Me Made May

It’s that time of the year again!

I have been making an effort to wear at least one me-made thing every day, whether it’s handsewn or handknit. (I eat something me-made every day as well but that doesn't seem like much of an accomplishment.)

The intent is to take regular outfit of the day pics to share once a week. Helps that the summer weather just arrived as I was getting bored with sweaters. Here’s what I've got so far:

Floral embroidered gingham shirt with removable pussybow, denim wrap skirt 

Felted banya hat 

Fit-and-flare shirtdress with bell sleeves in organza with silver polka dots 

V-neck ruched dress in floral/dotted jersey 

Cotton poplin wrap dress with topstitched floral trim and tie

Muslin shirtdress with waist tie and piping 

They’re not all exactly the same but there are definitely some recurring themes here... shirts and shirtdresses, knee-length skirts, wraps and ties and bows, dots and florals, black and white and red. I’m fine with that though, clearly I know what I like to wear!

Part of the purpose of this exercise is not just knowing what I like, but actually wearing it—not second-guessing whether it’s age-appropriate, or “too costumey,” or whatever other element of self-doubt and insecurity tries to sneak in and steal joy. Just be unabashedly whatever one wants to be, wearing whatever one wants to wear. So far so good?

Banya hat

I thought I posted about this before but I guess I’m mistaken!

Last year I started going to a Russian sauna/bath house, aka banya, with a friend of mine. One of the traditions of banya is to wear a wool hat to keep your head from getting too hot. With my friend’s birthday coming up, I decided to knit and felt a hat!

It did not work!

I mean it kinda worked, but not really. Shape right, size wrong. I had modified a pattern, and also substituted the yarn as I couldn't find the one they recommended, and after all of that it turned out waaay too big.

So I decided to start again (this is why I bought extra yarn!) and I think I’ve got it!

I completely altered literally everything from the original pattern I started with, so here it is, my banya hat pattern:

Banya Hat instructions

Using 2 balls of Istex Alafos Lopi and 9 mm circular needle

Cast on 84 sts. Join to work in round.

Work in stockinette (knit every stitch). Place markers every 21 sts.

Brim shaping: 

Row 4: *Knit to marker, sl m, k1, k2tog* repeat 4 times across row (80 sts on needle)

Row 8: *Knit to 2 sts before marker, ssk, sl m* repeat 4 times across row (76 sts on needle)

Continue working in stockinette.

Crown shaping:

Row 38: *Knit to 2 sts before marker, ssk, sl m, k1, k2tog* repeat 4 times across row 

Continue working in stockinette repeating row 38 until you have 4 sts on needle.

Next row: k1, k2tog, k1. Slide sts to other end of needle. 

Work these 3 sts as i-cord (sliding to other end of circ or dpn to work in same direction, rather than in the round) until the i-cord is 6” long. Fold over, break yarn leaving long tail, and graft to top of hat near base of i-cord, closing any gaps at top of hat.

Felt. I find by hand is more successful than by washing machine, even if it is kinda miserable.

I have a double kitchen sink, so what I do is fill one side with hot water (and a squeeze of dish soap) and the other with cold. Keep a kettle and ice cubes on hand to keep the hot hot and the cold cold as necessary.

Wearing rubber gloves, put the hat in the hot water and go at it like a puppy with a chew toy. Agitate, agitate, agitate. Imagine you are Lady MacBeth crying, “Out, damned spot,” as you go postal on your handwashing. Then squeeze it out and plunge it in the cold water. Agitate, squeeze, and return to the hot.

Keep going back and forth like this, adding boiling water (pour it right on the cold hat!) and ice cubes as needed to keep your water temperatures extreme.

Also keep a ruler handy so you can measure your progress. I find it takes about half an hour of back-and-forth to get ’er done. About 10” across the bottom is what you’re aiming for.

Use your hands to shape/sculpt the wet hat until it looks about right. Let air dry for a bit so it retains its shape—I put it over a milk bottle (to keep it upright) on a floor vent (for airflow). Stuff loosely with a hand towel, zip into a mesh lingerie bag, and finish in a hot dryer. Put a dry bath towel in with it to help get the moisture out.