Metro map makes it on a hat

Transit

Metro map makes it on a hat

by David Alpert • February 26, 2013 2:59 pm

The latest addition to our occasional series on "cool items people make that include the Metro map" is a hat! Michael Perkins knit a few and gave one to Veronica Davis:

Left: The hat on Veronica Davis. Right: The hat on a table. Photos by Veronica Davis.

If you want to make your own, Michael Perkins provided a chart of the design and an explanation:

Just create a knit hat with an even stockinette block of at least 30 rows high by 25 rows wide. I knit 12 rows of k2p2 ribbing and then about 40 rows of stockinette, then decrease (k2tog) every other round in 8 parts for the top until half the stitches remain, then decrease every round until 4 stitches remain.
My hats are knit on #6 needles for the brim and #8 for the body. 88 stitches around. Yarn is Vanna's Choice Worsted Acrylic by Lion Brand Yarns.

He also has a page for the hat at Ravelry.

14 comments

Tags: fun, maps, Metro

David Alpert is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Greater Greater Washington and Greater Greater Education. He worked as a Product Manager for Google for six years and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He loves the area which is, in many ways, greater than those others, and wants to see it become even greater.

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In case anyone is wondering, the design is based on the 2012 map including rush plus service and the silver line under construction.

by Michael Perkins on Feb 26, 2013 3:08 pm • link • report

I needed one of those for a bad hair day today.

by baldeagle on Feb 26, 2013 3:48 pm • link • report

Great Hat! I love transit merchandise and only wish there was more available.

And a lovely model wearing it too! :-)

by Adam P. on Feb 26, 2013 4:08 pm • link • report

Michael, hers is purple? I love it! I'd only seen your brown one, and the one that my friend Nick somehow acquired from you.

If you ever get tired of your day job, Etsy shop!

by Aimee Custis on Feb 26, 2013 4:21 pm • link • report

Nicely done - good color work there. :)

by Moose on Feb 26, 2013 5:45 pm • link • report

I LOVE MY HAT!!! Fits my big head w/my hair. Only downside is random people talking to me

by Veronica O. Davis (Ms V) on Feb 26, 2013 5:53 pm • link • report

Drat. Michael Perkins even knits cooler stuff than I do.

by Miriam on Feb 26, 2013 6:11 pm • link • report

Want.

David, you need to add a check box under the comment box for orders.

by Andrew on Feb 26, 2013 6:22 pm • link • report

Quoting Fry from Futurama:

"Shut Up and Take My Money"

Haha!

by Zac on Feb 27, 2013 1:36 am • link • report

Thanks for all the comments.

I don't know whether it would be legal for me to make money off this design, since it's Metro's IP. Also, they take me about 8 hours of work to make, so I would have to sell them for close to $100 for it to make sense. Anyone who still feels like I should shut up and take your money is free to email me.

@Moose: The map was applied with duplicate stitch, in case you're curious.

@Miriam: What kind of stuff do you knit? My ravelry page has most of the socks and hats I've done, I haven't put up more recent projects.

by Michael Perkins on Feb 27, 2013 8:17 am • link • report

It's not Metro's IP. The general pattern of the Metro map is not something they can copyright. The exact map design is copyrightable, so if you used the actual map (with the same types of curves, same size station circles, same layout of park rectangles, same icons) or a large subset of those, it could violate their copyright, but just making a totally different looking map that puts the lines in approximately the same place does not.

This map does not violate any copyright because it is a totally different map that just uses a similar line layout:

Other ways you could violate their IP would be if you put the capital M in a rounded rectangle logo on there; that would use their trademark, and could confuse people into thinking it's official, but you have not done that.

Bottom line, you are not doing anything wrong if you sell these hats.

by David Alpert on Feb 27, 2013 8:34 am • link • report

(That map is from Wikipedia, BTW: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:WMATA_system_map.svg).

by David Alpert on Feb 27, 2013 8:36 am • link • report

"Only downside is random people talking to me"

And now to add to it, you'll get the "I know you from the GGW post!"

I like the quirkiness and easily apparent hand made quality of this piece. I only wish Metro had more such offerings. A guy I know in New York does some custom transit shirts, and I've seen a really slick one emulating the new bus stop sign designs.

by Adam P. on Feb 27, 2013 10:24 am • link • report

Rock on, that's good to know

by Michael Perkins on Feb 27, 2013 10:33 am • link • report