The Brainy Beanie

A hat to celebrate scientists and independent, analytical thinking!

Brainy Beanie hat: View from top

The March for Science is scheduled for April 22. What to wear?

We had pussyhats for the Women's March in January, but scientists need something a bit more...brainy? A little more 'smart' looking?

The Brainy Beanie was a concept hatched in....my brain... and proven in the making!

Using both knit and crochet techniques, the hat features a highly textured knitted brain-like design secured on a crocheted mesh-like skull cap. The open-work cap makes for lighter weight headgear that is also cooler and more appropriate for typical late April warmish weather.

For the same weather-related reason, I chose an acrylic yarn, Caron Simply Soft Party, Platinum Sparkle, which has metallic strands. The glinting strands highlight scientists’ sparks of genius and creativity.

The hat components are fast to make--and not difficult. You only need to know the simplest of crochet stitches and how to sew with a needle and thread. And the knit part? If you use a spool knitter, you don't even need to know how to knit.

Brainy Beanie, showing roundness and depth

Intimidated by yards of cord? Don't be deceived!  It is quickly knit on a very inexpensive spool knitter, such as the Caron Embellish-Knit! Machine, which are readily available at Jo-Anne Fabrics (use a coupon!), Amazon and Walmart--to name three sources. I bought mine for $15.

Don't want to buy the spool knitter? You can hand or machine knit the iCord.

Fair warning: Although the cap and the cord are quick to make, placing, pinning and securing the cords to the cap are where the time goes into making the hat.


Some people have questioned why I made this in gray. Well, for one, brains are commonly referred to as 'gray matter,' but the real reason this is gray is simple: I made this for a marcher who preferred the color gray. I'm looking forward to seeing one made up in pink, which by consensus seems to be the alternate choice.

I had fun making this--and it's pretty cool to wear, too. So I wrote up the pattern and posted it to Ravelry, where it is available for download. In the spirit of the March for Science,  all proceeds from the sale of this pattern go to the The Sierra Club.

Crocheted skull cap in progress, end of Row 12

Brainy Beanie, as worn

Attention to detail

It saddens me to see poor finishes spoil otherwise excellent projects.

Girlfriend market basket, Robyn Mozeika.
Knit and crochet. Useful and stylish!

4-H fairs are special. They're family affairs that are fun yet competitive and publicly display the work of the past year. Showmanship and projects are on public display--and judged. Everyone wants a blue ribbon.

The 2015 Mercer County 4-H Fair, its 97th annual fair, was held earlier this month at the Howell Living History Farm in Lambertville where local 4-H youth groups, their leaders and their livestock spent the weekend. This fair isn't about rides and cotton candy, but about time-honored, family friendly fun, such as pie eating contests and goat milking competitions, to name just two.

Speaking of fun: I wish I had a photo of the costume competition in which kids costume themselves and their animals carry out a theme. One quick-thinking young man with a brand new rabbit put his bunny on a dustpan and added a brush. The theme? Dust bunny! The audience votes, so it should be no surprise that popular culture themes--think "Frozen" and "The Minions"--are the big vote-getters. 

Open classes

Although the focus of the fair is on 4-H youth, the judged show is open to the public. Most entrants in these classes are adults. Items are judged on merit, that is, they are judged against a standard of excellence. (In competitive judging, only one item in a class can receive a blue ribbon.) I was honored this year to judge needlework sections. There were some lovely items and I've included a few photos below. 

It was interesting to note that some of the pieces would have definitely scored higher but for the finishing techniques. They were beautifully crafted, but poorly finished.

Notes for needle artists

As I thought about entries where poor finishes lowered scores, I wished I could talk to each entrant. Except for seaming and grafting, which is its own skill and should be nearly invisible, most of the problems could have been worked out by working a swatch before starting the project. That is the time to identify whether the needle/hook size is right for the yarn and your working method; whether the bind-off is too tight; and whether the sides and edges are going to roll to distraction. 

A good finish can't salvage a poorly executed project, but a poor finish can seriously detract from what is otherwise a well done project. 

A few of the projects from the show.

If you're near Lambertville, plan to visit the fair in 2016. And consider entering something in the show. It's fun!

Sleeping beauties

Embroidered pillow case,, detail. c.1955

Photo by Maurice Marietti

Did you have a hope chest? I didn't, but I was clearly at the end of an era. When I graduated from high school in 1961, every graduating woman received a silver teaspoon in a pattern of her choice and a miniature Lane cedar chest from a local merchant. 

Embroidered pillow case. Flower basket.
c.1955. Photo by Maurice Marietti

It was expected that each would marry soon, complete the silver setting and purchase a full size cedar hope chest in which to store her linens. Some did. 

