Who Wants a New Hat?

I do! I do! And fortunately I can do something about that.

I have been itching to use some wool that I picked up second-hand at the Red Purl "Green Sale" earlier this year. I got eight 1-ounce balls of what I think of as an old fashioned wool. It's rough, sturdy, and none too soft. But sure to hold up. The colour is a beautiful royal purple--dark but bright at the same time. (All pictures here only approximate it as I find purple is almost impossible to capture.) The colour has an old-fashioned look as it's completely uniform and even a little flat. A far cry from the "one of a kind" indy dyeing that's so popular now. But I like the colour enough to overlook a little "flatness."

I decided it would be good for a hat. I looked around for a pattern and found this large oversized hat with "dwindling" cables. It starts with a band knit in a twisted rib and then the main part of the hat is knit from there.

 Here it is blocking over a plate (held up by a cup):

You can see the band around the bottom. I think my hat may be even larger than the pattern called for as the pattern showed it lying flat and there's no way my band would do that. Look how far down it is hanging!

But that is exactly what I wanted.

Straight off the blocking and encouraged to stand up, the hat looks like something Guinan would wear:

Good for a laugh, but not an option.

Perhaps the page boy?

Not too bad, but probably not.

The side beret?

Also not bad, but what I really like is wearing it pulled back:

It nicely shows off the cable pattern from the back:

I'm not sure if it was a fitting issue or just a design choice, but the band wasn't knit as a plain rectangle. Both ends were angled, and then they were overlapped when you sewed them together. It gives a nice detail to the band that you can feature in the front:

or hide in the back if you don't like it.

I'm really enjoying wearing this hat. It's comfortable and warm (and looks good, I think).

Although I thought it was perfect at first, the band turns out to be a touch big. It's prone to slide down my forehead which is a little annoying. (It's a good thing I wear glasses to hold it up!) But it's not so loose that it doesn't work, and I'd rather this than having it too tight and binding my head.

I have enough yarn I am hoping to make a pair of matching mittens. (This doesn't bode well for my [well-worn] red coat...not exactly a good match.)

Project Stats
Started: 25 Nov '13
Finished: 8 Dec '13
Pattern: Nine Dwindling Cables by Yarn Owl
Materials: American Thread Company Dawn Sock & Sweater Yarn, held doubled (6455 purple), 3.5 skeins (~$1.50)