The Day I Saved Shepeter's Butt

My friend Rebecca is a good egg, but apparently she suffers from procrastination-itis just like me. See, three Christmases ago she gave her mom a bag of lovely yarn and a pattern, promising it would come back to her in a new form. Well, that was xmas '07, and in the interim Rebecca decided the felted hat pattern was beyond her current knitting capabilities; that's where I come in.

I took on her project. And although it was a simple fulled hat pattern, there was a yarn sub involved, & the pattern itself didn't suggest a gauge, & the needles provided were too small, & finally, my ego got in the way. I was convinced that, as written, the result was too small. So, in my infinite wisdom, I did what I thought was one extra round of increases but what was in fact two extra increase rounds.

And THIS was the result: Velma channels Mushmouth. Clearly, no amount of felting would have salvaged this monstrosity of a hat. Unless Rebecca's mom has a head the size of, say, Rush Limbaugh's - it would never fit. So, back to square one.

Well, it may have taken my 3 tries, but I think this will do the trick. I think it will be quite lovely, in fact! Here are the specs:

Pattern: Felted Hat by Arlene Williams
Needles: US 11 / 8.0 mm
Yarn: Cascade Yarns Eco+ (bulky 2ply)

As it is a top-down pattern, I started with DPNs (Brittany Birch) and then switched to circs (Addi Natura Bamboo). I quite liked working it top-down; I plan to try that method again soon. Time will tell how well this yarn will full; at my suggestion, Rebecca plans to do the felting as a project with her mom (I was worried that if I did it, it might not fit as well).

That's Rebecca herself topped by the pre-felted hat. What do you think: America's Next Top Model? Check my Ravelry project page for updates & (hopefully) a photo of the finished product.

Tags: knitting, hats