12/1 - So I decided to take a knitting break today, after knitting 7 hats in the last 18 days. And while I enjoyed the 2 patterns I’d used, especially this one, I was ready to see something else. I’d also had enough of the blue, yellow, and grey yarn…

…so why am I casting on for this pattern with that same blue and yellow yarn?? Well, because Navy’s colors are blue and gold (different shades, but close enough) and it occurs to me that I could easily whip up a hat for Jeffrey before Saturday’s Army/Navy game. I’ve decided to chart up a large N to knit in rev st st on the hat--N for Navy, of course!

GO, NAVY! BEAT ARMY!

12/5 - One of the things I learned a while back while researching charting out fair isle patterns is that if you’re going to use Excel, you need to make sure your blocks are taller than they are wide. Why? Because the knit stitch is actually not square--it’s taller than it is wide.

Apparently, my knit stitches missed their growth spurt and need to go on a diet. That large N I charted using KnitPro was nice and tall on paper…and short and squat on the hat. I can see that my knit stitches are clearly wider than they are tall. I’m not sure if this is because the N was done with purl stitches instead of colorwork--that’s my guess, anyway--but the result isn’t quite what I expected. Still, I doubt it’ll be unclear which side Jeffrey’s rooting for when he wears his hat!