More things I made - machine knitting edition

I eventually finished the head-exploding mittens. They are very complicated and I'm still puzzling over how to simplify them while exploiting my machine's crazy potential for complex stranded knitting.

Perianth
Ravelry pattern photo

I've been wearing them a lot and they are not bad on a mildly cold day. For deep cold I need more insulation and I'm thinking of simpler mittens that are nevertheless lined. Stay tuned. I recently bought Perianth, a mitten pattern that also has a bigger chart. There will be some flowery knits.

Carrying on with my computerized projects, I turned to making a hat for my son for Christmas. I found a chart for Escher interlocking lizards in a free pattern on Ravelry, and modified it somewhat based on my testing.

I made a test tea cozy first.

And then I made a hat. It's easy to say now, but machines somehow know when you are knitting under pressure in a countdown to Christmas. I think I had to start the hat about 5 times. So many different things went wrong. Luckily the memory of the problems fades with time and the satisfaction of the finished item.

Me modelling the lizard hat

The  hat is a very ingenious design - another free Ravelry pattern called Cyclone. Basically it is a tube that is folded in half with the lining twisted before the open edges are grafted together. The twist keeps the top of the hat closed without it actually being closed.

I'm making the hat again using the Perianth chart (swatch at left).