His and hers hats

It was such a splendid idea: matching hats for a him and a her, neighbours who have been especially good to me.  I fiddled with the stitch count for Jared Flood's Turn A Square pattern, a crazy simple pattern that produces a sensible cap that even a hat-resistant man would wear, and combinations of my much-adored DK-weight Jacob/alpaca blend from Toots Leblanc, plus scraps of my red cashmere-blend Precieux from Biscotte et Cie.

I just don't seem to be able to get tired of the stripes you get with the slightly rustic Toots Leblanc yarn - especially when paired with the luxurious Precieux...

Even the insides are a bit melt-making, I think.

It took a really long time for me to get these wrapped because I kept taking pictures.  I've knit four of these things now and it's not getting any easier to send them out the door!  In the end I opted for a simple bow and put them into a brown paper lunch bag to take down the street.

The hats took about two days each, plus a day for drying, so: not a huge time investment, and SO nice to knit, I didn't even long too much to get working on the Replacement Socks (more on those tomorrow.)

But... oh, I have to face up to it.  I don't think the His will ever see daylight on His head!  No matter how warm and soft the fabric or how cold and bitter the day - some guys either can't pull off a hat or think they can't, and no amount of knitting will change the fact.

Still glad I made the hats though.  And... I might be making another one now.  ahem.