Pelican Cap with Nalbinding
I wanted to make an "everyday cap of maintenance" for Master Sir Jacob. He's a practical man, and I figured he would appreciate a cap he could stuff in a pocket, but that would still look nice. So I made one with nalbinding.
The yarn is a very thin, tightly spun 5 ply in wool ('Kashmira' from Joann's). I wanted it to be comfortable in heat, so I stitched it somewhat loosely. The red is a Finnish turning stitch, and the white a Russian stitch (both 2 loops on the thumb, 2 for the stitch, and F2 connections). I love how the stitches mesh where the two colors come together.
The ermine addition is an ermine stitch with 3 strands of black DMC. Embroidery is tough to get even on nalbinding, but the Russian stitch texture is easier to embroider on than the Finnish stitch texture I last attempted.
Here's a closer view:
And since no project is without its trials and tribulations, I ended up felting this hat a bit. Because it totally stretched out with super gentle washing. I should have known that would happen, but I am used to my tight, thick, winter-proof stitches! So into the dryer it went, along with some close monitoring. I think it turned out great. It ended up at the size where I started, with little holes for air flow. Hope it still fits ok!
In other news, I managed my best gothic quadrata-like calligraphy yet :) Just in time for the scroll I turn in tomorrow.