Ski Hats and the Mohawk

Our school takes the entire sixth grade skiing in the Czech mountains in February. Last year I could never find my colleagues on the slopes as they seemed to blend in with all the other skiers, so this year I decided to remedy that by knitting everyone hats out of the same yarn--something bright and colorful, I thought. Of course I needed to go to one of the big department stores here that has a fairly large selection of yarns (Kotva). I couldn't decide on the color, so I bought two completely different types of yarn. I figured I'd eventually use it for something, if not for the hats.

I started with the green/purple worsted yarn. Knitted two hats that took me way too long, considering I have six or so to make. The needle size was just too small. Gave those hats away at Christmas to some friends in London. They aren't going to be super warm hats, but that seems fine for London winters.

The other yarn was really quite pretty--and wool! I realized that I was going to be short by one hat if I used that wool, and I had bought every ball the store had at the time. I returned to see if they had restocked, but they hadn't, so instead I made a hat for my daughter, and a hat and scarf for my husband.

So I was back at square one. I went back to the store and bought several "big balls" of that super bulky yarn. I made five hats on the trains to and from Germany. For two of the men, I've ordered long braids that I will put in the hats. Looked for that kind of thing here, but everything was so expensive, that I ended up ordering two very cheaps wigs from the States. My mother-in-law is waiting to send them when they arrive.

The last hat that I must complete is a Mohawk hat for another of the men. The only pattern that I could find (and I searched extensively online) was the one I saw in Jennifer Stafford's DomiKnitrix. You guessed it, I didn't have the book, so I ordered it and had my mother-in-law send it. She really is my savior. Anyway, I've started. It's painstaking and fun at the same time. I had the guy send me his head measurement, which indicates he needs a large, but everything I've read seems to say the pattern is large. Some who have used wool, have just felted the hat slightly to make it fit, but there isn't any wool in this stuff, so I'm sort of stuck. I guess I'll go for the medium and do just one side and before I start the second I'll have him try it on. The other option is to go large -- he can always wear a skull cap under for extra warmth... I hate this!