You know what I wish?
I wish I could knit a ballcap.
It's not that I particularly want a knitted ballcap, or even that I think it's a good idea. I just wish I could make my own, somehow. (Origami? Macramé?)
As you'll note from my photograph, I'm bald as an egg. I like the look, but in a climate like Chicago's it gets chilly. A hat's not a fashion statement for me, it's survival gear.
In this transitional season I like to switch from a pull-on knitted hat to a cap. However, I don't want to pay good money in order to turn my forehead into an ad for The Gap, Nike, Abercrombie & Fitch, a major league baseball team, Flo's E-Z Tan, The Knights of Columbus, or anybody else.
Just you try finding a plain baseball cap these days.
There's a custom shirts and hats place in my neighborhood that I thought might be the answer to my prayers. You know the sort of place I mean - they'll embroider or silkscreen whatever you want on their stock of blank items.
Problem is, they won't sell blanks. In other words, if you don't make them go through the trouble of putting a design on the hat, they won't sell it to you. They won't even sell it to you if you pay what it would have cost to buy the hat with a design. (I wouldn't do that, but I just had to ask.)
I know I could probably find a plain cap online, or at maybe a cap with a logo for something I wouldn't mind wearing. But I'm a fussy little man with a sensitive little head and I hate buying something to wear without trying it on first.
(Don't you love blogging? How else can you subject large numbers of people to petty tirades about your wardrobe dilemmas? Felicia is probably very sorry she made me her Spotlight Blog of the Week, considering the tripe I'm writing.)
Stitches
Meanwhile, another of my favorite bloggers (Colorado Jon) is coming to our fair city for a yarn-ridden convulsion, previously unknown to me, called Stitches Midwest.
I think this is perfectly wonderful. I'd love to meet Jon, and although the Stitches Web site leaves a bit to be desired, there's enough information there to make me want to check it out for myself.
Most of you kids know a heck of a lot more about this stuff than I do, so I have some questions.
1) The Web site makes it seem like classes are the main reason to go. Is this so? It doesn't jive with the accounts of other Stitches gatherings I've seen on blogs.
2) If you've taken classes at Stitches, have they been satisfactory? Are the class sizes gigantic? At first glance, there are only two titles that look interesting to me - Embraceable Lace and Design Your Dream Sweater. But I'd rather not pay for classes when I could learn just as well out of a book (and almost everything I've done up to now, including intarsia, I've learned from a book).
3) Why are there so many classes in poncho knitting? Is this legal? Is it ethical?
For anybody who's coming to Stitches Midwest and hasn't been to Chicago before, Rosemont is not in the city. It's a convention/hotel/business area near O'Hare Airport, and is pretty much in the middle of nowhere. To get to the city, you'd have to drive (good luck) or take the subway (recommended).
If you want to the see the city while you're here, the best bet is to hook yourself up with a local. Some of you I may have the pleasure of meeting - but even if not, I'd be happy to offer recommendations about places to eat and/or things to do.
http://knittingzone.com has a pattern for sale of a felted baseball cap by Fiber Space.
ReplyDeleteI have heard talk of the Stitches Events. They are for taking classes as well as socializing with other knitters & for shopping at the yummy market. I am thinking of attending the East one.
Have you been to http://www.oneofsusannas.com ? She has taught at other Stitches events (and has pics on her site of one). She is to teach at the Midwest one this year. It might give you some perspective on the event.
As for classes, I have only taken ones at the TKGA and it was great. But then I took a class in something that I wanted to learn how to do and had a great teacher. If you plan on taking a class, find something that interests you, that you don't think that you could learn on your own. Then you could always do a web search on the teacher/class and see if anyone out there in blogland has taken the class before and see what they wrote about their experiences.
I went to Stitches (aka yarn camp) last year - I took some classes - two were very good, one was not so much.
ReplyDeleteThe market is great. You can spend a lot of money there but you can also see types of yarn that you won't see at most yarn shops.
It is really nice to spend the day with hundreds of people that love knitting as much as you do.
I have two beloved baseball caps, one in red and one in army green that I bought at a Polo outlet and carefully cut the threads that stitched the logo onto it.
ReplyDeleteI've had these for a few years and you can't even tell there was ever a logo patch on there. When I find something that I really like but needs modification to remove brand identity, I buy two or three, for precisely the reason you mention, namely that its so hard to find cool stuff that doesn't simultaneously advertise the maker.
You have to really scrutinize the garment and make sure that its just stitched and not fused or glued on. Good luck.
My boyfriend has always worn a plain black baseball cap and just bought a new one at Lids, which is a mall-type chain store. If you can get past the teenyboppers and their fog-like wall of projected attitude, they have hats in a range of sizes down to the 1/8.
ReplyDelete(I know, I'm commenting on an OLD entry, but you never know, you might still need a hat.)
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