Happy Haunting...

Wooooooo...is it an apparition?

That's the signoff on the message I've recorded on the answering machine at work. Today's the day! Happy Halloween to all of you.

I'm celebrating the holiday by showing off my Skully cap. I finished it at the end of last month and am very happy to have it done with lots of time to spare. Our work Christmas party isn't until December 30 so I'm a couple months early. (Imagine that!)

What I wasn't counting on was their inviting the "other boss" that I don't see as much. Now I feel obligated to knit a second hat...but I sure don't want to!

No, it's my Skully cap!

I started the hat at the top with a tiny I-cord and then read the pattern top to bottom.

I really like the ring of skulls around the top.

The skull pattern itself is quite convincing.

It's always amazing how much you can imply from a relatively simple dot matrix type pattern.

The hat itself came out a little loose. It's not so loose that it will fall off easily but still a little looser than I would have liked. I've decided it's better than too tight and maybe it will even be perfect for the recipient. Kind of depends on what he likes. (There's a good chance he won't wear it at all so I can't get too warped about it.)

But it is part of why I'm not overly enthused about doing a second one. I'm thinking I would just down one needle size, but then I worry it will be too much and the hat will come out too small. Ah, the angst!! (My Oma [grandmother] hated making things for specific people for just this reason--she worried too much about whether it would fit or be liked. Instead, she just made lots and lots of things to sell at the Project Stats
Started: 1 Sep '11
Finished: 30 Sep '11
Pattern: Skully Hat by Camille Chang
Materials: 20g laceweight lambswool recycled from a Ralph Lauren sweater; 24g laceweight wool from American
Eagle vest
annual bazaar. I relate to the angst, but I try to keep it in check so it doesn't control me. (Too much.))

The other reason is the difficulty of working the pattern on the short needles. I could use this as an excuse to buy 8" needles, but I'm feeling cheap. Not quite in the mood for taking the excuse, apparently.

But getting back to the pattern, I really like the pattern for the hat. I think I'll be using it on a pair of socks one day. (Did I give you the background on this pattern? I originally saw a sock pattern with the skull and crossbones in the Knitpicks catalogue that I was very tempted to buy. I talked myself out of it, but not a week later, I saw the same design in a hat on their website. I checked and sure enough, it was by the same designer.  So then I figured I could buy the hat pattern and just use the colour chart for a pair of socks if I wanted. I always use my own toe and heels anyway...I can just plug the pattern into the rest of the sock.)

As to the pattern itself, however, I found it to be a little confusing and hard to follow. There are several versions of the hat available and it wasn't always clear what the directions were referring to. I think that is part of why I had a hard time getting started. (But only part. Another part was that I was using recycled yarn that isn't conveniently labeled as "fingering" or "sport" so it was difficult to know which pattern version was best to use.)

In any case, I hope you all have a good night, whether you are celebrating Halloween or not. And again, Happy haunting!