Liz Denys

Like so many other hat knitters, I've knitted the classic WWII watch cap, which is also known as Beanie no. 212, more than a handful of times. (You can find it on Ravelry here and here, respectively.) It's a charming, quick knit that's easy to resize, but I've never really liked the crown shaping on the original.

I've knit a lot of these hats, and only one's had the original crown shaping for the decreases. I'm sharing two crown shaping variations I keep going back to below. I always knit this hat in the round, and my crown shaping patterns assume you will be knitting in the round, too.

Alternate crown shaping 1

This alternate crown shaping follows the 6x2 ribbing of the previous section for the bulk of each round so that the ribbing continues throughout the entire hat.

Written out:

Divide stitches on 3 double pointed needles with stitches evenly divided among the three needles or mark out even sections with stitch markers if decreasing across 2 circular needles or with magic loop.

1. (k1, ssk or skp, k if previous row was knit or p if previous row was purl until 3 stitches are left on the needle/before the next marker, k2tog, k) x3.
2. Repeat step 1 until 4 stitches remain on each needle/in each marked section.
3. Cut and draw yarn through the remaining 12 stitches 2-3 times. Tie off and weave in the ends.

Alternate crown shaping 2

This alternate shaping both maintains the ribbing throughout the crown shaping and accentuates it by creating a sort of three-pointed star with 3 of the 2-stitch-wide purl parts from the previous 6x2 ribbed section. This shaping really only makes sense when making a size hat where the number of stitches is evenly divisible by 24, so I typically only do it on size "small" hats (cast on 96 stitches). You could adjust the needle size and gauge for a yarn that works well at that gauge to make this work for different sizes.

Written out:

Stop the last 6x2 ribbed row 1 stitch early and divide stitches on 3 double pointed needles with stitches evenly divided among the three needles or mark out even sections with stitch markers if decreasing across 2 circular needles or with magic loop. Ensure that each needle transition or marker has a single purl stitch on each side.

1. (p1, ssk or skp, k if previous row was knit or p if previous row was purl until 3 stitches are left on the needle/before the next marker, k2tog, p) x3.
2. Repeat step 1 until 4 stitches remain on each needle/in each marked section.
3. Cut and draw yarn through the remaining 12 stitches 2-3 times. Tie off and weave in the ends.

Additional project notes

• Needle: US 7 - 4.5 mm
• Gauge: 19 stitches and 24 rows = 4 inches in stockinette
• Hats made for me should generally be a small (cast on 96 stitches), and hats made for my partner Matt should generally be a medium (cast on 104 stitches).

After five different drivers, including a school bus driver, aggressively close-passed me in Midwood last night and two of them threatened me just for being on the street, I realized there's a huge gap in educational outreach about bike rules in NYC: drivers. I decided to make a mini-zine that demystifies the behavior of law-abiding bicyclists like myself and helps drivers better understand what to expect when sharing the road:

All text and illustrations in the mini-zine are my own. Many thanks to Matt Denys for help proofreading!

This zine is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, so you can copy and distribute this zine for noncommercial purposes in unadapted form as long as you give credit to me. Gas stations, car dealerships, auto repair shops, rental car offices, parking lots, book shops, restaurants, coffee shops, and other commercial establishments are welcome to give out these zines, too - as long as the zine itself is free!

Check out the NYC Bike Rules for Drivers mini-zine on the web or download the pdf to print here!

I reference a lot of different data sources when forming opinions at Community Board hearings and testifying at local public meetings, and since there are so many useful sources, I started keeping track of which ones I used a couple years ago. I decided to make a mini-zine to collect useful data sources for housing, transit, and climate in NYC in one place:

I couldn't resist giving this zine this punchy title, but friendly reminder that many of us normies have been out here doing grassroots organizing on pro-housing, pro-transit, pro-not-fucking-up-the-planet issues through a pro-good-government, pro-more-government-capacity lens and calling it "abundance" long before pundits inserted themselves into the conversation.

All text in the zine is my own. Many thanks to Jesse Lang, Samir Lavingia, and Geoffrey Thomas for contributing suggestions!

This zine is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, so you can copy and distribute this zine for noncommercial purposes in unadapted form as long as you give credit to me.

Check out the An Abundance of NYC Data for the Abundance Agenda! mini-zine on the web or download the pdf to print here!

Here's how to fold a mini-zine, featuring my mini-zine So you want to make a public comment!

1. Fold the printed mini-zine page in half, then half in again, and then in half again as shown. When you open the piece of paper, each of the pages should fit fully within a set of folds.
2. With the mini-zine page completely open, fold it in half with short ends touching ("hamburger style") so the text is on the outside. Using scissors, cut a across the dotted line. When you reopen your paper, there will be a slit in the middle of the sheet.
3. Fold the paper in half lengthwise with long ends touching ("hotdog style"), hold the paper at either end, and fold the sheet into itself to form an 8-page booklet. Make sure the cover is on the front!

Some issues are easier to to figure out how to file than others, so I've compiled some of common ones I've filed to improve bicycling infrastructure in NYC.

When a pedestrian signal¹ is broken or missing, you can file a Pedestrian Signal Complaint or Request.

If a large dumpster blocks a bike lane, you can "Report a large amount of trash" under the "Roadway" section on the Trash or Debris in Street page. Unfortunately, this does happen:

When overgrown plants narrow greenway bike paths, DOT staff have told me to "Report trash or debris on a traffic island or median with landscaping," which can be under the "Traffic Island or Median" section of the Trash or Debris in Street page. "Bike path/greenways" is one of the options in the "Additional Details" field. You can't currently pick a street segment to report a stretch of a greenway where plants are overgrown, but you can provide this information in "Additional Location Details."

When a catch basin cover has the unsafe kind of grate that can catch a bicycle wheel instead of a completely flat grate, you can report it as "Sunken, damaged, or raise" on the Catch Basin Complaint page. Here's an example of an unsafe catch basin cover in a bike lane:

I use the following template for the issue description when reporting unsafe catch basin covers:

The catch basin at the {NW, NE, SE, SW} corner of the intersection of STREET and STREET has an unsafe grate for bicyclists. The current catch basin cover has the type of holes that can catch a bicycle wheel and cause a bicyclist to crash. The City needs to replace this unsafe catch basin grate with one of the flat grates with shorter holes that are safe for cycling. STREET is a major bike route in BOROUGH and leaving this unsafe grate in place endangers many bicyclists.

When there's a pothole in the bike lane, you can report it to NYC DOT by filling out their pothole form.

When a street's surface has been patched up poorly or is otherwise uneven, you can file a Street Resurfacing Request.

If there's a street improvement you'd like to see, anything from a new stop sign or traffic signal to adding bulb outs at an intersection to requesting a new protected bike route, you can contact NYC DOT via their general webform. Sometimes, these requests get closed in error with an autoresponder that isn't really all that topically relevant to the issue, and it's worth refiling them a second time noting that the automatic reply didn't address your issue alongside the original reference number. You might want to refile under a slightly different relevant category - many requests can be made under multiple categories, and if you and your neighbors want to all write in about something, it can be especailly helpful to have different types of relevant requests for the same issue². Also, reporting unsafe conditions for bicyclists doesn't just help get them fixed - these reports can also be used in court cases to show the City has created negligent conditions for bicyclists.³

As always, you can elevate any concern you file on 311 or through DOT's forms by contacting your local Community Board and Council Member with the reference number.