This hat is for my baby brother, who lives in southern California. He said his favorite colors to wear are brown, orange, and “forest green is ok too”. I’ve never knitted anything for him before, so I hope he likes it.

20140901 3:45 pm: Long-tail cast-on 93 sts with 6.0 mm bamboo (Clover Takumi Interchangeables: 16” circulars); slip last stitch back to left needle and then k2tog to join. Switch to 3.5 mm bamboo. Knit 1 X 1 ribbing for 3.5 inches. Decrease 2 sts and knit stockinette for 4.5 inches using 4.5 mm bamboo. Begin crown decreases (pm at 15) using tam pattern’s “subtle seam, wheel-shaped” crown. (ssk, k2tog) Switch to 4.5 mm bamboo dpns when needed.

20140902 1 am: Finished! And a perfect size. But I may not have time to wash and block it before mailing.

I decided to do 1 X 1 ribbing instead of 2 X 2, for a neater appearance and better stretch and recovery. The hat has a nice snug feel, but plenty of extra room if needed. The ribbing is also a bit longer for more options in length.

Here was the original “trial run” version of this project, which got frogged and became this one.

My yarn review is here.

Yarn update: After washing this yarn became positively limp. It’s almost dry and still feels silky and drapey, which aren’t really qualities I want in a hat. It’s in the dryer now (on a rack) and I’ll see how it feels in the morning.

Update 9 am Sept 3: And it must definitely be dry because it feels a lot better now. It’s still very soft, but not quite as drapey. And all packed to mail, and I hope he likes it!

Update January 2015: I guess I was ahead of the trend; the 2015 Pantone color of the year is Marsala.

Photos were uploaded care of the Ravulous app on my Android phone.