Cap Karma

This blog is set up for the cap making community of ladies at the San Francisco International Airport. The caps are for chemo patients and are donated to a local hospital. The hand made caps (knitted or crocheted) are a token of our prayers and well wishes for the recipient.

Thursday, November 30, 2006

Pat's bonnets

Pat's been busy crocheting.

Smariek doesn't know this and I just told Pat about it. Smariek and I were friends in high school with Pat's older daughter. Smariek and Pat's first daughter were in the same class, and Pat's second daughter and I were in the same class. I recently put that together at a friends wedding attended by daughter 2. Isn't it a small world?

Pat's getting ready to leave us be grandma for a while and maybe retiring soon. Congrats Pat.

Don't know if you can see in the photos but her stitches are so neat and even. And the yarn she is using, Simply Soft, is incredibly soft.











































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Christina's latest

So very spring-ish. Such pretty colors and love the colorful embellishments!

This is based on the pistachio cap pattern.














This one is the cloche from the Lion Brand site.

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Monday, November 27, 2006

The Inga Hat




Well, after seeing Emily's hat, I see you guys are capable of intricate patterns like this one, The Inga Hat. You can find the pattern (PDF file) here.

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Thursday, November 23, 2006

The Gwennabe Zim Hat



Last round this was a popular pattern - I think at least 4 of us made it - this cap is how Christina converted the Terminal 2 troops to crocheting.

The knit pattern can be found here.

The crochet pattern here.

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!!! If you're travelling, be safe. Enjoy the company of your family & friends, eat well, stay warm....

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Cabled Hat with lined brim




Here's a pattern for a Cabled Hat with lined brim. I guess the lining is optional. Here's a closeup of the cable pattern on the brim:




The pattern for this hat can be found here (PDF file).

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Monday, November 20, 2006

Done!



I actually finished this hat last Tuesday but never got around to uploading the pictures until today.

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Saturday, November 18, 2006

Tri-Corner Hat


Here's another winning chemo cap pattern from the Elann chemo cap design competition. Pattern can be found here.

Montague Hat


Here's a top-down split-stitch hat knitting in the round. Pattern can be found here.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Striped Slip Stitch Hat


Here's another hat (32nd hat for Cap Karma, woohoo!) ... my first attempt at using 2 colors in a hat. I had to try to use up the odds & ends, and this is what resulted. Almost didn't have enough pink to get to the top, otherwise I would have continued striping in the decrease, but I think it turned out OK the way it came out. I'm thinking I need to get some more white or neutral colored yarn if I'm going to try doing this again with any other odds & ends, cuz I can't imagine some of the odds & ends working together unless paired with a white/neutral color. Or maybe I just need to learn more about color theory, etc...

I've posted the pattern here:
http://smariek.blogspot.com/2006/11/striped-slip-stitch-hat.html
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Monday, November 13, 2006

Yarn weights, gauges and your projects

I was reading a post from Smariek on her blog about how she was making the 3AM cap and followed the pattern she had written but landed up not accouting for the difference in yarn weight. Also hear comments about followed the pattern but it turned out too small or too big.

The great thing about the caps is that the variety in size is needed. Nevertheless, I figured we could all benefit from some information on yarn weights, needle/hook sizes, gauges and adjustments.

Go here at Vogue Knitting for a handy chart on yarn weights, needle/hook sizes and gauge. I know most of us would rather just not bother with the nitty (knitty) gritty details and that's fine - if nothing else, remember to check what yarn weight the pattern is based on - or look for patterns based on the yarn you have on had.

Also found this handy chart. Figure 20" for women and 22" for men.

Caps by Sarah's mom

Caps by Sarah Luu's mom. The first one is a basket weave pattern, the second one has hearts although it may be hard to see in the photo and the last one is a vertical wave.


































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Hearts


Cap Karma I can't take credit for the hearts. I found the pattern last year but never got around to trying it.

Emily's WIP - Americana













Emily's work-in-progress (WIP)
Looks like we've got a red, white and blue theme going. Nice hearts - let me guess, she made up the pattern - these ladies - so talented. And so techno savy - she emailed the photo from her camera phone!

Friday, November 10, 2006

Tri-color cloche - crochet pattern

Nice colors. Pattern here.


By Pat Navarro

The first one is a double crocheted, chocolate cap with stripes.


This one, Americana - double crocheted on top with single crochet brim.


Caramel-double crochet

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Caps by Christina

Christina sure is a busy little beaver. Not only did she make these 2 caps in short order, she has also been busy knitting socks - I think she is on pair #4. It's her handy work that has me thinking about trying to knit socks.

This one is a pattern from a Vogue book on crocheted hats.




This one is from the crochetme zine.


Christina is my next door neighbor at the Airport - she is probably the only lady of the lot I see on a regular basis. I get to hear through her all the going-ons with the others and she often delivers caps from the others.

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Team work cap

This one was knit by Teresa Rivor and crocheted by Rebecca Chiu - way to go ladies! Great collaboration.

