Looking for a Jaynes Hat

POSTED BY: BionicBatman
UPDATED: Tuesday, March 20, 2007 17:48
VIEWED: 7173
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SHAMELESS

Friday, February 2, 2007 8:39 AM

Yeah, but remember? Jayne's hat was all flawed and cutely lumpy/loopy/slightly misshapen and WONDERFUL that way. Though you still would want soft yarn... but you can get enough yarn for $10 and it be great quality. I think the argument against $30 is that he'd (she'd?) rather not have to pay for the labor cost, and well, once you have the needles, you have the needles. You use them again and again and again... if I didn't already know how to knit and had to choose between buying one for $30 and knitting one myself, I'd go out and learn. But you're absolutely right - if somebody wants to buy one ready made, that's a good price, and definitely worth it.

------------------------------------------
RPG launcher bought in third world country illegally - $10
Landmines - $50 per
Attack/track dogs bred 1st class - $250-500 per
Highpowered assault rifles - $600 per
The look on your face when I show up on your doorstep with a bigfoot - ... Priceless

"You gotta love that the first pirated HD DVD is the one about space pirates who broadcast a video that the government wants to keep secret.

Can't stop the signal."
-reavers_ate_my_dvd

TVINI

Tuesday, March 20, 2007 12:41 PM

Howdy! I'm Heather, and that's my pattern up there. :) I happened to wander by and wanted to speak to the issue of price.

I make and sell finished Jayne hats. I also sell Jayne hat knitting kits for those who want to give it a go on their own. The kit (minus needles) is $17 (at the moment - the price of my preferred yarn just went up). It includes yarn, premade pompom, stitch markers, a little http://www.wearwithstyle.com card with care instructions (handwash cool only!), and a little bonus sticker. It also includes a pattern in sheet protectors, including instructions on cable cast-on, spit-splicing (not required!), how to avoid twisting stitches, how to pick up stitches for the earflaps, and other handy tips.

I think it would be difficult to make this hat as a brand new knitter for $8-10. That's because the yarn I use is $7 a skein (at the moment, as I say the price just went up), so you'd be out $21 if you bought the same fiber from a yarn store. If you needed to buy some good bamboo circular and double-pointed needles, you'd be out another $18.

Jayne's hat was wool, so that's what I choose to use, although others have their own preferences of course. You can definitely buy acrylic from a big box store, but it will give a different effect. You might also consider Knitpicks.com if you want inexpensive wool. However, if you're starting from scratch and do not have needles or yarn yet, I would be very skeptical that you could get out of this project as a first-timer for under $20 unless you had someone to borrow needles from.

If you want to learn a new skill, which I always encourage, you should definitely have at it. Several of my customers have learned to knit specifically to make this hat. Others had made scarves, but have made this their very first project in the round. There's nothing like a really cool hat as a motivator to get you to keep at it.

Just to point out, we're not exactly getting rich off of these hats. If you assume materials + shipping + expertise in writing the pattern and modifying it specifically to the customer's specs are worth $30 WITHOUT hourly labor, then nobody's exactly making minimum wage knitting a cunning hat. It's truly a labor of love.

If you want it for under $20, you're going to need to use cheap materials and scavenge needles or else get a friend to do it for you. Both are honorable options, worthy of Ma Cobb!

(Side note: cotton washcloths or dishcloths are a great first practice project if you're wanting to learn how to knit. Kitchen cotton is super-cheap, it's a small fnished object, and if your washcloth looks like grot then nobody but you ever has to see it.)

Good luck, and if you have questions about the pattern or knitting, drop me a line.

Cunning hats for stylish Browncoats
Knitting kits available too!
_______
http://www.wearwithstyle.com
http://tvini.livejournal.com

PENGUIN

Tuesday, March 20, 2007 12:47 PM

King of the Mythical Land that is Iowa

MAVOURNEEN

Tuesday, March 20, 2007 12:52 PM

oooh. Heather!!!

Can I tell you how much I enjoy the Jayne's hat thread over at crafster? The finished hats are so awesome, and everyone's stories are filled with Browncoaty goodness.

I hope you don't mind (it seems that you don't) that I posted the pattern. In my mind, yours is the one that produces the best finished product. Did you also do the mini hat that fits on a GI Joe doll?
More importantly...do you have a pattern sized for a baby? My knitting skills are limited to following a pattern. Sizing is quite another matter.

I feel that someone who wants a hat for under $20 really has no idea how much work goes into knitting one. That, and supporting 'Verse knitters should encourage folks to pay the asking rate.

