Head Hug Chemo Cap: Is It The Best?

© Laura DeFlora

Head Hug Chemo Cap 

Overall rating of 5/5 from 21 votes

Cost: Free

  I signed up to do some knitting/crochet for St. Jude to help earn some money, so I decided to try one of the highly rated patterns this time.  This one looked fun so I decided to give it a try.

  One thing that did confuse me for a bit was the chart for the ribbing pattern. The numbers for what stitch you are doing are the same size as the K and P above it. I thought they meant that the number was how many stitches you were supposed to do. When I read through the stitches written out, I figured out what they actually meant.

Thanks very much. A dear friend of mine will be going through chemo and radiation and I was looking for a nice hat to knit for her. Take care and I wish you all the best.

~ LuvYarn5 (3 years ago)

Yarn: Caron Simply Soft in Autumn Red 9924 - Needle: US 6

  I did find some problems with the pattern in the decrease rows.  If you are an intermediate to advanced knitter you might not even notice them, but it might be a problem for someone who is a beginner and is trying to follow the pattern exactly as written.  Here are what I have found:

• On row 2 she tells you to "Knit one row in pattern, which will be p2 *k5, p4* p2" which makes it seem like you would end the row with 6 purl stitches.  It should read as "p2 *k5, p4* k5, p2".  It could also be written as *p2, k5, p2* and get the same results.

• Row 4 has the same problem.  It reads as "Knit one row in pattern, which will be p1 *k5, p3* p2" but it should be "p1 *k5, p3* k5, p2".

• The repeat asterisk should be between the first p1 and the second k5 for row 6 of the crown.  The way it is now would lead you to believe that there are some sections with two purl stitches next to each other.  The second set of k5, p1 could also just be taken off.

From a survivor - good for you to make that free design!

Best wishes to all using your hats and going through chemo. Always a challenging time, but really worth the battle. ❤️

~ MissButtons (5 years ago)

Yarn: Caron Simply Soft in Autumn Kiss Ombre 2708 dye lot 27366 115 - Needles: US 8

  It is a very nice and easy pattern to read for the most part.  I like how simple the repeat is while also having enough of an interest so that I wanted to keep going.  I also appreciate when someone works the pattern into the crown decreases.  It seems that she doesn't check the comments on her pattern because someone posted that there was a stitch count error on row 8, but it doesn't seem to be fixed on the pattern.  Though to be fair I also don't check the comments on my patterns as often as I probably should.  Since there are so many errors in the pattern, I wouldn't call it the best.  Though because a lot of the rest of the pattern is well written I wouldn't call it the worst either.  Whichever you want to call it, I enjoyed making it.

Meet Marguerite

   You might be wondering who the lovely lady is who I've been getting to model my hats recently.  This is Marguerite, I don't remember how many years ago I got her, but she has been living at my mom's house for quite a while now.  I think I got her to work on cosplay wigs.  However, I'm pretty sure she wasn't missing bits of her head when I got her, and she has just been wearing a hat I was thinking of using for a Wendy cosplay since I got her.  She isn't telling me much about her private life outside of her hat modeling carrier, but I feel like she might sneak out at night and get into bar fights.

Pattern: Side To Side Ribbed Hat by Sally L.M. - Yarn: Big Twist Classic Yarn in Ocean Abyss - Hook: 5 mm

  I really like this pattern.  The one shown above is altered slightly because I'm trying to figure out if there is an easy way to make rainbow hats.  I wanted each wedge to be its own color.  I had a feeling that 6 wedges wouldn't be enough and would add pink since it's hard to find affordable yarn in indigo and violet.  The colors would be red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and pink.  I wanted to widen each wedge so I wouldn't have to have a color change in the middle of a short row, though that might not be the worst thing.  I'm going to play around with it some more.

Pattern: Metro Hat - Yarn: Bernat Berella So Soft in Dark Rose - Needle: US 8

  I'm not sure where I saw a hat like this, I might have been on the metro.  I think the general stitch pattern is good, but the gauge for it is off.  I want there to be more repeats in the body of the hat.  I know that Marguerite's head is smaller than the usual adult head, but it isn't by that much.  I'll have to try it again with thinner yarn.

  I've gotten a bunch of yarn from Cheryle recently.  She is trying to get her stash down and has been bringing a lot of it to the K&CC meetings.  She has had some for so long that they have older labels, and she has brought some that I have never heard of before.  It is fun working with yarns that are new to me but might not exist anymore.

