BOO!

I've always been afraid of stranded knitting. Stranded knitting is not my friend. When you are a lefty, knitting right-handed, except for holding the yarn in your left hand, but not knitting Continental style, the prospect of adding an extra color strand or two is too horrifying to even consider. Stranded knitting is scary.

Yes, I've seen many projects that I would love to have knit---if only they weren't stranded. Who knew that all it would take is the prospect of making a silly Halloween hat that also glows in the dark to make me go ahead and put my toes in the water? If you hang out here much, you know I can't resist teh silly, and Halloween has always been my very favorite holiday (lots of decorations, props, costumes...and more silly). So it's no surprise that glow-in-the-dark yarn would be the final temptation to the eternal 9-year-old in me! I had to do it! And how appropriate that I would try something scary to make something scary for Halloween. It was fate.

I found the lettering on Bernat free handout sheet for a Boo Bag. I loved the whimsical style of the lettering and how the O's look like spooky eyes, but I wanted a hat instead. So I lifted the lettering chart from the bag pattern, adapted it for working in the round and repeated it on both front and back of the hat. I didn't have a hat pattern, so it was just improvised as I went along and this is what came out...

I decided to make the top squared off so as not to interrupt the scary message on either the front or the back of the hat, and so the top could be arranged in various configurations of the wearer's choice, as well as adding some more glowiness.

I think it would even be cute with tassels or pompoms on the corners, but I had artistic differences with my "model," who refused to model the hat if said accoutrements were included. Supermodel temperament....

I did the lettering on both front and back so one can be scary both coming and going! This would make a great hat for more nighttime visibility for little goblins out trick-or-treating on the streets on a dark Halloween night.

Yes, the yarn really does glow in the dark and is visible for quite a distance! Here's a pic I took in a dark closet with no flash. Sorry for teh blurry, but it was a long exposure in the dark and holding the camera still for that long is impossible...

I used Cascade 220 Superwash in black, along with Bernat Glow-in-the-Dark yarn in Glow Worm White. The glowing yarn has absolutely NO give or stretch whatsoever, so it was quite a challenge to do stranding with---but I think the results came out pretty nice for a first try!

But the best part is---I get to be all silly and scary and glow-in-the-dark-like for Halloween!! How 'bout you?