I have an abnormally large head. No, really, I do. And generally speaking, I really don't wear that many hats -- never have. For some reason though, I have been in a hat mood this winter. Maybe it's the impending move to Chicago and the knowledge that I will have day upon day of being stuck in frigid cold wind tunnels. Maybe it's just because I'm suddenly realizing that hats can be pretty darn stylish. In any case, I have been searching Ravelry for the cutest hat patterns that I can dig up.
This was when I found Le Slouch.
I wasn't really "taken" by the pattern until I saw some of the FOs that were featured on Ravelry. That's when I fell in love with it. I loved the seed stitch, I loved the way that it slouched down in that adorable way. I said to myself, "Self, this is the hat for you!" And so I went to City Knitting, picked up a couple skeins of Nashua Julia (in Geranium) and put myself to work!
First, I read the pattern wrong and I could not, for the life of me, figure out why it was decreasing in such a bizarre way. That was, until I realized that I had skipped over an entire paragraph of critical decreases. I was baffled as to why it wasn't "slouching" right. Well, of course it's not going to slouch right if you're forgetting to knit at least an inch of hat!
I actually did this twice -- the whole, missing that crucial paragraph. Which meant that I had to frog twice. *ribbit* Amazingly, I did not drop any stitches while doing this and once I finally realized what I was doing wrong, the thing actually looked similar to all of those other FOs that I had seen and admired so much on Ravelry! Hooray for Auna!
Ultimately, the hat took me about 4 days to knit. It would have only taken 2 had I not been stupid. I was thrilled that the hat actually fit my enormous cranium (without any alterations to the pattern!), and if anything, it was too big. Wait. It kind of was too big.
I wanted an "extra slouchy" hat, so I added a little bit of length onto it beyond the 6 (7+?)" that the pattern suggested. I kind of wish that I had stuck to what the pattern said in that regard because I can honestly stuff all of my hair into the thing and still have room for my cat (okay, maybe not, but there's still room for more cramming in there).
It's kind of heavy (it is two skeins worth of yarn), and as enormous as my head may be, the 2x2 rib really has a lot of give to it, and with one blow of those Chicago winds, Mr. Slouchers (yes, that's the hat's name) is going to go sailing off of my head.
Initially, I claimed that I would wear Mr. Slouchers all the time. It would never leave me. I would love it and care for it forever and ever. So far? It hasn't really gotten a whole lot of wear. My Clapotis teases it mercilessly (okay, not really).
Nevertheless, I really do like it. It looks pretty darn cute on me and it is nice and warm. That said, I'm already planning my next hat -- which hopefully, will get some better wear. I just bought some yarn (Lamb's Pride) for a felted cloche that I will be making in the not-too-distant-future (i.e. after my sweater sleeve is finished). Hopefully that one will fit. And hopefully, I won't have to worry about that flying off my head at the first big gust of wind that blows by.
I wasn't really "taken" by the pattern until I saw some of the FOs that were featured on Ravelry. That's when I fell in love with it. I loved the seed stitch, I loved the way that it slouched down in that adorable way. I said to myself, "Self, this is the hat for you!" And so I went to City Knitting, picked up a couple skeins of Nashua Julia (in Geranium) and put myself to work!
First, I read the pattern wrong and I could not, for the life of me, figure out why it was decreasing in such a bizarre way. That was, until I realized that I had skipped over an entire paragraph of critical decreases. I was baffled as to why it wasn't "slouching" right. Well, of course it's not going to slouch right if you're forgetting to knit at least an inch of hat!
I actually did this twice -- the whole, missing that crucial paragraph. Which meant that I had to frog twice. *ribbit* Amazingly, I did not drop any stitches while doing this and once I finally realized what I was doing wrong, the thing actually looked similar to all of those other FOs that I had seen and admired so much on Ravelry! Hooray for Auna!
Ultimately, the hat took me about 4 days to knit. It would have only taken 2 had I not been stupid. I was thrilled that the hat actually fit my enormous cranium (without any alterations to the pattern!), and if anything, it was too big. Wait. It kind of was too big.
I wanted an "extra slouchy" hat, so I added a little bit of length onto it beyond the 6 (7+?)" that the pattern suggested. I kind of wish that I had stuck to what the pattern said in that regard because I can honestly stuff all of my hair into the thing and still have room for my cat (okay, maybe not, but there's still room for more cramming in there).
It's kind of heavy (it is two skeins worth of yarn), and as enormous as my head may be, the 2x2 rib really has a lot of give to it, and with one blow of those Chicago winds, Mr. Slouchers (yes, that's the hat's name) is going to go sailing off of my head.
Initially, I claimed that I would wear Mr. Slouchers all the time. It would never leave me. I would love it and care for it forever and ever. So far? It hasn't really gotten a whole lot of wear. My Clapotis teases it mercilessly (okay, not really).
Nevertheless, I really do like it. It looks pretty darn cute on me and it is nice and warm. That said, I'm already planning my next hat -- which hopefully, will get some better wear. I just bought some yarn (Lamb's Pride) for a felted cloche that I will be making in the not-too-distant-future (i.e. after my sweater sleeve is finished). Hopefully that one will fit. And hopefully, I won't have to worry about that flying off my head at the first big gust of wind that blows by.