Pattern: Side To Side Ribbed Hat by Sally L.M. - Yarn: Caron Simply Soft in Country Blue Ombre and Red Heart Eco-Ways in 3372 Petal - Hook: 5 mm

  The pattern has you work one or two short rows, but I like the look of 3.  I also played around with the order of doing them.  For the blue I worked them like usual, where each row was less than the one before, so I worked 9, 6, and 3.  For the pink I reversed to so that each row was more than the other.  That was a bit interesting because of the way she has you join the rows, so I only really had to work two more single crochets on my way to the top, but worked 3, 6, and 9 for the way back.

  I also experimented with how I did the seaming.  When the hat is one color it doesn't seem to matter how you to the single crochet area, but with the two I liked how it looked when I took one loop from the front of the near side and one loop from the back of the far side.  Taking the front loop from the half-double crochet side and the whole of the chain stitch looks very good from the outside and a bit off on the inside of you look too closely, but it would only show on that one section where the brim is rolled up.

  I still have some more things I'm thinking about trying.  One is to use a long striping yarn to mimic changing yarn colors mid triangle.  I'm also thinking of seeing how it looks with the color changes at the bottom of the triangle instead of the top like I did for the one above.

Big Twist Classic Yarn: Is It The Best or The Worst?

Big Twist Classic Yarn 

Overall ratings: 3.1/5 from 89 votes (Jo-Ann) - 3.8/5 from 93 votes (Ravelry)
Average Cost: $11.99

  I hadn't thought of what colors to get before I got to the store, so I just picked out whatever spoke to me when I got there.  Since I didn't double check the reviews, I picked out a variegated, but I possibly should have picked out a solid.  I could always revisit this yarn later.

I made two intricate projects with this yarn, both of which called for bulky weight #5 yarn. Besides being a splitting, tangled mess, this stuff is really light or worsted weight with a fluffy halo. Both the sweater and the blanket I made with this shrunk down to their real size (#3, #4 if I'm being generous) after the first wash, leaving me with stringy, scratchy messes. Avoid at all costs.

~ Steph (10 months ago) 1/5 stars

Pattern: Lucky Bamboo Hat - Needles: US 8

  I don't know how intricate Steph's project was, but I wanted to make my Lucky Bamboo Hat because it has some cables throughout.  I took measurements from the project before and after I washed it and it relaxed a little and the ribbing got a bit larger, but overall didn't really change.  I didn't have any problems with it splitting, even on the cable stitches.

vv nice yarn, would recommend

got this for a sweater project and the violet is LITERALLY THE MOST BEAUTIFUL SHADE OF PURPLE I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY ENTIRE LIFE. PICTURES DO NOT DO IT JUSTICE.

~ yarnchild06 (1 year ago) 5/5 stars

Pattern: Side To Side Ribbed Hat by Sally L.M. - Hook: 5 mm

  I wanted to make both a knit and a crochet project with this yarn.  These sideway crochet hats have been everywhere on my social media feeds, so I had to try it.  I liked this pattern the best because it used short rows and therefore the top isn't as bulky as most.  The pattern is pretty easy and even though I had to undo some, the yarn behaved for the most part when doing it.  If you try and go too quickly the halo can get tangled and cause problems, but if you do it slowly and make sure each stitch is fully out then there shouldn't be any problems.

Definitely NOT a bulky yarn!

I’m disappointed with this yarn. It is not a bulky 5, it’s more of a thin 4. Or 3. It you want bulky yarn don’t buy this.

I love the yarn, it’s the mislabeling of weight that is deceptive. Don’t buy Big Twist unless I’m person so you can see the product.

I’m unable to do so due to health issues and rely solely on internet descriptions. Most unhappy.

I’d rate it a 5 start if .abeled correctly.

~ Goatlady (2 years ago) 1/5 stars

  I agree that this is definitely not a bulky yarn.  I don't know if they included the halo when deciding the weight of this yarn or not.  Some of the sections of yarn are thicker than others, but none reached a bulky thickness, and the variation wasn't too bad.  It's a very soft yarn and once I got used to the halo it was easy to work with, which is really good that I like it since the skeins are so big.

When Shane Birthdayed Too Close To The Sun

  For Shane's birthday we went to Miller's Ale house to celebrate.  On his way to the bathroom he took a tumble but we got him sitting up.  He was starting to head back to the table and I saw his face go blank and he went over again.  Bill saw his head bounce off the floor.  He was having a lot of short term memory issues and the paramedics took him to the ER.  Apparently one of the paramedics knew about Rocky Horror.

  Shane was already acting more normal, for him, when he was checked in.  The doctor ordered some cat scans.  He was flirting with all the nurses and the doctor called him a lightweight.  He got some fluids and we continued to wait while Ryan went and got him some fresh clothing for later.  They had him walk from the bed to the wheelchair and while he was a little wobbly, he made it on his own.

