Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Correctly Calorimetry-ing

Thanks, Bobbie, for reminding me that I haven't posted the altered pattern for the Calorimetry! So, take the original pattern, and do this:
  • use a size 6 needle instead of a size 8. Now, this (and everything else I'm about to tell you) will vary based on the kind of yarn you use...and be forewarned: your gauge swatch might lie to you. mine did. My gauge on the tan/brown monstrosity (which I am wearing on the thunder and hailstorm that is today, by the way) was perfection, but the thing still ended up gargantuan. Go figure. I blame the size 8 needles. Somehow. The size 6's worked on my Caron Simply Soft Shadows yarn just dandily.
  • instead of casting on 120 sts, cast on 82. This fit around my average-sized head, but if you have an unusually large (or unusually small) head, you might want to do one of those math-y things where you knit a gauge swatch, measure your stitches per inch, and do some division to find out how many stitches to cast on to come out with the number of inches around your head. Keep in mind that it does stretch. And if you knit with acrylic instead of heavy worsted weight (erm, like I did), it will stretch and pretty much stay (flop) there, rather than being all ribbed and contract-y like ribs are supposed to do. That said, mine is ok. A little loose, a little floppy, but hey, aren't we all?
  • instead of repeating row five 15 times more, repeat 7 times. or 8. or 6. Reed suggested I just repeat until it was about half as wide as I wanted the finished product to be. Really, she's a bit of a genius. I mean, I'm sure I could've come up with it on my own, but she did suggest it to me when I was holding my giant Calorimetry in my hands, laughing/weeping because it was such a babushka looking thing and wondering how I would ever work out the math to make it smaller.
  • that's it. just keep repeating till it's 1/2 as wide as you want it to be, then start the decreasing part (row 7). You're skipping "row 6" in the original pattern.
The finished product should be a deliciously delicate (at least compared to what it would be if you followed the pattern) headband of sorts. I love mine. Can't wait to make more. Love it!

Oh, and if you were curious about why it is called the Calorimetry (I sure had no idea what the heck that meant...don't worry, you're not the only one!), this is why:

"Calorimetry is a scientific term describing the measurement of heat lost or gained. [I did not know this. I haven't taken science or math since high school, and I'm pretty sure I never learned it.]

Knit hats are a wonderful way to block out the cold, but when you have long hair it usually requires wearing it down, not often the most comfortable option on a blustery day. [so true! so true!] This headscarf allows you to wear your hair up while keeping your ears warm and preventing heat from escaping from the top of your head." [I love it!]

That paragraph can be found at the beginning of the pattern, but I thought I'd include it here anyway, just for simplicity's sake. Now go! Knit away!

Think I included the pattern link enough times?

In other news, I'm still having trouble posting the fabulous photoblog, but I'll try again later. Or give up. Please respond to my "help me" inquiry, oh blogger help gods and goddesses! I am no quitter!

Questions? Comments? Calorimetries?

PS: I have reached 100 blog views! Unbelievable! I'm hoping that most of them aren't from my refreshing the page to see my changes...but hey, thanks all y'all.

2 comments:

  1. My dear, congratulations on your blog!!! it's great (I imagine that your Spanish class was really usefull when you had to answer all those questions on yourself... nombre, música favorita, etc... =)
    So you're ready for the job market? really? wow, time slips away pretty fast! What jobs are you looking for?

    Besos y sigue con tu blog. Quizás puedas escribir en español también!!!
    Best of lucks!
    Pilar, your lovely Spanish TA =)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Gracias, Pilar! Mon español est toujours une "mix" de francais, español y anglais...n'est pas bien. Puedo "try" escribir en español...mais je n'ais pas promisir!

    oy.

    with bad grammar in everything but english,
    kim

    ReplyDelete