this hat…. this hat and i have had a troubled relationship. i had to re-start it about FIVE times. this, it should be noted, is not the fault of the pattern, but my own, as i changed the number of cast-on stitches, where i started, methods, and generally made life more difficult on myself. and then i found out i’d been knitting it wrong more than halfway through the pattern. but i decided nobody but me would ever be able to tell, so i pressed on. can you tell what i did wrong?

but! the yarn is a dream, which made it easier to keep working on. it’s squishy and soft and oh so beautifully dyed! tanis yarns are definitely on my dreamy list now. the olive colorway is gorgeous and i just love love love the colors and how it knit up.

to use up the whole skein, and also because the gentleman who requested this hat comes from a windy place, i did a temporary crochet cast-on, and knit the body first. i also didn’t want quite the same amount of slouchiness as the original, so i cast on 96 sts instead of the original number, and therefore started my decreases from that point. after knitting the top of the hat, i then pulled out the crochet cast-on, picked up the stitches and knit the ribbing down to finish off the skein and get as long a brim as possible, for maximum folding over the ears. i did a tubular sewn bind off, which is beautiful and stretchy and worth the extra effort.