“I have harnessed the shadows that stride from world to world to sow death and madness…”
-H.P. Lovecraft, “From Beyond”
My friend asked me to knit him an awesome hat, as he was planning on going to a dog sled race this winter and had nothing to keep his head warm. I sent him a number of options, including Jayne from Firefly’s hat and a Chain Chomp (from Super Mario Bros.) hat, but being a hard core Lovecraft fan, he settled on a fair isle Cthulhu beanie.
If you’re not familiar with the Lovecraftian mythos, Cthulhu is basically the biggest and baddest of the Elder Gods whose visage will drive you mad with the slightest of glimpses. He looks kind of like Davey Jones from Pirates of the Caribbean with a lion’s body. See previous posts for a crochet version.
Of course, I knew all this before I started. I didn’t think however, that a fair isle image would drive me mad. I was so, so wrong. The fair isle, surprisingly, didn’t provide that many problems the first time, but I had never made an adult-sized hat before, and made it waaaaay to small, paired with a very silly looking decrease. Your win this round Cthulhu.
Cthulhu Hat- Round One
Round 2 proved to be a little better, except for having to tink (knit backwards) for a good round and a half because I was distracted and started putting tentacles where there weren’t supposed to be any. I even sketched out my plans beforehand (using notes from another person’s project, Ravelry login required) and learned a great formula for decreasing thanks to CrazyAuntPurl.
Hat sketch that looks suspiciously like a cheeseburger
It fits nicely, and poses for artistic “I’m among rotting fruit because I’m dark and brooding” shots without a fuss.
Final Cthulhu Hat- Artsy Shot
My sanity intact, I breathed a sigh of relief until I received a phone call. It was my friend who had commissioned the hat. “Can you make me cuffs and a scarf to match?” “Sure!” I said, eager to make a badass Cthulhu scarf. I set out to make the cuffs first, thinking I could bust those out quickly. I was so, so wrong. I still haven’t knit those, having charted out so many possibilities and finally figuring out something but then making a mistake and giving up in frustration. Luckily the dog sled race isn’t until January, so I have some time.
-Purl Girl
Knitzengiggles 