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Wavy Cable Lace Cap




Another Elann chemo cap design contest winner.
Here's the pattern : http://www.elann.com/ShowFreePattern.asp?Id=184024

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Thursday, November 09, 2006

Tina's tip corner

When knitting pieces that need to be sewn together, add a knit at the beginning and end of each row to create a selvage to seam along.

Posted for Tina.

Cap by Emily


Emily is another one making up patterns - sigh - if she'd only written it down.....
So much prettier in person and it's gray and a light bluish color, although you con't really tell the bluish color in the photos.

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Crochet Cap Pattern



Another crochet cap pattern from Berroco. Careful with the gauge since the pattern is based on a ribbon yarn.

Quinquevulnera Mindless Knitting Hat




Here is my Quinquevulnera Mindless Knitting Hat, my latest hat for Cap Karma. It's my second "Mindless Knitting" hat, very easy to do without looking at the pattern. This "mindless knitting" thing is working out very well. I don't have a slip of paper for my little girl to try to grab, so nothing gets lost. :-) This hat is just a simple checkerboard pattern with plain & seed stitch blocks. It's hard to see the pattern with this variegated yarn.

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Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Crochet Cap Pattern



Pattern here.

Friday Night Knitting Club

Hey, have you guys heard? There's a knitting related movie in the works, it's called The Friday Night Knitting Club. It's co-produced by Julia Roberts.

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Scallop Brim Cap

One of my creations - this is a repeat of the first cap I made. I wrote down the pattern this time and will share it once I make sense of my scribbles.

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Monday, November 06, 2006

Another cap completed



Here's another cap, it's not much to look at, it's almost Frankensteinian. It started out as a "mindless knitting" hat using trinity stitch, and then I got to the decrease and wanted to decrease in pattern ... but then the hat would no longer be mindless knitting. So I winged it at the top using a standard seed stitch decrease with popcorns randomly thrown in to keep the "knobby" look at the top. It was not very elegant, but pretty mindless to do. I really need to rethink my patterns thoroughly before I jump right in and start them. The trinity stitch pattern is broken up with some ribbing, just to be different. Maybe it would look better without the ribbing thrown in. What do you think?

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Friday, November 03, 2006

It's fuchsia.

Sarah recently asked me about whether pink was my favorite color. I wondered why the question and she referred to this blog.

I started the blog in early October in another color and since October was Breast Cancer Awareness month and there was a movement online for sites to go "pink" for Breast Cancer Awareness, I joined in by changing the blog to pink. I am sure you noticed the button "I am going pink...".

Smariek and I discussed whether we should change the blog template/color at the end of October and both of us were thinking that the customizations she has done may not carry over and don't want to risk losing all her hard work.

So the blog stays pink. It's just a color - our cause remains chemo caps for those who need them - women or men. And if pink really isn't your thing, think fuchsia!

Waffle Stitch Hat - Crochet




Pattern here. Scroll down to September 4th 2005 entry.

Where did the week go??

If it seems like I might have fallen off the planet - that might actually have been the case because I am not sure how this week just buzzed right by and what exactly I did....

I think between being disoriented by the time change (gaining one hour - right!) and starting a new book, I think I just kind of regressed from the world. Nothing quite like a good book.

Anyhows, I am still knitting the one cap I frogged but hope to finish it this weekend and start a crochet project.

Last week I visited the Terminal 2 knitting club over lunch. Shared in with all their WIPs (works in progress) and FO (finished objects). I don't normally step away for lunch, so it was nice to do so and see what everyone was up to.

I will have to stop in on the IT group and see what they're doing.

Anyone interested in learning how to use 2 circular needles to knit caps (and never use dpns)? Smariek knits her caps this way and I know that Christina and I are both interested in learning. Maybe we can get S to come visit for a show and tell.

Some photos from the visit.

Here's Andree showing off a finished sock.


Marisa and Christina dicussing Christina's cap in progress.


Marilou and Marisa both working on shawls


And Yvette bashful behind hers.


Rebecca and Andree working away.

The Amazing Hat - Crochet



Pattern here.

Thermal Stitch Adult Hat - Crochet

Pattern here.

Cabled Chemo Hat



Here's another chemo cap pattern from Elann's Chemo Cap Design Competition. You can find the pattern here.

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Thursday, November 02, 2006

Sarawakense MK Hat



Here's my 6th hat for Cap Karma 2006-2007. I wanted to do a hat with a seed stitch decrease at the top. You can see pictures of the seed stitch top (plus another view of the hat) on my blog.

Woohoo! We have 17 hats made so far this year. Let's keep the caps coming ...

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Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Left slanting decreases (SSK, SKP, etc)

How many ways can you do that? Not a hat suggestion here, but rather study on technique which I thought was interesting. How do you do a left slanting decrease? Do you have a favorite? I stumbled upon this blog entry where 7 different versions are compared. Check it out here:
http://nonaknits.typepad.com/nonaknits/2006/07/comparing_left_.html

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