Crochet Experiments

I have to be honest - the slippers aren't my only escape from the blanket. I met with A. a short while back and learned some more about crochet. We experimented with crocheting a 2-color spiral and I also made my first granny square. The double spiral is prep work for the hat of obsession, of course. And I'm really taken with the whole idea of granny squares - they're so modular!

The Hat I Want, 3

Here are 2 excellent links from Amy - they're cut off in the comments in the post below, so I'm reposting them: How To Crochet a Three-Color Spiral and Kneeling Warrior image from the de Young's website.

And here's another vessel that's kind of similar. (You can see the back of this one.) From what I've been reading, that thing on the back is a stirrup spout, but I have no idea why you'd make a spout that shape. Does it serve a practical purpose, or is it a matter of style? Anyone?

Also, I don't know what period the first one is from, but this second example is from between 400 AD and 1000 AD according to the de Young's website. They're both Moche pottery. Neat stuff.

The Hat I Want, 2

So I'm thinking the hat is a 2 color spiral, like this.

But how to get that effect in knitting? Ponder, ponder. Any ideas? I could crochet it, of course, as I have an excellent crochet tutor! And maybe knit the border. Huh. That's an idea. I still want to try to knit it, but heck, I could do 2 hats. Because learning to crochet that would be very cool.

The Hat I Want

It's not that I'm obsessed with stripes, although the last few posts might certainly create that impression. It's just that stripes are following me around at the moment. The pic below is from a Meso-American exhibit at the DeYoung museum in San Francisco. I should have gotten more details than that, but I just want to knit a hat based on the helmet he's wearing. How cool is that going to be???