Hats have been a XMAS theme this year so I started this one not knowing who the recipient would be. Since our family draws names for Christmas gift exchange at Thanksgiving, I actually decided on the recipient after casting on.
My local knitting friend, Jill, aka Musictomyears, introduced me to this yarn source and we made a joint order. It turns out that the colors I chose based on the internet photo didn’t work out initially (Chokecherry and Swift Fox didn’t have enough contrast), I think it worked out in the end by adding the natural into the mix.

I was pleased to have continued the theme of our new property, Seven Oaks, into this project and was able to design the hat lining with 7 oak trees punctuated by 7 acorns and then my sister’s initials, JEL.

I was also pleased with my jogless color changes. I believe I minimized this transition all the way up the side of the hat. My photos specifically are of that area of the hat, so you will see fewer background stitches between various motifs that “moved over” as the color changes progressed.

I promise that next time I make this type of hat, I will use unique motifs and not rely on the ones provided by Meg!