In preparation for marriage, young women were expected to bring to marriage a hope chest filled with basic homemaking needs. One of these was bed linens. 

Well before high school, my grandmother nudged me into compliance with preparation for domesticity. She gently advised me that I would need nice pillowcases and guided me to patterns that my young fingers could execute. (Of all the stitches, French knots were my Waterloo.)

No surprises that kittens were a pattern chosen by a 12-year-old. I didn't really mind working them, but tomboy that I was, embroidering items I never intended to need was definitely not a priority. Let's just say, they languished in drawers, but I did complete two sets of pillowcases because I have them. Both are obviously the work of a neophyte embroiderer.

Pillow case, crocheted edge. c.1950.
Photo by Maurice Marietti

In a giant leap to skilled needlework are my grandmother's worked pillow cases. I have three. Surely they, too, were intended for my hope chest. There are three sets. The hem of the one at right has been cut in a "V" shape with a simple crocheted edging to finish.

Pillow case, cut work. c.1950.
Photo by Maurice Marietti

Another is cutwork, a surface embroidery technique in which sections of the fabric are cut away and the edges reinforced with a simple buttonhole stitch. Although difficult to see in the photo, the design is reminiscent of a southern belle with a broad skirt and flowers flowing from her shoulders.

Pillow case, crocheted edge and
butterfly c.1950.
Photo by Maurice Marietti

And here is another butterfly! Last week, my blog included a lady's handkerchief with a butterfly motif. This one differs in that the butterfly is  sewn onto the pillow case. Its antennae were embroidered on in with a running stitch. It matches the crocheted edging. 

These very ordinary pillow cases are part of my treasure trove. Of little real value, they are special to me alone. I'm surprised that I have saved them as most--if not all--have never served any useful purpose. And yet, they have traveled with me for many years and over many miles. They are part of me.

Embroidered pillow case. c.1955
Photo by Maurice Marietti

Stylish and functional: The lowly handkerchief

Butterfly handkerchief detail. Photo by Maurice Marietti

Handworked items, especially those used every day, hold a special place in my heart. They stir memories of times past and of the people who worked them.

Among the textiles I've saved over the years are nine handworked handkerchiefs, all family pieces. I look at them and memories of my grandmother and great-grandmother flood back to me. 

Handkerchiefs like these were everyday items. Any lady with a sense of propriety carried one and the more beautiful, the better. Although practical necessities, they were also social signals, conveying not only the lady's needle skills but her status.

This was before Kleenex, which was introduced in 1924. I surely have these as my grandmother thought I should carry one, but I never did. However, I certainly remember those who did. The last wave belonged to my grandmother's era, who was born 1899. I estimate the end of the practice to then end of WWII--and the early 1950's at the latest. At least in Ohio.

Cotton 'blanks' were widely available. In my town, the five-and-dime stores--Woolworth's and Kresge's--offered these squares of finely woven cotton, which were hemmed on the edges. They came in various qualities and some featured machine embroidery in one corner. The handkerchief second from the left on the bottom row in the lower photo is an example. 

The crocheted 'Butterfly' hankie, at top right, was surely a showstopper when pulled out of any lady's purse. Although the edging on three sides is simple, the insertion of the butterfly demonstrates much more skill. The 'blank' hankie was cut to the shape of the upper butterfly wings, machine hemmed and finished with single crochet. Lastly, the butterfly, which had been worked separately, was sewn on.

Handkerchiefs with crochet, tatted, and hairpin lace. c.1940-50's

The oldest hankie is the tan one on the top row, far right. It was made by my great-grandmother, who was born in 1874. I barely remember her, but I remember her house and that she was nearly blind. Even so, she kept crocheting. The edging is simple so I suspect this was done later in her life, likely in the 1940's or early 1950's.

The other hankies were made by my grandmother. Her art form was crochet, but not the shortcut form that uses a big hook. She created delicate, beautiful edgings and small items. One of the most beautiful things I recall her making was a delicate, crocheted shawl. (Unfortunately, I don't know what happened to it.) Four of the hankies shown demonstrate her crochet skills. (The blue-and-white second from the right, top row, and the three on the left, bottom row.)

My grandmother was also skilled at tatting (the blue, bottom right) and hairpin lace (the two at top left: the white with pink-and-white edging and the yellow with yellow-and-white edging.)

I don't  ever recall seeing her knit. I sort of remember that she could knit, but preferred the crochet hook. Fortunately for me, she was a patient teacher--and my needlework mentor. As a young girl, she taught me to crochet, tat, as well as hairpin lace and its bigger brother, broomstick lace. I remember crocheting a red bucket-style purse with a round bottom and a gathered closure. It must have been 'beautiful'--as such self-made creations are to 10-year-olds--but I have no regrets that is not among my textile treasures.