# Hats, hats, hats



## boots (Jan 24, 2011)

My niece, God bless her, asked me to make her 4 yr old daughter more hats. I was delighted as you can imagine. But, I think this is over kill. I mailed these to her this morning. All MK.


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## shirleyrothery (Dec 22, 2012)

All lovely. Spoilt for choice. Lucky little girl.


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## Dakota Sun (May 25, 2011)

Nice hats, hope she likes them. I love the red and white one.


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## KathyT (Apr 3, 2012)

So cute! Lucky little girl!


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## GrammaAnn (Dec 16, 2011)

Those are so cute! I love the red and white one - it looks like the stripes run off. Or is it just how it is sitting on the model? How did you do that?  Ann


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## MKDesigner (Jan 27, 2014)

They're adorable! And such a lovely array of colors & designs. The black with the variegated yarn is really cute.

Marge


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## luree (Feb 21, 2014)

Wow. She will love them!


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## Helgajr1 (Feb 14, 2012)

beautiful hats ,,little girls can never have enough.. :thumbup: :thumbup:


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## boots (Jan 24, 2011)

GrammaAnn said:


> Those are so cute! I love the red and white one - it looks like the stripes run off. Or is it just how it is sitting on the model? How did you do that?  Ann


The red and white hat and the gray with diagonal stripes was made with a punch card. I MK this Christmas tree skirt to look like peppermint. Yes, I made the card. Took me forever to get it so the stripes run continuously.
Glad you like the hat.


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## KarlaHW (Jan 6, 2012)

I like the red and white best too. She will like the cat.


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## roseknit (Apr 2, 2011)

Nice hat wardrobe


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## Chainstitcher (May 6, 2011)

Thanks for the inspiration this morning. I agree the diagonal stripes are very innovative.
Ruth


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## Linuxgirl (May 25, 2013)

Whoa! You've really been on a roll. Congratulations on your work, those are awesome.


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## susieknitter (Jul 14, 2011)

They are lovely Boots. The best thing is....she has a different one for every day of the week with one extra in case the wind steals one!!!!


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## omnivore2 (Jul 23, 2013)

I scrolled down with my jaw dropping - so impressive! :shock:


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## nannie343 (Aug 15, 2012)

Very nice hat! I'm sure she will be delighted.


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## GrammaAnn (Dec 16, 2011)

boots said:


> The red and white hat and the gray with diagonal stripes was made with a punch card. I MK this Christmas tree skirt to look like peppermint. Yes, I made the card. Took me forever to get it so the stripes run continuously.
> Glad you like the hat.


The tree skirt is really great - I love it!


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## boots (Jan 24, 2011)

Thanks all. Your comments are encouraging. I made the punch card with stripes in 2011. I'm willing to post a pic of the card if there are some punch card users interested in it. I don't want to post it and be presumptuous.


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## GrammaAnn (Dec 16, 2011)

I'd love the punch card!! :thumbup: Ann


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## turtle58 (Mar 1, 2014)

I don't know about your niece, but her daughter will have so much fun deciding each day [each hour] what hat to wear!


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## randiejg (Oct 29, 2011)

Very cute. I'm sure your grand niece will go a bit crazy when she sees all the hats. She'll probably be wearing several different ones through the course of a day.


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## Ellen Kerr (Feb 25, 2013)

She and her friends will enjoy all these choices. Not overkill at all. I'll bet it gives your neice a chuckle as well.


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## Ellie in Houston (Mar 10, 2011)

boots - Darling hats - were these made on a single bed, bulky??


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## imaxian (Dec 17, 2011)

Hats and cats and stripes...OH MY!!
Yes, if you would be so kind I also would like to try my hand at stripes.
You certainly took the ball and ran with it. Lucky little girl.


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## madeinparadise (Jun 12, 2011)

Great hats - they are all so cute. Thanks for offering the stripe punchcard as a download. I will be looking forward to it. Did you make up the patterns yourself or use published patterns?


