The Good, the Bad, and the Bulky Thorpe

The Good- a fresh, and heavy, snowfall for the kids to play in.

The Bad- a band of freezing rain, with a severe cold snap on its heels. It might get up to 4 whole degrees above zero tomorrow. You folks who live in places where nobody's even heard of a thing called a "Wind Chill Advisory", let alone felt one on your face or tender extremities like fingers, toes, ears, or nose, count your blessings this week. The bright side? The need for warm knits like this-

The Bulky Thorpe

by Kristen Kapur, of Through the Loops

I had a few hanks of Blue Sky Alpacas Bulky- in an older, camo colorway, that I got at a discount after they discontinued the Duotones. This seemed like the perfect project to finally use it on. This yarn knits up at a 'super bulky' gauge- I got roughly 2.625 sts per inch on size 15 needles, and I'm a tight knitter, really tight at times.

Casting 4 sts on 4 short and chubby size 15 double pointed needles was a bit awkward, to put it lightly, but I was determined. Those first 2 rnds of increases were tediously tight with this yarn, but once I got to knit a stitch or two between those knit into the front and back increases, things went much better. It was so gratifying to see a finished object fly off the needles so quickly (I may knit with a lot more bulky in the future...) and even more gratifying to see a child thrilled to receive it!

I only increased until I had 56 sts and then adjusted the rest of the numbers accordingly. This boy has a pretty big noggin, and the hat seemed huge in my hands, even though the math seemed to work, but it fits just fine and he likes it, so we're all happy. This hat should fit most adults' heads, but if I were going to use this yarn again on another child (one with an average head size), I'd probably stop increasing earlier. 48 sts at the gauge I used would make approximately an 18" hat, which would fit most kids.

I handed it to him before putting on the braided ties, and he said he likes it just the way it is, so this way it will stay, at least for now.

My oldest son is hoping I'll use my other 2 hanks of this same yarn on a similar hat for him. When trying on his brother's, he noticed that the ear flaps are almost long enough to come together, and he's requested that they do so and button, hmmm, that could work. 15 year old son, requesting hand knits, it does my heart good.

Happy knitting
ali

*One other mod- I left off the crochet edging, for 2 reasons. 1, I don't have a crochet hook that big, yet. 2, it really didn't need it. This bulky yarn makes a sturdy edging at the bind off, and the slipped st edges of the ear flaps give them a finished enough look.

**If interested, you can still find several of the Duotones colorways, discounted, at Webs.