Regret and Gretel

I found what I thought would be the perfect hat pattern for my trip, Gretel by Ysolsa Teague.   At first glance, it seems perfect, beautiful and resplendent in MMMMmmMMalabrigo Cypress.  That is, until I put it on my head.  Let me start from the beginning.  After searching the 845 projects for this hat in Ravelry a single skein of Malabrigo seemed like a great choice.1  I knew it would be close on the yardage since I wanted to do the slouchy version, but several of the 84 knitters who make it said they used only one skein.  After finishing the repeat for the “regular” version, putting it on my head and weighing to see that I still had 40 grams of the skein left I thought I was in good shape.  Knowing it would be close, I did omit two rows on rounds that repeated.  At the end, I had to use the scraps of yarn that had attached the label to the skein to make it.

I tried it on again.  It was a little loose the first time I had done this but I guess I thought maybe the weight of the slouch would somehow make it work.  It didn’t…anyway it didn’t slouch as much as I’d hoped so despite it already being too loose I decided to wet block it.  Ok, now it’s huge.  I knew that would happened before I blocked it, but I guess I thought somehow magic Christmas elves would intervene.  Now what?  Hmmmm, maybe if I put it in the dryer for a bit it will shrink up just enough?  Oh yeah, it shrank, but NOT in a good way.  The hat shortened which meant most of the slouch was gone but the brim was still too loose!  Finally, I ripped out the still wet yarn from the cast on edge to reknit the brim.2  In the end, I did wear the hat and it of course was comfortable and warm but I’m really not happy with it.  I may have to knit it again and alter the cast on number to work better with my head and malabrigo.

The parental clogs are finished too!  Can I just say how much I LOVE knitting the smallest size.  From now on, I’m looking for friends with small feet.

Lastly, some holiday fun for you from the Kemp family!

P.S. Update on the NYC fun with Erica soon

1. 84 others that chose Malabrigo thought it a good idea as well. [↩]
2. Don’t try this at home.  Wet frogging is nearly impossible.  I was impatient…you’re shocked right? [↩]