Tuque

According to a couple of climbing friends, this here hat is not a hat, it's a tuque. Granted, they were Canadian/Irish, and James has indicated that his mission in the world (of climbing, at least), is to make everyone aware that these things, these tube things you put on your head to keep it warm? These things are called "tuques". Pronounced "two-k". So in honor of you, James and Carole, this post is named thus.

The tuque is your standard pattern: knit up from the bottom with decreases.

I made paired decreases, a break from spirals. Plus, BFF has deemed spirals "too girly", whatever that means. He has no idea. His next "tuque", the one with "@S!*#&", will have spiral decreases. Subtle revenge is sweet.

I knit in a lining. In part it's because the knit side is much smoother against the skin than the purl side; in part to cover the intarsia to prevent clumsy man hands from snagging on the the yarn. The hat's stayed in decent shape so far.

I'll be honest and show you a closeup of my crappy intarsia! You'll notice the tight tension on the y descender, and how much better it is toward the top. Intarsia's a little difficult to master, but challenges are good. I'm not about to embark on something complicated (hello, Miss Pamela and her Piers pullover), I just thought I'd give it a try. Also? I ripped this thing out quite a few times and walked away from it. Almost tossed it into the Aegean. It was frustrating but well worth the effort.

Here's the tuque back home in Germany. Don't let that momentary sunlight in the window fool you! It's been snowing for 7 days now and we're jonesing for the wonderful sun in Greece...

Pattern to come shortly.