Customer project: Ira Gutner's Dutchess County Fair Hat

We recently received a picture of this great hat made with Prime Alpaca from Ira Gutner who has been knitting for just over 18 months!  Ira can be found on Ravelry as ira56.  We asked Ira to share some more details with us, and this is what he has to say.

Galler Yarns (GY): How did you get started knitting?

Ira:  I have always been artistic with my hands.  I used to do needlepoint, but realized there is not much you can do with one except make a pillow or a wall hanging & it takes a very long time to accomplish finishing one.  So, I thought why not try my hands at knitting.  My dear friend, Pat Coon, taught me how to knit.  She helped start our weekly knitting group that I have been attending for 18 months, ever since I started knitting.  

I absolutely love the art of knitting.  It is so soothing & relaxing.  I have been told that I adapted to the art very quickly & seem to be a natural with it.  The ladies at the knitting group I go to in Rhinebeck every Wednesday night (Shepherd Knitters on Ravelry) tell me this.  They tell me I am fearless & will try anything.

GY: Tell us about the hat design and your decision to enter it in the county fair.

Ira: It is my first venture into taking elements from another hat design & making them my own.  There was a hat in one of the Stitch 'N Bitch books that showed these motifs in a much lesser format.  There was more solid at the bottom & top of the hat.  I thought it would be better to have more design elements, so I added them so there would be less solid color.  I changed the order they were in as well.  It seems to have worked for I won a blue ribbon with this hat at the recent Dutchess County Fair.  

The ladies in my weekly knitting group inspired me to enter my pieces in the Dutchess County Fair.  They are such dear people.  It was crazy to win.  I thought perhaps I might win one for the hat made with your yarn, but to win for each piece I entered, totaling 3.  Crazy.....

Like many knitters, Ira is already in the habit of giving away his prized creations, but we were able to get a picture of him without his blue ribbon hat.

Thanks for sharing your story, Ira, and congratulations on your blue ribbons!

If you'd like to have your Galler Yarns project featured on our blog, please contact Galler Yarns on Ravelry or email Marie.