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## boots (Jan 24, 2011)

Ellie in Houston said:


> boots - Darling hats - were these made on a single bed, bulky??


Ellie, all on single bed bulky with exception of ear flap cap. That was made on standard gauge with embellishments cut out of felt scraps. Our own janglesb give me that idea with her darling pillows/cushions.


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## Blue Pearl (Jan 25, 2014)

The hats and tree skirt is amazing!! I love the red/white swirl hat with the bells. My nieces would definitely love it for Christmas.
What technique did you use with incorporating the eyelash yarn with the yellow hat? Fairisle or hold two strands together?
I would be happy to see your punchcard pattern for the diagonal stripes.
Thank you so much for sharing!!


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## JacquieK (Feb 14, 2011)

I love them!


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## Shirls Purls (Aug 19, 2012)

That's what's nice about machine knitting!!! Hats are the easiest and fastest items to make.
I bet it would have taken you a week or more to knit all the beautiful hats you made...

Did you do the "curls" on the pink hat on the machine too????
And did you use/make a punch card for all the designs?
Just curious...
You did a great job on all the hats and I'm the little girl will be happy with them all!!


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## ireneofnc (Aug 15, 2011)

My goodness, what a collection of hats. You have really outdone yourself with these beautiful projects!  I really love the kitty cat hat! These are all gorgeous! That little girl is going to have some trouble deciding which one she wants to wear first, lol. 

Nice work. It's good to see someone else's hats because I have been focusing on hats for the past few months, and was about to give it a rest, but you have inspired me on. Thanks! :thumbup:


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## Janana (Jan 30, 2013)

You are just pleased to have a family member who appreciates your skill. You did a great job.


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## boots (Jan 24, 2011)

Connie580 said:


> The hats and tree skirt is amazing!! I love the red/white swirl hat with the bells. My nieces would definitely love it for Christmas.
> What technique did you use with incorporating the eyelash yarn with the yellow hat? Fairisle or hold two strands together?
> I would be happy to see your punchcard pattern for the diagonal stripes.
> Thank you so much for sharing!!


The fun fur hat was MK on bulky single bed with w w yarn and fun fur held tog. Ran out of fun fur and kept going. LOL Posted striped pattern punch card, so, hope you get it.


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## boots (Jan 24, 2011)

Okay, here's my punch card for the peppermint stripe. I made this pattern by trial and error in 2011. I've used it with good results on several items and hope each one of you that uses it will have good results, too. Please post your pics. Would love to see what you do.

Notes on the card read: Can be used either side. Have fun.


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## boots (Jan 24, 2011)

Did you do the "curls" on the pink hat on the machine too????
And did you use/make a punch card for all the designs?
Just curious...
You did a great job on all the hats and I'm the little girl will be happy with them all!!

Shirls Purls

The curls are crochet (chain desired length, sc in each chain, 2 sc in each stitch. Done). Punch cards were used for the stripes and the "bubbles" on the last hat. The bubbles were made with a card and tuck.
Thank you for your interest and kind comments.


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## christine b linfield (Jun 2, 2013)

They are all really nice , particularly the cat one ! So when are you knitting matching scarves and gloves !!!!!!


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## josephine26 (May 30, 2011)

they are all lovely well done


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## KateWood (Apr 30, 2011)

I like them all especially the spiral one and the cats


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## Shirls Purls (Aug 19, 2012)

Thank you, Boots... I appreciate it..
Any future projects you will be doing??? Hmmmm?
Let us know... you do beautiful work and very unique, one of a kind!
Thanks again.


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## llamagenny (Feb 26, 2013)

How did you do the spiral variegated and black hat? Is there a pattern or punch card available? I love all but this one really strikes my creative fancy.


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## boots (Jan 24, 2011)

llamagenny said:


> How did you do the spiral variegated and black hat? Is there a pattern or punch card available? I love all but this one really strikes my creative fancy.


Punch card pattern is on page 3 of this thread.


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## KateWood (Apr 30, 2011)

Thanks for the card boots.


