Wednesday, April 9, 2014

The story of the handspun gift hat

The last time we looked at this hat, I was knitting it to give to myself for a special present.  Now we're ready for glamour shots and - Yay! - story time.


Okay, so it's done and it's HUGE.  I really should not have kept increasing beyond the stitch count I'd nailed down for the Instant Love Hat, and I even more really should not have gone on an extra inch before starting the crown.  Not only was there a size issue after all that, there was a yarn scarcity issue.  In the end I had to decrease every round instead of every other round, which turns out to be how you get a puckered top.  I'm all for puckering and fullness at the top of a hat but such features look a lot better when the rest of the scale is in proportion.

The first day I was able to wear it, I put it on to go out with Pete and he didn't say anything about it, which is weird because it's pretty bright and noticeable.


Finally, hoping he was just having vision problems, I asked him what he thought about the hat and he said, "I like the green hat".  Dang, it was door number two: Tact.


I pressed the point to determine exactly what was wrong with it, and he admitted that, "This one is kind of huge."  Huge?  Really? 

Naturally I pointed out that the green hat looks like a giant green turkey on my head (the actual bird I mean, not a disaster) and this one isn't bigger than that, but he had decided the problem was hugeness and that was that.  He didn't even need to remark on the fact that the top is stripey and the bottom is more muddled, thanks to my spinning finesse.  (and this my friends is how you turn a mistake into a Design Feature: by pretending it is one.)


Actually though I have to agree with his assessment.  It is a delight to wear, being all soft and warm and colourful, but on my head: massive.  And in some other respect totally wrong for me, if I could just pin it down.


So I switched back to the green hat.  A few days later, on my own this time, I wore the orange stripey hat out and nobody said anything nice about it all day long.  When I got home, I put it on the kitchen counter, and tried not to think about it.

Fast forward a week or two: Ady dropped by.  You know who really looks good in the hat?


Sigh.  She's got a purse that is a perfect match for that scarf that perfectly matches the hat, too. 

(and you will not be surprised that when Pete wandered along and saw Ady wearing it the first thing out of his mouth was Great Hat! without even realizing it was the one he didn't like on me.  He had put it out of his head the minute I went back to my green hat full time.)

But I have not given up.  After all, there is a ton of roving in this house just waiting to be spun into yarn for a hat that fits me, and eventually I will get this right.  Right?  Right.

Okay, time for me to get to work.  I hope you have a fantastic couple of days, and I'll see you Friday after a new, very short, yarn story on Twitter tomorrow!

4 comments:

Jezz said...

What a pretty photo! Ady and your hat look beautiful!

Mary Keenan said...

It's tough to take a bad picture of Ady, Jezz ;^)

Annie Cholewa said...

Getting hat sizing just right is a nightmare isn't it. But I think it looks like a great hat :)

Mary Keenan said...

It's *such* a great hat, Annie! Fortunately Ady has to get through cold winters too, so it's got a good new home with her :^)