelled to give him the literal warmth that Halfdome can provide.

Earlier that day, I read Jesse’s post about Sean/Woolgatherer’s trial and error of knitting Halfdome in the round. I revisited Knitty and started thinking about the yarn… I’d never knit with a cashmere blend before. You can see where this is going, right?

So, on Saturday, it was off to Urban Knitting Studio after swim practice. With gift certificate in hand, I bought four balls of Rowan’s version of a merino/microfiber/cashmere blend and cast on that afternoon. Sunday night, the last stitches were knit and ends woven in at breakfast Monday AM. It was so enjoyable that while still in-progress, instead of wisely knitting through the skeins upon skeins of to-be-knit yarn, I bopped over to ImagiKnit to grab some of the recommended yarn… because I didn’t have enough color choice in the Rowan.

halfdomesOne week later, the manfriend has a simple black and silver on. The waiter, who has been in Atlanta on a previously scheduled visit, has yet to receive his blue and charcoal. And, I’m trying to stop from knitting one for myself, say, orange and charcoal with a pinstripe of blue and silver?

2 Responses to “Halfdome”

  1. Sean Says:

    The hats look great! Good job. I’m sure I’ll be making more Halfdomes this winter. Everyone I have shown the cap to really likes it.

    Thanks for the link to the East German restaurant. That’s hilarious to me. I used to be a German teacher at Princeton, and I love kitschy German stuff in the States. I can just imagine an attempt at an East German eatery. Service with a grunt, etc.

    Thanks for mentioning me in your blog. I have added you to the list of links on my start page. I’m looking forward to exploring your site further.

    Talk to you soon.

  2. Elemmaciltur Says:

    You are making me wanting to cast on for that, too!!!