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## carolyn tolo (Feb 7, 2011)

Which MK uses punch cards? Mine is just a flat frame.


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## 30Knitter (Apr 9, 2012)

They are all cute. She's a very luck grand-daughter.


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## Shirls Purls (Aug 19, 2012)

carolyn tolo said:


> Which MK uses punch cards? Mine is just a flat frame.


-----------------------------------------
Hi Carolyn..
Hmmmm.. how do I explain this to you witout hurting your feelings....
The flat frames are usually the lowest part (moneywise) of a KM.. they are usually plastic and they just knit....
To get a MK that has punch cards, you would have to invest in a bigger KM... these usually start at around $500 (new) but if you keep watching eBay (or similar) sometimes you can strike it rich and find one..like Brothers, Singers, etc.

These KMs are heavy metal (and weigh a ton to carry it) and they can do the knitting with punch cards
Also, you can buy an attachment for these machine which will do the ribbing. The ribber attaches to the bottom of the KM... 
The smaller plastic machines are not capable of attaching a ribber to knit..

I hope this explains why your flat bed KM doesn't use punch cards..

Don't get me wrong.. you can knit on a flat KM just like the big machines, but you have to do it manually... ie, pulling your needles to make the pattern you want... some of the gals I sold the Singer Hobby knitter to did beautiful work on these little machines...

Oh yes... these machines usually are only for knitting heavier yarn (knitting worsted, bulky, chuncky yarns, etc.)

Hope I explained it to you.... 
I have a nice booklet that I made up especially for the Hobby Knitter on technics & patterns.. PM me if you're interested.
Shirl


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## carolyn tolo (Feb 7, 2011)

Shirls Purls said:


> -----------------------------------------
> Hi Carolyn..
> Hmmmm.. how do I explain this to you witout hurting your feelings....
> The flat frames are usually the lowest part (moneywise) of a KM.. they are usually plastic and they just knit....
> ...


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## rmjohn (Apr 29, 2014)

awesome!!  wonderful work of art, wish that I could have such skill on my km.


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## GinB (Sep 2, 2012)

Carolyn,

Here is some information for you about knitting machines:

*Machine Gauges (for all brands except Passap):* There are fine-gauge (3.5 or 3.6mm), standard-gauge (4.5mm), mid-gauge (6mm, 6.5mm or 7mm) and bulky-gauge (9mm) machines. Gauge is determined by how close together the needles are to one another. Which gauge of machine you select makes a difference in what yarn thickness (yarn weight) can be used with it.

*Machine Gauges (Passap):* DM-80 and E-6000 (5mm); E-8000 (4.23mm)

Each of the different gauges use a different thickness of yarn. To know what machine is right for you all depends on what you want to knit and what weight of yarn you want to knit with. *IN GENERAL*, Fine-gauge machines knit with extremely fine yarn (these machines are rare as hen's teeth); Standard-gauge machines knit with 0 LACE (Fingering) yarn, 1 SUPER FINE (Sock, Fingering, Baby) yarn, and 2 FINE (Sport, Baby) yarn; Mid-gauge machines knit with 3 LIGHT (DK, Heavier Sport/Light Worsted) yarn; and Bulky-gauge machines init with 4 MEDIUM (Worsted, Afghan, Aran) yarn.

If you want to use a slightly heavier yarn than what a specific gauge machine knits, you could knit using every other needle and use a much looser tension. However, if you choose to do this, care must be taken to ensure the carriage can still move across the needle bed.

As far as whether a machine is complicated or not depends on whether you consider manual patterning more complicated than using punchcards or electronics, which do the patterning for you.

*Types of machines:*

Manual machines: You do all the patterning using your hands and machine knitting tools, row by row.

Punchcard machines: The patterning is done through the use of punchcards, the width of which can vary by machine brand and model (12-stitch, 24-stitch, 30-stitch and 40-stitch punchcards, with 24-stitch punchcards being the most popular). That does not limit you to a pattern the width of a punchcard, because punchcard patterns can repeat across the needles you are using for your project.