So glad to see that you amble over here now and again.

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TVINI

Tuesday, March 20, 2007 1:18 PM

Heh! No, no problem posting the pattern. I don't do the mini-sized one. I do wish I'd thought of it first, though!

I've made kid-sized ones before. It's just a matter of figuring out the noggin size, multiplying that by your gauge, and then subtracting about an inch so it doesn't slide off their head. Also, I always knit baby hats a little big - they grow so fast!

So, assuming you're getting 3 stitches to the inch and a 24 month old kid has a head circumference of about 18 inches, that'd be 3x18=54. For a younger baby, you could drop it down to 50 if you wanted. If your gauge is different, you can just multiply your gauge times 18 (or whatever head circumference you've got). I've done baby hats at 4.5 stitches per inch and cast on about 70. That's what Cascade 220 knits up at, if I recall the ball band correctly.

The earflaps are about a quarter of the total cast-on, and I'd recommend placing them back just a little on the head so they don't obstruct vision.

So, bearing in mind that I haven't checked the finished pattern against an actual toddler,

Gauge: 3 st=1"

With orange, CO 54. Being careful not to twist stitches, join into round.

Knit 3 rows of K1P1 rib.

Knit 6 rows even in orange.

Switch to yellow. Knit 17 rows.

Begin decreases: K2tog every stitch over next few rows until you've got about 8 remaining. Break yarn and draw through remaining stitches to secure. Weave in end.

Earflaps:
From back of hat, count 5 stitches. Place marker. Count 12 stitches. Place marker. Count 20 stitches (this is the front). Place marker. Count 12 stitches. Place marker.

Between markers 1 and 2, pick up 12 stitches. Using red, knit in stockinette (knit one row, purl one row) for 12 rows.

Begin decreases: On RS (right side) row, k2tog, knit to last two stitches, k2tog.
WS (wrong side): p2tog, purl to last two stitches, p2tog.

Repeat those two rows until you have two stitches remaining. k2tog (or p2tog, I didn't work out which side you'd end on. Probably p2tog).

Break yarn and draw through. I'd recommend weaving in the end rather than leaving the nice dangly bits, as those strike me as very chewable to a curious baby.

Repeat earflap on other side of hat.

Use above pompom instructions. You may wish to use a smaller circumference circle.

Put on baby and cackle with glee.

There it is, rough as it may be. Give me a holler if you have any questions!

Cunning hats for stylish Browncoats!
Knitting kits available too!
__________________
http://www.wearwithstyle.com
http://tvini.livejournal.com

MAVOURNEEN

Tuesday, March 20, 2007 1:32 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Tvini:
Put on baby and cackle with glee.

Thank you so very much Heather!
I can't wait to knit this. I'll let you know how it turns out, either here or at crafster, where I'm also Mavourneen.

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SHAMELESS

Tuesday, March 20, 2007 5:35 PM

Honestly, I think I said what I did about price because... well, I don't keep track of it very well. "Ooh, I want to knit this! I need this! I'll buy it! I have $60, that covers it, right?"

Yeah...

Wow, Heather, that's your pattern? That's funny, since I love the hat that you guys are sorta selling (at least, once it looks like when knitted)! I think I'll still buy my own yarn/needles - maybe - plus, I want to learn how to make a pompom!

------------------------------------------
RPG launcher bought in third world country illegally - $10
Landmines - $50 per
Attack/track dogs bred 1st class - $250-500 per
Highpowered assault rifles - $600 per
The look on your face when I show up on your doorstep with a bigfoot - ... Priceless

"You gotta love that the first pirated HD DVD is the one about space pirates who broadcast a video that the government wants to keep secret.

Can't stop the signal."
-reavers_ate_my_dvd

VALERIEBEAN

Tuesday, March 20, 2007 5:48 PM

Okay, yeah, I do the Jayne hats for $25. Light-weight, so you can live through a con without working up too much sweat. Order through http://www.this-land.net

If you like, I also have links to several Jayne hat patterns there as well as a few "how-to-knit" sights if you want to try and learn ( http://www.this-land.net/flansites.htm)

It took me about three months of trial, error, and impatience to knit my first hat, but I'm a lot faster now.

IF (AND ONLY IF) you are looking for Jayne hats for CHARITY AUCTIONS/NON-PROFIT such browncoat save-the-world type events, I may be able to arrange a discount.

"Just like handgrenades, you don't want to run into a horseshoe stake in the dark." -Gouda, FFF.net

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