I completed two hats over the Thanksgiving and winter holiday breaks, but neither turned out well.  First, I reluctantly made a pattern that LD selected on Ravelry. I didn’t like it because it didn’t look like it would sit snugly on her head.  I made it anyway, without making any changes to the pattern despite my concerns.  I was able to complete it in a day or two as it is knit with bulky yarn, and it turned out just like the picture!  The report back was that it’s too big. No surprise there.

Here are some photos of me modeling the hat as LD often treats me as paparazzi and shields herself from my photo taking attempts. (I can’t really blame her. I think it’s a natural instinct as I remember doing the same thing when I was young.)

I think it turned out cuter than I expected but the fit just isn’t right.

Then ES asked for a hat, picked out a basic pattern on Ravelry then picked out the snowflake design from Nicky Epstein’s Knitting Block by Block book.

I diligently created a swatch, washed it, measured it, and calculated the number of stitches, including the width of the design in my determination.  All that said and done, the hat also came out too large. I compared the hat’s end results to my swatch, after washing the hat too, and the stitches were just totally different sizes. What I learned from this experience is to do the swatch with a design in it, because that changes the tightness of the stitches.  Aaaargh.  I gave ES more washing instructions in the hope that this wool/cashmere blend may shrink a little more.

Isn’t it pretty though?

Hats Done but not Done Well. Very frustrating.

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