  The CT scan came out fine and his blood work was good, like he hadn't been drinking.  The nurses took him for a little walk around to make sure he was stable enough to go home.  He spent the night and then stayed until he was totally up to going home.  Tank made sure to sit on his lap so he would heal completely.

More Houses, More Hats, Less Cat Teeth

  So many things I liked about the house itself.  The second floor had an overlook to the fireplace on the first floor.  The kitchen was laid out nicely and had really interesting swing out shelves with some shelves behind them.  The sunroom was nice, and I really liked all the crawl space storage.  The layout of the land was not as nice for us, because they kept cattle, so there was a lot of open space for them, which is great if that is what you are looking for.

  This one was closer, so that was kind of nice.  However, that's about it on things I liked about the place.  The interior of the cabin felt cramped and dark, even though there were big windows and the interior wood was fairly light colored.  There is no power unless you are running the generator, which means that if it was cold out you would need to winterize it every time you left.  The driveway was also very long, rocky, and wouldn't be included in our land.  My dad liked how close it was.

Pattern: none - Yarn: Lion Brand Hometown USA in Oakland Black - Needle: US 11 and US 13 

  I based this hat off of the ones I've seen Rohan make.  Mine is less lush looking, but I like it.  Snow Kitteh Winter Bonnet by Moth and Rust is similar, but uses a different technique for the back.  Charlotte Split Brim Slouch by Diane Serviss is more like what Rohan usually makes.  I worked about 13 rows of 1x1 ribbing over 51 stitches.  On the last row I knitted the first and last stitches together.  I then worked in the round with the larger needles until it was long enough and kitchenered it closed.

  Tank went in because one of his teeth had the gum going down into it and they wanted to check it out.  He's needed teeth cleanings before, but the dental treats have helped.  Turns out instead of possibly needing one tooth pulled, he needed three extracted.  He was knocked out faster than most cats, so that surprised the vet.  He also made a lot of new friends there and everyone commented on how good he was.  They called him Best Boy Tank when I went to get him.

  Since I was stuck at work, they fed him some at the veterinarian's office, but that wasn't enough because he was demanding food the second we got home.  I was told that the pain medication might make him state at walls or meow into dark corners.

House Hunting

   I've been able to get some more needlework done because we have been looking into a shared vacation home.  At the very least it would be Bill and I, along with my mom and dad to use it, but we both know people who might make use of it other times.

  One of the ones we are actually considering have some of the buildings made from wood cut on the property.   No central heat or cooling, but there is baseboard heating and wood stoves.   There was a fun little door that goes between the two main level rooms.  One building was built in 2012 and the other one back in 1742.  My dad was joking that one house would be to live in and the other would be to hold all my stuff.  The wooded area is nice and made me want to go exploring more.

  We didn't get to see the main house, but the second house was interesting.  It felt like you took 4 houses and stuck them together.  There were two rooms with the same decorative feel to them, but didn't match any of the others.  There were a lot of piles of various things around the property.  It was odd seeing old computer towers in the woods.  The ponds were nice though.  I don't totally know how I feel about it, since we didn't get to see the main house.  It isn't really in the running currently because I didn't get to see the main house and there would be a lot of clean up needed.

Pattern: none - Yarn: Red Heart Hometown USA in Chicago Charcoal and Los Angeles Tan - Needle: US 11

  I have a good time looking at houses, so if anyone needs a buddy to go look at houses with, I'm down to go.  One of the properties we almost considered seeing even came with its own tiny church.  I am tempted to go out to just see that part of it, though everything else is to run down for us to actually consider it.

The Hat-a-Thon is back!

Pattern: none - Yarn: Red Heart With Love in White - Hook/Needles: 6 mm and US 8

  I know I have the best/worst project going on, but I don't want that to be the only thing I worked on this year.  I had had so much fun doing the Hat-a-Thon last year that I signed up for it again.  Here is the team I'm on this year:

Boston Marathon (26)

• Meanicequeen (1)

• mere2012 (4)

• MinnieMay9 (7)

• Rsm6 (4)

• Sulwen (4)

• nettietheknitter (6)

  My current plan is to make a hat or two testing out the yarn for the best/worst project and use any leftovers to either test a pattern for the same project or just make any hat patterns that catch my eye.  I also got a few skeins of bulky yarn from K&CC for the Hat-a-Thon.

  For the hat pictured above, I started with a 2x2 ribbing.  Once that was long enough, I started to work a single crochet herringbone stitch.  However, I didn't work it back and forth to actually get the herringbone pattern, I just kept working in the same direction because I was curious as to what that would look like.  I like it and it was pretty quick once I got the hang of it.