A couple of weeks ago, my HLM realized it's autumn. Soon after, he realized that his Opie Hat has gone missing, and requested another one. I told him that I'd get around to knitting him one, soon, and then, as I was motoring through the mall on the way to an appointment, I came upon a little craft store that had some yarn in the window. I popped in and grabbed a ball of some nice-ish acrylic to make his Opie Hat. Then I spotted a ball of lovely soft silvery nylon/acrylic sportweight and fell in love with it.
I decided it needed to be a hat, and once I got home I started scrolling through the patterns on Ravelry to find something great. I found the Jollyoly hat and thought that it would marry up well with this particular yarn, so I started it as soon as I was done the Opie Hat.
I got gauge right away and began to knit, only to discover after a few inches that it seemed a bit tight. Now, if you look at the original pattern photos, they show a loose, slouchy, chic hat. I scrolled through some of the finished projects and found a lot of snug toques. Not exactly what I wanted. So I improvised. I ripped it all back to naught and cast on again, this time for one size bigger, using a size bigger needles, as well. This time, the hat seemed loose enough for the fit I wanted. I added an extra repeat of the design, as well, to add some length, and was mostly happy with how it fit. Then I added the pom pom (made from a bunch of leftover madtosh tosh merino light, a pretty posh pom pom for an acrylic hat) and the weight of it helps the hat to hang just right.
Ready for autumn.