Electronic machines: There are hundreds of patterns built into the machine. In addition, these machines allow you to program new patterns of your choosing into them. The other nice thing about electronic machines is that your pattern can extend across every needle on the bed if you desire. The disadvantage is that electronics only last so long. Whether you can find replacement parts for them is something I don't have enough knowledge to comment on, but this is something you would want to look into before deciding to purchase an electronic machine.

*Beds:* The bed (needle bed) of the machine is where the metal needles reside. Some machines have plastic beds and some have metal beds.

Before deciding on a particular machine make and model, look at the following 8 links:

1) Differences and similarities between machine knitting and hand knitting: http://www.yarn-store.com/hand-and-machine-knitting-the-differences-and-similarities.html
2) How to select the right machine for you: http://www.woolfestival.com/articles/machineknitting_pdf.pdf
3) Opinions by fellow KP machine knitters: http://www.knittingparadise.com/t-189996-1.html#3730597
4) Info about all brands of machines: http://www.aboutknittingmachines.com/
5) Brother machine info: http://www.machine4u.co.uk/blogs/news/8168081-models-of-brother-knitting-machines
6) Brother models explained: http://www.ebay.co.uk/gds/KNITTING-MACHINES-THE-BROTHER-RANGE-EXPLAINED-/1000000000219164...
7) Comparison of 24-Stitch Punchcard Machines: http://www.yarn-store.com/24st_pc_feature_comparison_table.html
8) Different yarns for different knitting machines: http://www.yarn-store.com/different-yarns-for-different-knitting-machines.html
9) http://www.learnmachineknitting.com/

Also, if you use the search function at the top, you can find many more topics posted where you can find recommendations.

Other helpful links:

Machine Knitting 101: http://machineknitting101.blogspot.com/
Introduction to knitting machines and machine knitting (from a Studio site): http://www.studioknittingmachines.com/PAGES/Intro_knitting_machines.htm
Info about all brands of machines: http://www.aboutknittingmachines.com/
Brother machine info: http://www.machine4u.co.uk/blogs/news/8168081-models-of-brother-knitting-machines
Brother models explained: http://www.ebay.co.uk/gds/KNITTING-MACHINES-THE-BROTHER-RANGE-EXPLAINED-/1000000000219164...
Comparison of 24-stitch punchcard machines: http://www.yarn-store.com/24st_pc_feature_comparison_table.html
How to select the right machine for you (some of this info may not be entirely up-to-date, but it is still helpful to read): http://www.woolfestival.com/articles/machineknitting_pdf.pdf
Brands and other info: http://www.knittingparadise.com/user_page.jsp?upnum=3772

http://www.knittingparadise.com/tpr?p=5676700&t=272083

*Where can you find machines for sale?:*
http://www.knitknackshop.com/knittingmachines.html
http://www.customknitsmfg.net/
http://www.knitsewworld.com/knitting_main.html
http://home.earthlink.net/~rhfarm/id1.html
http://www.daisyknits.com/machinesforsale.htm
http://www.newtons.com/brother_knitking.htm
http://machineknittingetc.com/dealersales.html List of some dealers
http://www.customknitsmfg.net/brotherknittingmachines.html
http://www.yarn-store.com/knitting-machines.html
http://www.cindysknittingroom.com/cindys_web_004.htm
http://www.ebay.com/
Plus, once in a while, you can find one for sale here on KP.

The advantage to buying from someone other machine knitters consider reputable, such as some (not all) mentioned above, is that they guarantee the condition of the machine. (The prices of them will be higher than machines not guaranteed, but at least you know what you are getting.) The disadvantage of buying one from ebay or other auctions is that you have no idea what you are getting until you unpack it and try knitting with it.

Ginny


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## suedenie (Nov 15, 2015)

I think these hats are amazing. Keep up the good work.


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## suedenie (Nov 15, 2015)

I love them all.


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## sharronaw (Jul 12, 2013)

So creative, a different hat each day! It's a girl thing


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## tyger777 (Apr 17, 2011)

Love all your hats


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